While I was editing this special issue, The New York Times ran a doomsday article, all about the decline of golf. “The leisure activity most closely associated with corporate success in America has been in a kind of recession,” it claimed, citing stats from the National Golf Foundation and the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association that show the total number of players has declined or remained flat each year since 2000 (a slide to about 26 million from 30 million).

Where is this trend coming from, and what does it mean for meetings — especially incentives, where golf historically has been the carrot?

Just like everything else in our increasingly maxxed-out lives, time and money are the forces behind the shift. Many companies don't want groups to devote an entire day to golf and are finding ways to shrink the time spent on the course. Robert Harris, a longtime member of our magazine's Golden Links Advisory Board (see page 42) and director of sports and recreation at The Greenbrier resort, White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., says that he is seeing more “mini-shotgun” starts, where 40 players can finish a meeting session, have 30 to 45 minutes to prepare for golf, and then begin play all at once. This also allows players enough time to finish their game and return to their rooms to get ready for dinner.

Another of our Golden Links Advisory Board members, Frank Sablone, president, Tag & Label Manufacturers Institute, Naperville, Ill., reported that, “At one time, many corporations were paying for the spouse to play in the annual outing. Now they don't pay, and if the cost is more than $250 to participate, the spouse usually doesn't play unless he or she is an avid golfer.” He has seen other (translate: less expensive) outdoor activities increase, while golf has become “a second- or third-level priority.”

Less time and money are forcing planners to get more creative (what else is new?) — and that's what our annual golf issue is all about. In our cover story on hiring a pro for your event (page 20), we identify the eight pros who offer the most for the money. In “Have a Question? Ask the Golf Director” (page 33), directors of golf at some of the finest resorts in the world share their tips for cutting costs, such as booking your event the Monday after a holiday.

Golf still holds unparalleled allure for attendees, but now — as with everything else we do — we need to make it happen with increasingly limited resources. I hope that our annual golf issue helps you do that.

More On /Meetingsnet.com

For a collection of articles on planning golf meetings, click on Golf Meetings special report on meetingsnet.com's home page.