高尔夫在美国逐渐没落，新技术能拯救这项运动吗？

    高尔夫运动已陷入困境。

    正当其他运动项目的观众人数不断增长之际，高尔夫的观赛人数却在滑坡。市场研究机构尼尔森（Nielsen）公布的数据显示，7月22日巴西世界杯美国对战葡萄牙的小组赛家庭收视率为7.3。今年在圣安东尼奥NBA总决赛上马刺队对阵迈阿密热火队的场均收视率为9.3。西雅图海鹰队和丹佛野马队角逐超级碗时的收视率为46.4，高于2009年匹兹堡钢人和亚利桑那红雀对决时的42。

    而与此同时，今年4月份的高尔夫大师赛收视率仅为1.5，低于去年的2.0。

    高尔夫的衰落不光体现在电视荧屏上。美国国家高尔夫基金会（National Golf Foundation）的数据显示，2013年高尔夫球场的关闭速度连续第八年超过开设速度，过去一年共有157.5家高尔夫球场关门歇业（0.5代表一个9洞球场），而新开业的只有14家。该基金会最近发布的新闻通讯称，目前高尔夫球场每年的净关闭数量介于130-160家之间。

    2010年联邦快递杯（FedEx Cup）冠军，目前职业高尔夫巡回赛（PGA Tour）排名第12的吉米•福瑞克对这项运动的每况愈下感到困惑不解。他对《财富》杂志表示：“这让我震惊。因为[过去]高尔夫确实不讨人喜欢，但现在人们对它的接受程度要高得多了。”

    另一方面，参加PGA青少年巡回赛的小选手人数从2012年1500人增至2013年的8900人，增幅为490%。今年的参赛人数更是翻了一番（达到1.8万人）。对房地产开发商唐纳德•特朗普来说，高尔夫运动“欣欣向荣”。最近接受Golf.com视频采访时，特朗普说美国国家高尔夫基金会“领导者不称职”。他不认同该基金会的结论：“我觉得他们的数据完全错了。”做出这一结论的基础是什么呢？特朗普指出，他的高尔夫球场和高尔夫度假村正经历着情况最好的一年，“而且要比其他年份好得多”。但特朗普的豪华球场不能代表大多数打高尔夫的人，也不能代表大多数高尔夫俱乐部（设在佛罗里达州西棕榈滩的特朗普国际高尔夫俱乐部的入会费为25万美元左右；设在纽约州布赖尔克利夫马诺的特朗普国家高尔夫俱乐部的入会费为35万美元，每年还要缴纳1.8万美元会费。）。

    人们可能会把高尔夫的衰落跟这项运动的节奏联系起来，这很合理。冰球或篮球等运动极具连贯性——运动员在冰场或球场上不停地来回穿梭——高尔夫却可以奇慢无比。耶鲁大学（Yale University）男子高尔夫球队总教练科林•希恩认为节奏也许是个问题：“我们真正需要的是一种快速运动的文化，一种少一些磨磨蹭蹭的文化。”

    杰克•尼克劳斯是依然健在的高尔夫传奇人物之一。2007年以来，他一直在推广12洞球场，甚至修建了几座这样的球场。有人说高尔夫太难了，还有人想到把高尔夫球洞的直径从4.25英寸一下扩大3.5倍以上，增加到15英寸（和大号披萨饼差不多大小）。这让希恩感到很不满：“这太荒唐了。高尔夫是一项历史悠久、富于传统的运动……这种想法很可笑，也失去了这项运动的本意。”

    Golf is stuck in the rough.

    While other sports are growing in viewership, golf is slowing down. The July 22 World Cup game between the U.S.A. and Portugal earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.3. The 2014 NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat earned an average per-night rating of 9.3. The 2014 Super Bowl between the Seahawks and the Broncos got a household rating of 46.4—up from 42 in 2009, when the Steelers and Cardinals played.

    Meanwhile, golf’s 2014 Masters tournament in April received a rating of 1.5, down from 2.0 last year.

    And golf is not only slowing down on the screen. According to the National Golf Foundation (NGF), golf course closings outpaced golf course openings in 2013 for the eighth straight year. Last year, 157.5 courses closed (the 0.5 represents a 9-hole course) and only 14 opened. In a recent newsletter, the NGF stated that the annual net reduction in the number of golf courses is now in the 130-160 range.

    Jim Furyk, the 2010 FedEx Cup champion currently ranked No. 12 in the world on the PGA Tour, finds the decline a bit puzzling. “We are definitely in a difficult phase in golf right now,” he tells Fortune. “It’s surprising to me, because [in the past] golf was a really nerdy sport. It’s a lot more socially acceptable now.”

    On the other hand, PGA Junior League Golf has expanded from 1,500 youth participants in 2012 to 8,900 in 2013, a 490% increase. In 2014, participation doubled (18,000 kids). And if you ask Donald Trump, golf is “booming.” In a recent video interview with Golf.com, Trump said the National Golf Foundation “is run by a person who is incompetent” and he refuted the NGF’s findings: “I think their numbers are totally wrong.” His basis for this claim: he said that his own golf courses and resorts are having their best year, “by far.” But Trump’s luxury courses (the initiation fee at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, FL is around $250,000; at Trump National Golf Club in Briarcliff Manor, NY, it’s $350,000 plus $18,000 annual dues) do not represent the majority of golfers and golf clubs.

    You could reasonably trace the sport’s decline to the pace of play. While a sport like hockey or basketball has plenty of nonstop action—athletes moving up and down the ice or court constantly—golf can be painfully slow. Colin Sheehan, head coach of the Men’s golf team at Yale University, thinks speed might be the issue. “What we really need is a culture of fast play, where there is less dilly-dallying,” he says.

    Jack Nicklaus, one of golf’s living legends, has been pushing for 12-hole courses since 2007; he even built a few. Some argue that the sport is just plain too difficult, and others have considered expanding the four-and-a-quarter inch width of the golf course hole all the way to 15 inches (about the size of a large pizza), which would be just over 350% wider. Sheehan has strong feelings about this proposal. “It’s ludicrous,” he says. “Golf is a game of history and tradition…. It’s ridiculous and takes away from the integrity of the game.”