As we were going through Greensboro, North Carolina, I saw a banner about "Free Golf Lessons, Clinics, and Demos" at a nearby driving range. I wondered what it was all about, but thought I would never know.

The next day my brother-in-law suggested that we go to the driving range. He had shown us a golf course near his home. I thought that was where we were going. I considered staying at the house to check on my e-mails and continue preparing for the International Network of Golf conference that we were attending in the next few days. But, I decided to go along.

The next thing I knew the car was turning onto the road beside the banner. I realized then that I had an opportunity to learn first hand about Play Golf America, something that I had only read about.

The parking lot was full of cars, every slot on the driving range had golfers taking lessons from golf professionals, others hitting balls with their own equipment or trying the latest and greatest equipment at demo tents such as Nike, Callaway, Cobra and Ping.

Every person received a packet with information on Play Golf America, a Carolinas Golf Association magazine, a coupon for a discount on a bucket of balls at Rick Murphy's Carolina Golf Academy and more.

Rick Murphy is the Vice President of the Carolinas PGA Section and had been interested in hosting a Play Golf America event for the last couple of years. This year he held this event instead of a junior clinic day.

His objective was to get more people interested in playing golf - to get them out on the course to play or play more. The free lessons and being able to try the equipment in a real situation may be just the thing that would introduce someone to the game who might otherwise not take the first step. Or, someone may want new equipment, but didn't know where to start.

In addition to the golf professionals that teach regularly at this learning center, he welcomed other professionals. They, too, had the opportunity to make a difference and get new people into the game as well as develop new customers.

The Piedmont Triad Executive Women's Golf Association chapter welcomed each woman to the event, telling them about golf in Winston-Salem, Greensboro and Jamestown. One woman was in the bakery business and had been a golfer for many years. Another, who was in marketing for an accounting firm, had only been playing a year. Both realized the importance of playing golf and what it meant to their businesses.

If you spent the day at Play Golf America taking lessons and testing equipment, you could stop by the BBQ concession trailer for a sandwich or more to build up your stamina to try the next challenge.

Play Golf America is an industry-wide national marketing campaign developed and led by The PGA of America to increase golf participation among new and occasional golfers nationwide. Supported by a variety of allied associations, including the LPGA, National Golf Course Owners Association, PGA TOUR and the United States Golf Association, Play Golf America offers a variety of adult player development programs geared to connect people to the game.
For more information about Play Golf America, visit www.playgolfamerica.com.

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