How’s golf doing? 9 must-know numbers about the (booming?!) industry

How’s golf doing? 9 must-know numbers about the (booming?!) industry

These days, any time I get into conversation with a friend from outside the golf world I keep getting one question: How’s golf doing? The answer I keep coming back to is some version of, “Honestly, it’s doing pretty well, all things considered.” But what does that mean — and what do the numbers tell us?

Every time I check out the National Golf Foundation’s website, I learn something new, and since the pandemic began its spread across the United States they’ve been in overdrive. Scouring their Covid-19 report, I picked out nine numbers that helped me better understand how golf really is doing — and what that means for those of us who are invested in the health and future of the game.

98

Percent of golf courses open for play. Our first number (which is on the low end, if anything) is a fantastic piece of news for the golf industry, which is that namely that the game is open for business! In April, this percent was hovering in the low-to-mid 40s. Now? Nearly 100 percent. Golf course facilities may not be operating as they normally would, but nearly every single course has golfers on its fairways.

441

Millions of rounds of golf played in the United States in 2019. Golf, like any industry, is hoping for growth, which means there were hopes that 2020 would see a greater number than 2019. But 441 million is a large number, and when the pandemic hit, expectations had to adjust.

Full story: https://golf.com/travel/golf-courses-industry-booming-9-numbers/