Golf 2.0: A primer on PGA of America's goal to grow

By Gene Yasuda PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (Feb. 20, 2012) -- Golf 2.0. It’s a title that will become part and parcel of the game this year, lexicon that will roll off the tongues of Jack Nicklaus, U.S. Golf Association and PGA of America executives, TV commentators and just about anybody who’s anybody in golf. So what exactly is it? It sounds like the name of a video game or a software update, but it’s neither. Its creators call it a “strategic plan,” but that doesn’t do it justice. After all, shouldn’t every plan be strategic? What the PGA of America describes as the most important initiative ever undertaken by the 96-year-old organization is perhaps best explained by the point man hired to oversee it. Sounding much like a preacher, Darrell Crall says Golf 2.0 is a philosophy, and even more simply, committing to a belief that golf must change now. “Millions of people love this game, but the staggering statistic is that (in 2010) we lost 4.6 million people,” he said. “It’s terribly important that we recognize that golf shouldn’t fit into the lives of consumers. “We need to figure out a way for consumers to have what they want, when they want it.”