This piece has taken me weeks to write. Is that because of the unfailing desire for the perfect sentence? No. This (passable) article, which would have been a weekend worth of concentration in the past, has been de-prioritized. Many times. The list of de-prioritized items is long—and playing golf is very much on that list.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

In times past, it was traditional for (mostly) men to work 9-5 through the week, have after-work drinks, and continue their departure from the household on Saturdays to play golf. It was fantastic for golf participation (and bar sales) but in parallel to my handicap, golf participation has been going in the other direction. As a father of two young daughters, I am a part of the generation of parents in the mid-20s to mid-30s who see golf as a nice to have—but golf will always be there—and the chance to see my girls grow up will not.

Unfortunately, for golf retailers and courses, I am not the only golfer with priorities that have shifted away from the course.

So, what is golf for me these days? Over the last two months, it has been one round of “real” golf and a bonus tee off after 7 p.m. on a simulator at the local golf retailer. I get my golf hit and I only miss a bedtime story or two—my dad guilt stays below manageable levels. There are plenty of dads (and mums) who play no less golf than before their children arrived, and all power to them, but the number of parents shifting their priorities to the younger generation is getting larger all the time. Until my daughters get old enough to be coming along to the course by my side, I will be playing golf far less than the weekly rounds of my youth.

So, what can the industry do about this?

The world of cricket was based in a form of the game which stretched over as many days as it took to bowl out each team of 11 players twice. Mercifully, this was shortened to five days, which has been the standard for many decades. The popularity of this form of the game is now the domain of the traditionalists, and die-hards who can commit to hour-upon-hour, day-after-day of strategy and defense over attack. Cricket has now bowed to fast-moving elements of society, with a huge investment in “one-day” games back in the 1980s starting the trend to what is today a thriving breed of the game known as T20—each team facing 20 overs each, and matches lasting less than four hours from start to finish.

I never thought I would get excited about going indoors for my golf, but opening the door to golf after daylight hours is a great win for me. Socially, it is also a heck of a lot easier to convince a new golfer to hit balls at a screen with a couple of beers than to go out in questionable weather for four or more hours. There is also the function on simulators to have gimme putts from inside 3 meters which immediately removes 80 percent of my stress from normal outdoor rounds…

But for those who will never cross the threshold of an indoor simulator, why can’t we finally embrace nine holes as a reasonable alternative? When my daughters went down for a nap last weekend, I was able to run out for a glorious nine-hole round on my own and be home within two hours. A circa-two-hour round is a much easier activity to fit in between meals, and would more than double the number of journeys to the course for many! That means an increase to traffic through the clubhouse, more bar sales, and happier players and spouses back on the home front. It is also a much easier entry for those children to get into the game once they do finally come of age.

The courses themselves could also be made more accessible, with courses like the Cradle at Pinehurst now bringing a fantastic alternative to full-length courses. It still only takes a pure wedge and a 20-foot putt to get someone coming back next week, and there is far less fear for the majority of players vs the 250-yard par 3’s and 500-yard par-4’s that are becoming the norm on courses around the world.

Another option that many clubs are now turning to is the advent of different membership types for players. I am on a membership that gives me access to 10 18-hole rounds for the year or 20 nine-hole rounds to be taken whenever I get the chance–including Saturday competitions. This works perfectly for me, and I don’t feel as though I am needing to get out all the time to get value for money or anything else.

There is certainly no “one-size-fits-all solution” for clubs to get people coming back through the doors, and there are still plenty of clubs that have no trouble getting members to pay full subs for rounds on their loooooong courses. However, for me these days, golf has to be fun before it has to be a “test” or a “journey to a scratch handicap,” and that means making it as easy as possible to get a club onto the ball.

I can’t wait for this Thursday night when I have a simulator booked at the local golf shop to play a cheeky nine holes at Pebble Beach. 100 percent better than not playing golf at all!