More Americans aren't playing golf: is Guitar Hero to blame?

The big buzz in the golf industry last week was the report recently released by the National Golf Foundation detailing that the number of golfers in America is dwindling.

Everyone is pointing fingers as to why: golf takes too long, it’s too expensive, it’s too intimidating, etc.

I think it’s Guitar Hero’s fault.

If you’ve played Guitar Hero, you know that it takes very little actual musical ability to “rock out” with these faux guitars that substitutes six strings for five, color-coded buttons. Over Christmas, I watched my two ankle-biting cousins score near-perfect marks to a Black Sabbath tune on expert level. Is it me, or should you not get a passing grade on this tune without stuffing a live bat in your mouth?

The problem with Guitar Hero - and all other increasingly interactive and “lifelike” video games us young folk seems to be hooked on, is you can become an expert at any given game over a matter of weekends. We all know that you can’t fake talent on a golf course. You can’t go from a novice to a 15-handicap in one weekend. Keeping a game serviceable enough to actually enjoy yourself out there requires persistence and dedication.

How many people in 2008 have the patience to gradually improve at golf when there are so many instant gratifications out there thanks to video games and the internet? You don’t need to take music lessons to be a rock star, you don’t have to go through basic training to bomb terrorists, and all it takes is Nintendo Wii to hit a golf ball as well as Tiger.

What is your choice? Several years to shave five strokes - or one month to beat all your buddies in Madden?

I admit, I often have Utopian visions of a backlash against technology’s grip on our daily lives, when one day a movement breaks out and everyone tosses their Playstations and IPhones out the window and head toward the nearest park for the world’s largest ever game of Frisbee golf.

It would be my generation’s Woodstock, and it would be glorious. Until then, golf is going to have a hard time luring kids from their Wii’s and fake guitars to a more humbling golf course.