Golf and the Internet

A heavenly match.

It's amazing really when you think about it, what's happened in the last ten years in the golf industry. The game has changed completely and with the advent of the internet, almost the only thing that's still recognisable is the stuffy attitude of some of the courses. The web really has changed everything and golf is no exception.

Golf used to be so expensive and membership was just out of the question for most people. To get a place at my local club in 1999, my father and I had to queue overnight to ensure we were the first in the queue to pick up one of the two or three membership places that would be available. How times have changed.

There are so many more golf courses these days you can pick and choose where you join with ease. Where I live in the South East there are now over 40 golf courses within a half hour drive which has made the game so much more accessible for the everyday golfer and cheaper.

So ok, the surge in popularity of golf isn't entirely down to the internet, you could probably credit the likes of Tiger Woods, Ant and Dec, DJ Spoony and style icons like Ian Poulter for helping to make the game more "cool". However, no-one can deny that the internet has made golf more accessible.

These days you can book a golf holiday online with a variety of different companies in seconds. You can ensure your tee times will be booked when you get there and even that the airline will carry your clubs at no extra charge. You simply don't need to do all the work yourself anymore which is great.

It's helped new golf destinations spring up all over the world too, giving us a huge list of "must play before I die" courses to aspire to (that we can easily find online) and even the existing courses are improving all the time to accommodate the savvy golfer. Right now, you can get one night in a UK hotel and two rounds of golf for £70 almost anywhere and in my opinion, that's entirely down to the net.

It's so easy to search for what you want now online and that in itself creates competition which is a healthy thing for any industry. I remember my first decent set of clubs was a set of Callaway Big Bertha irons and woods costing around £1500. They were steel shafts by the way and were the height of modern technology. Can you imagine paying that now for the lowest spec clubs? No way!

These days, you can buy a nice set of Callaway irons with a couple of hybrids, fairway woods, a top end driver, new bag and a pack of balls for well under that and money is worth less than it was ten years ago. Good stuff if you ask me. You can even find websites that will reward you for spending money with the likes of Tesco and Argos by giving you points which you can swap for golf products when you've saved up.

You can now get great deals on golf products, compare prices, get free advice, tips and information all because of the internet. The progress of golf online has been astounding really. Only last night I was at the driving range wondering how to hit a draw properly. I simply picked up my iPhone, clicked on a free golf tip and hey presto.

It'll continue too, changing the face of golf forever, breaking down taboos and bringing down the price of the game making it more accessible to more people. All we need now is the weather...