sports

Any Day On The Golf Course Can Be Perfect Day

Any day on the links -- even one that includes multiple double bogeys, sand traps and missed easy putts -- is still a perfect day, at least in the eyes of PGA of America. 

A new campaign designed to increase participation in golf from advertising agency Ammirati depicts what many golfers already know: most are not very good. A television commercial shows whiffed tee shots, balls landing in sand traps and digging through the weeds, but proclaims them “a perfect drive,” “perfect lie” and “perfect save,” respectively. Despite the frustrations, the golfers are shown having a good time with friends and family while on the course. 

“One of the things that was keeping people away from the game was intimidation,” Arjun Chowdri, senior director of marketing and communications, tells Marketing Daily. “In fact, not all golfers are good … Most aren’t good. But that’s not what makes the game great.”

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The new campaign is intended to lure both new and lapsed golfers with the promise of five lessons for $99. An online portal, www.getgolfready.com, enables people to find participating instructors in their area. (The PGA of America is a not-for-profit that works with local golf professionals, courses and clubs, as opposed to the PGA Tour, which supports the professional touring golfers and tour events.)

“It’s a great way to introduce people to the game,” Chowdri says of the Get Golf Ready program. “When you first go out on the course, it can be intimidating. The first part of the first lesson is to get rid of that intimidation.”

Having launched in time for the televised golf season, the campaign will run on golf-programming, broadcasts and Web sites (to reach the lapsed golfers), as well as on non-golfer channels such as Living Social, Food Network, HGTV, Men’s Health, Women’s Health and Fast Company. 

“We’ve found [golf-enthusiast channels] to be effective because of the loyalty of golf players. People who know golf and love golf want to share it with others,” Chowdri says. “We also recognize we need a more concerted effort to reach people who are not necessarily thinking of golf.”

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