In Caddyshack, arguably the greatest golf movie ever and certainly the most widely known, the clash is between the old guard of golf and a brash group of newcomers more dedicated to enjoying their newfound pastime than deferring to its norms. In one of the most raucous scenes, the great comic actor Rodney Dangerfield launches a full-blown party on the golf course when he starts blaring rock and roll music from a stereo embedded in his mammoth golf bag. That scene was hysterically funny, in part because of the unthinkability of something like music being played on the course.
But 30 years after Caddyshack, what was once comical has become commonplace. Technology and changing attitudes among the new generation and newly converted have seen a number of changes to the game, and the practice of playing music on the golf course is one of the most prevalent.
Music and sports have been wedded for a long time. At college and professional sporting venues across the country, music has become increasingly constant and at times relentless. Virtually everything that happens in the field of play, good or bad, is accompanied by a soundtrack of more or less relevant tunes. It’s become so interwoven into the sports landscape that the term “stadium anthem” has become a part of the sports vocabulary of the nation.
But golf was always a different thing, a game played with such calm and restraint that it had to have its own version of applause, the golf clap. At country clubs that practiced strict codes of conduct, to play music on the golf course would have resulted in immediate reprimand if not dismissal. And while public courses didn’t have the threat of excommunication from the facility, music would have been just as unwelcome.
I remember the first time I experienced the potential clash of cultures of the on-course music lover and the anti-music stalwart. It was about six years ago, when I was playing in an invitational pro-am in the Bahamas, and my playing partner, a good-natured pro from the then-Web.com Tour, was waiting on the first tee to see whom we would be paired with. A couple of minutes before the tee time, we heard our pairing coming before we saw them. As they pulled up to the tee box, the sounds of Diana Ross and the Supremes Live at the Copacabana were blaring from a speaker they were carrying. The pro and amateur cheerfully hopped out of their cart and shook hands with us as we prepared to tee off, but I watched my pro’s easy smile turn into a hard look of annoyance and disapproval. The music remained at concert level for the first four holes, and my pro was getting more and more annoyed by the minute. His grip and his jaw tightened as he sprayed the ball around the course; meanwhile, our partners moved from Motown to 80’s Alternative Rock. By the 5th hole I knew that I needed to do something to prevent a full-blown meltdown and possible dust-up. I approached the playing partners’ cart and sheepishly asked if they would mind turning the music down because it was distracting me and throwing my already fragile game askew; in reality, I was actually loving the tunes, but I fell on the social grenade on behalf of my pro. The other team graciously turned off the music for the rest of the round, and my reward was that my pro recovered to shoot 69 and we won the pro-am.
Now, on-course speakers are commonplace. Bluetooth speakers have become smaller and more powerful every year, and when paired with the ubiquitous cellphone virtually any song or artist can be accessed. Long-time golf technology manufacturers like Bushnell are now offering speakers specifically designed for the golf course, complete with powerful magnets and built-in crowd noises to digitally celebrate or lament a given result. As a proponent of music on the course, I was particularly excited to see that the latest model golf carts feature integrated speaker systems that can be connected to a golfer’s phone at the touch of a button. It’s precisely the type of new amenities that owner operators are investing in to attract and retain the next wave of golfers.
Of course, the camps of music versus no music remain divided, and the job of reconciling them often falls to the owners and operators. Keith Miller is the CEO of the Montgomery County (Md.) Revenue Authority, which operates the county’s nine golf courses in one of the most diverse and populous areas in the nation. The county serves golfers of all levels of experience and intensity, so invariably there can be a clash of cultures when it comes to music.
“We want our customers to enjoy their experience on the golf course, and for a lot of golfers now music is a part of that,” says Miller. “We have had a couple of instances where one group has been playing music so loud that it disturbed golfers on an adjacent tee box and we have been asked to intervene.
“What we ask people to do is just be considerate and tone it down so that their musical experience is enjoyed by just themselves.”
Miller and MCRA have it right. The game is scored by its written rules, but its unwritten rules allow people to share and enjoy the same venue. Common courtesy should rule the day when it comes to music on course. Music should be played at a level where it is enjoyed within one group, or even within one cart. When playing with strangers, ask If music is welcomed; in my experience, virtually everyone is okay with music if played at reasonable levels and silenced when someone is standing over a shot. The selection of music should also be mindful; certain genres that might work at the pool party or the tailgate might be a little jarring for the golf course. My go-to playlist is 70’s AM Gold, a list that almost always brings a smile and a singalong from even the most music-resistant golfer.
On-course music definitely is here to stay and as it is adopted and adapted, it will be the thoughtfulness of the average golfer and the ingenuity of the owner operator that will ensure that it is a welcome addition rather than a distraction. Dancing on course? Well, that’s a topic for another day.