Maybe it was somewhere between watching the Masters this past weekend and seeing “Happy Gilmore” on cable (which, by the way, is not nearly as funny when it’s edited for TV), but I decided to write about golf for my column this week.

Yes, I said golf.

If you haven’t already moved on to a different story by now, thanks for sticking around. I promise I will try to do my best not to bore you to death like the soothing voice of Jim Nantz. I’m falling asleep just thinking … about … him.

Anyway, let’s get to the point: Golf is a dying game.

Sure, Tiger Woods gave it a popularity and advertising boost that it will enjoy for a little while longer, but right now golf is on the life support of wealthy people who continue to buy golf clubs and other gear in hopes of making the PGA someday or just hitting the links for some relaxation.

I’m sorry to say this, but golf is boring. Like God-awful boring. I compare watching golf to taking a really long plane flight. It’s got some exciting moments at the beginning and the end with a few fun little patches of turbulence in between, but it’s mostly just sitting around for hours while doing nothing.

It might be because the younger generation was born into a Golden Age of slam dunks, Hail Marys and home runs, but I get the feeling the youth of America just doesn’t care anymore. In fact, the older I get, the more I hate it. Without a future fan base, golf can wave bye-bye to TV time and advertisers. This will be the end of golf, unless golf wants to change it.

Personally, I don’t particularly care if golf survives into the future or not, but it does pain me to watch it suffer when there are a few steps it could take to save itself while also respecting the tradition of the game.

First, golf needs to change most (but not all) of its events to the match-play format. I know this may not be ideal to most people, but this will make the game 10 times more interesting than it is now. Not only will it make the tournaments more exciting (a similar kind of excitement the NCAA basketball tournament enjoys every March), but it will start more rivalries between players and set up marketable matchups in golf that the PGA can sell to the public to increase viewership (thus increasing advertising).

The next step would be to liven up the broadcasts a little bit. Unbutton those tight collars and let the audience feel like they’re involved. Now I’m not saying they should put Stuart Scott in the booth so he can yell, “Boo-ya!” every time Tiger tees off, but please don’t put the audience to sleep (I took the best nap of my life during the Masters).

Networks need to ditch that corny piano music they play at commercial breaks and let the announcers use more than their 6-inch voices. Televised golf is the lifeline between the public and the game, but golf is currently flat-lining in this area.

The final part is to get the fans more involved. Now I know a lot of traditionalists are going to hate this idea, but let the crowd be loud. Let them heckle or cheer the whole time. Let them clap like they’re crazy and start chanting players’ names. Of course, you would probably have to move the crowd back a little in order to make this fair to the golfers, but nothing makes a fan feel like they are more involved with their game than knowing they can have an effect on the outcome.

Plus, professional golfers have an amazing amount of mental strength and focus. I think they would be able to play through a little noise. Maybe this is something golf can experiment with in an exhibition tournament.

I’m sure some of you still reading this right now are steaming mad at me for wanting to change golf so radically. What right does some journalism student have to try and change such a tradition-rich game like golf? I probably don’t have much and I understand your anger, but even though I’m not a fan of golf, I have the utmost respect for it and for the people who play it professionally.

The last thing I want to see is any great game crash and burn into nothing.

Kyle Betts is a senior in Media. He can be reached at [email protected].