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Can Minnesota golf courses find the next generation of players? I MinnPost Page 4 of 8 The Minneapolis Golf Club takes a formal approach. The club also provides top-of-the-line equipment when a member brings a client to golf. MGC closes its courses on Mondays to offer corporate outings for groups of 8o to 140 people. Executives can get away from the office to mix and mingle while golfing, eating and relaxing. The club hosts roughly 20 such events per season. Deer Run Golf Club welcomes business executives, but doesn't specifically market to them, says general manager Abts. "I prefer that they understand and appreciate what we are doing rather than actively court their business," he says. MGA's W.P. Ryan says golf still serves a purpose for many business people. "Golf opens a lot of doors," he says. "If you're comfortable negotiating your way around a golf course, that has to help your business career." At Legends, Kennedy says, he sees business people who want to "unplug for a few hours and actually make a connection to build a true relationship with clients. There is no better way to do this than on a golf course." High-profile closures For the better part of the past decade, more U.S. golf courses have closed than opened. The net loss was 139 courses in 2o11 and 141 in 2012. The Minnesota Golf Association tallied nearly 15o new golf course openings between 1990 and 2oo6. Since then, at least 18 have shuttered, 11 of which ceased operations in the last four years. Yet Minnesota is still one of the healthiest states for the game. Golf is a $1.2 billion business here, with $36o million attributable to tourism, according to a report prepared for MGA by SRI International consulting firm. The National Golf Foundation found that the West North Central region, which covers Minnesota and six other states, tied for first in the nation, with a golf participation rate of 10.2 percent. While the number of registered MGA golfers has declined in recent years, Tom Ryan, MGA executive director and chief operating officer, argues the narrative of golfs decline is more nuanced. "Golf certainly is not going away anywhere — certainly not here in Minnesota," he says. "We'll lose a few more courses — some out of the blue, and some that are struggling." http://www.minnpost.com/twin-cities-business/2015/04/can-minnesota-golf... 4/22/2015