• by Karl Greenberg , June 12, 2015

The United States Golf Association (USGA) is launching a new tentpole campaign that takes a new slant on the game.

The golfing organization is reaching out to a broader, ethnically and economically diverse audience who might just perceive the game as a lily-white pastime for the Greenwich, Conn. demographic. The message -- sometimes implied, sometimes stated -- is that the game is for all regardless of race, ethnic background, and income, and you don't have to be a pro to enjoy it.

The campaign -- “There’s a Lot to Love About Golf,” via DDB -- centers on four TV ads launching on Monday, whose media rotation reflects the broader message. It also benefits from the organization's new 12-year contract with Fox signed this year: the USGA will run the raft of new ads way beyond the traditional tactic of limiting rotation to golf coverage. 

The USGA says that the combined six spots — a pair of teasers launched in May — will air principally on the USGA’s summer schedule of televised golf championships, beginning with the U.S. Open Championship at Chambers Bay in Washington. But it will also have big rotation on Fox Business, Fox.com, Foxsports.com, the National Geographic Channel, plus the Golf Channel and TSN Canada. It is also, per the organization, the first time that one of its ads will air in Spanish, via MundoFox and Fox Deportes. 

One of the ads, which shows pinging balls across a warehouse and a guy putting on fake grass in his office, has a voiceover by an African American narrator, who mulls whether golf is really a game. “Yeah, it has game-like qualities; but the word ‘game’ doesn't seem to have enough ‘mmmph’ to describe it.” As we see shots of ethnically and economically diverse people playing, the voiceover continues with the message that you don't have to be superhuman to play, as “this game is for everyone.” 

Another ad touts USGA's amateur matches as conduits for making golf “more open” and for cultivating new talent. Another promotes golf as “welcoming and supportive of friendly competition,” because of the USGA Handicap System.

“The game of golf is really the star here,” said Sarah Hirshland, USGA senior managing director of business affairs, in a statement. “Intended to be welcoming and inspiring, the campaign collectively shows where the USGA is devoting its resources relative to the game and its long-term health.”