How has golf helped you in business?

A recent survey in the US revealed that chief executives of corporations who play golf are paid 17% more than those who don’t.

Writing in The Economist this week, the paper’s business editor looked for confirmation at the door of Julian Small, CEO of The Wentworth Club one of the game’s most exclusive golf destinations.

The author suggested that golfers ‘must constantly contend with two pernicious, false and yet widespread beliefs - that golf is boring and that business people who play it are all weasels who plot fraudulent deals between shots.’

But, as you’d expect Mr Small offered a robust defence of a sport that people of any age can play it. He pointed out that tennis can be fun, but if the 65-year-old boss of the company you are trying to sell widgets to dies of a heart attack running for your power serve, it probably won’t help your business.

Golf’s other strengths include a handicap system, where people of widely differing abilities can compete against each other, you spend only a small portion of a four-hour round actually hitting balls so plenty of time to talk shop and golf is also a fine test of character.

“When you do business with people, you need to know more about them,” says Mr Small. “Golf rewards players who remain calm under pressure, never lose their temper and think strategically - all virtues in business.”

And he adds, the culture of golf is one of scrupulous honesty. It is easy to cheat, he says, and golfers have been known to move their ball to a nicer lie when no one is watching.

“But it is utterly unacceptable to do this. Cheaters are shunned and word their dishonesty spreads quickly.”

He says the star golfers you see on television set a wonderful example.

“When they accidentally move their ball, they call a penalty on themselves—even if no one would have noticed, and even if it means they lose the tournament and a fortune in prize money.”

The report revealed that a recent study said that bosses who don’t play golf are paid 17% less on average than those who do and asked if this could be because the qualities that make a good golfer - a mixture of hyper-competitiveness with strategic thinking and coolness under fire—also make for a good CEO?

Probably not, the author observed, because the same study found that although bosses who play golf are paid more, they do not necessarily produce better results for shareholders.

Has golf helped your business?

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