Should you be golfing? from @keithferrazzi
Former Golf Pro Merryll McElwain on Getting Started with Golf
Former golf-pro turned Financial Analyst Merryll McElwain
Why is golf so important to relationship building? Why for women especially?
Merryll: Golf is one of the only sports where you get extensive quality time and conversation with someone. On the golf course, you have several hours of conversation available in between shots to really get to know someone. Golf has typically been a business tool for men. Women have used other ways to build relationships. I hear all the time from successful women who are frustrated with how difficult it is to break into the men’s club. Golf, in my opinion, is an excellent tool to do that.
Really interesting article on using golf as a professional enhancement technique.
Personally, I'd play more if I had the money and time as I love the game anyway.
Sniff... sniff... Is that a lame excuse I smell?
Well, maybe. But, the cost is a real turn-off for me. In the UK, at least, there is definitely a high financial cost to taking it up that I think stops most from even attempting to learn the game. This, of course, does result in a certain feeling of exclusion about golf for a lot of people.
I guess the choice is if you view it as an investment. But surely that would colour your enjoyment of it? "Well, that round of golf when really badly - not much for my ROI today..."
So it must depend on what you hope to gain from it. Certainly, in some cases, the networking aspect must be brilliant.
I once suggested to my then boss and friend of a small networking business in Oxfordshire (http://www.span-networks.co.uk/) that he pay for my membership of a local golf club.
My reasoning was this: His business was based on network support and services to local SMEs. It was doing ok, but sales were based on word-of-mouth referrals and established relationships. We were part of a large church and the friend network stretched quite far. But, not quite far enough. The way I saw it was that most of the clientèle at any one of the local golf courses would provide us with leads a-plenty. Most of the members being exactly the sort of people that made the IT decisions for their company or at least had influence. Relationships with just a few could provide extra business for the company.
My boss felt that the investment was too uncertain to shell out for at that stage. Though he was convinced enough to allow my colleague and I to arrive late in the day a few times when we played an early morning round
Also, he didn't like golf.
I totally understand the decision. The investment was too precarious. So when is it not? How long will it take to see a result of the investment?
