With recent decreases in golf rounds played in the US, studies showed the millennials not engaged in golf as other generations. The reasons cited were time constraints and cost. Broken down further, “time” was severely impacted by unacceptable pace-of-play. In many cases, a round of 18 holes takes five or more hours. Add to the travel time and it can be a full day activity.
Upon further investigation, beginners and those who have never played find golf courses an unfriendly venue. They feel pressured to play faster and do not find the enjoyment they were seeking. If these people had already purchased clubs and related golf equipment, this left a very bad taste about the game. Also discovered was the significantly lower numbers of female golfers as well as people from other than white ethnic backgrounds.
In 2016, Home Course Creators LLC invented APROach Golf™ (AG). Played on a regulation course, AG tees are set up from 150 yards to greenside in fairways, rough, and bunkers. This replicates true positions faced in regulation play. Rather than use the dated score card, the More Card™ was invented to accurately and simply capture all short game strokes and award points for good play. Unlike traditional golf where one hole can ruin a round, the worst case scenario in AG is simple no points earned on a hole. This keeps all players in a friendly round with a little competition.
Addressing the major roadblocks to entice new players and more rounds, AG is normally played at times where the course tee sheets have little to no activity. A 9-hole round of AG only takes 90 minutes. This is important to the players as well as course management. In terms of required equipment, courses have hundreds of unclaimed clubs that they loan to those players who have none as well as a few range balls. Players only need to dress according to course standards and wear sneakers.
Based on the suggestions of high school and college coaches who have seen AG, the original AG was highly modified and targeted to school golf teams. This version is APROach Golf Coaches Edition™.
To satisfy the coaches’ needs as well as the players’ skill development, an entirely new manual was written completely focused on the capturing and analyzing of accurate data gleaned from each player’s More Card™. That card was also modified to allow a coach to have their players use tee box locations tailored to the needs of each of their golfers.
With the proliferation of smart phone finding their way onto golf courses, especially among the younger players, the APROach Golf APP™ was developed. It can be used by golfers playing either version of AG. The APP is downloaded from the “Apple Store” and can only be activated with the acquiring of a password. For traditional AG, that code is only available from the course Pro Shop. For players on a a school team, the Coach is the only individual to acquire the codes from HCC, LLC.
The APP user can also provide the golf coach or pro shop the immediate results of their AG round by email from that phone. The coaches, school email address needs to be entered by players on the school team. The coach receives a summary of each hole and skills for various categories. The players and coaches are also provided with a Trends Analysis Sheet (Excel) that automatically populates the summaries for trends analysis by both players and coaches.