The third Symposium on Affordable Golf will be held Monday and Tuesday at the Elks Club in Southern Pines. The event touches upon challenges faced in the golf industry as well as issues and concerns brought forth by golfers.

A variety of topics will address playability, sustainability, clubhouse design and getting back to the roots and tradition of the game.

The event, which is open to the public with no fee for admission, kicks off at 8 a.m. Monday with an introduction by Gary Strohl of Richard Mandell Golf Architecture, followed by a discussion by James Moore, director of the USGA’s Green Section’s Education, as to when sustainability and golfspeak intersect.

Mandell then speaks on returning the game to affordability, and how less can actually be more.

Following are topics on restoring an Old Tom Morris classic course by Gordon Irvine, a course management consultant; value versus lower green fees by Jim Woodring of National Golf Management and Paul Sampliner of Golfnow.com; “Let’s Start Romancing the Game Again,” by Michael Hebron, a Master Golf professional; a case study of a lighted executive course in a major suburban area by Kevin Jones of Knight’s Play Golf Center;

Zero Waste Golf, by Josh Heptig, director of golf operations for the County of San Luis Obispo in California; and a round table discussion of the Golf Generation Gap featuring golfers Drew Beatty, Brian Griffith, Jan Eyer, PGA Life Member Bob Zydonik, author Jim Dodson, and Master Professional and Top 100 Teacher Dana Rader.

Tuesday kicks off at 9:15 a.m. with an open discussion on “The Golf Experience”; followed by a case study of Wolf Point Golf Club in Texas by course designer Mike Nuzzo; “The Curious Case of the Taj Mahalics” (the idea that the bigger the clubhouse the better), by Marjorie Feltus and David Hawkins of FH Design; and closing with Brown is the “New Green,” by Robert Randquist, immediate past president of the GCSAA, and Jim Hyler of Raleigh, immediate past president of the USGA.

The discussions will be followed by a golf outing at Southern Pines Golf Club at 1 p.m.