I had the rare experience of being able to watch golf over Mothers Day weekend. The Players is not my favorite event for two reasons. One the golf course is quirky and two for me it is to golf what Arena Football is to real football-a total "air game"

I guess I am old-fashioned and like to see more football and golf played closer to the ground. The spectacle of flying the ball high in the air and the drama of seeing plunk off a retaining wall and land in the water. I bet when Pete Dye drew up the Island Green he imagined a whiney pro plunk it in the drink twice!

The PGA Tour specializes in Arena Golf. I believe Arena Golf takes the golf industry in a direction away from being more sustainable. In fact, I feel that in many ways Augusta is more sustainable then Arena courses such as Sawgrass.

When the ball flies high in the air it assumes it will have a soft landing. For the landing to be soft you need lots of biomass (more fertilizer) and plenty of water, not just for color, but to forgive a crappy shot. Of course the Tour players can adjust and hit high (unless there is some wind), for the average golfer a soft green course is all that prevents them from shooting 125!

Here is my theory. The challenge we have to become a more sustainable industry involves the way courses play as much as how they look. Instead of saying brown is the new green we should be saying get low-play a ground game.

You can be a lousy golfer and still play well on soft, green courses. Firm and fast conditions that generally require less fertilizer and less water to produce is too challenging for the average US-trained golfer.

I believe that if we would be permitted to allow the course to become firm and dry the entire industry would change. Beyond just the change in maintenance is the potential to have the equipment industry design clubs for the ground game. Sell new balls for play closer to the ground. A golf industry financial bubble!

I think The Players creates more challenges for golf than any other major championship because the Tour has truly mastered the art of golf as a spectacle. It is this spectacle that keeps the focus on green and soft. It is the air game the Tour players can make the same swing arc, have the same finishing pose and provide the perfect suspense for the TV audience.

It seems to me we need to develop an industry-wide strategy to distract golfers from seeing green and soft to wanting firm and fast. The new mantra should be Its not how it looks it is how it plays. The US Open at Chambers Bay and seeing how Chris Tritabaugh is beginning to transform Hazeltine is giving me hope golfers can be distracted for the good of the game. Maybe we can get Tiger to reach for a club!