We are constantly being told golf is in decline but this is nonsense.
People within the sport too frequently shrug shoulders in that “well what can you do” kind of way when confronted with figures showing membership numbers falling across the United Kingdom.
This may seem golf’s silly season. Many of the biggest names are competing in a limited field jamboree in the Bahamas and next week’s Presidents Cup is a team event well short of the Ryder Cup in significance.
We have enjoyed a stellar year of golf; Tiger Woods winning the Masters, a brilliant Pebble Beach US Open, Shane Lowry’s majestic Open triumph at Portrush and a stunning European win at the Solheim Cup.
It has been a golf season like no other and now, as the leaves start to turn to their autumn hues, it is perhaps time to assess how the new schedule has impacted the sport.
On a recent visit to Northern Ireland we conducted a series of interviews for our BBC golf podcast, The Cut, ahead of the Open which is about to return to Royal Portrush.
