Exclusive NGF Articles and Reports
Golf Facilities Report Now Available
Annual Members-Only Report Provides Supply Overview

This comprehensive annual summary provides an overview of golf facility supply in the U.S., the world’s best-supplied golf market.
Topics: Facilities, Facility Supply, Golf Courses, Reports, Research

2021 Play Looks to Finish on December Upswing
NGF member-only rounds analysis

What do early returns on December's nationwide play show after the final month of 2020 had a 37% jump?
Topics: Facility Operations, Golf Courses, Research, Rounds Played

Military Golf in the U.S.
Golf is an important recreation and rehabilitation outlet for those who serve and protect our country.

Collectively, the various branches of the U.S. Armed Forces operate more than 150 U.S. golf courses. If the individual branches were grouped together to form a single management company, it would rank among the top multi-course operators in the country.
Topics: Facilities, Facility Operations, Golf Courses, Management, Management Company

How 2021 Rounds Compare to 2020 Entering Q4

It's likely year-over-year play will continue to be down in the final months of the year, but it's important to keep these declines in proper perspective.
Topics: Engagement, Facilities, Facility Operations, Golf Courses, Golfers

Green Fee Changes and the Cost of Golf
NGF operator surveys and database dive into whether the pandemic has driven price increases

A recent survey of public golf course operators revealed fairly widespread pricing adjustments in 2021 that impacted average playing fees. Those increases varied from bumps in peak season and non-peak rates to limited discounting and a shifting of what courses consider their “peak season.”
Topics: Consumer Spending, Economy, Facilities, Facility Operations, Golf Courses

August Rounds and Pre-Covid Comparisons
NGF Member Bulletin

Given the surge in rounds played in the second half of last year, our expectation has been that play this year in Q3 and Q4 would fall somewhere between 2020 and prior year averages. This was the case in July and now again in August.
Topics: Facilities, Facility Operations, Golf Courses, Participation, Research

Playing the Right Tees
Member-Only Core Golfer Survey Findings and Operator Feedback

Not only is a higher-than-expected percentage of golfers playing tees that are too long for them, many realize they should be playing up, but aren't. Here's what the latest findings say.
Topics: Facilities, Facility Operations, Golf Courses, Golfers, Research

July Rounds Down Slightly, as Expected
NGF Member Bulletin

While July rounds were down year-over-year, play is still trending closer to 2020's 'surge' levels than prior, pre-pandemic years.
Topics: Facilities, Facility Operations, Golf Courses, Participation, Rounds Played

Not All Golf Course Closures Are Failures
Some owners plan exit strategies around high demand for real estate

The closing of a popular or once-popular golf course isn’t typically celebrated, but the reality is that not every golf course is destined to live forever. In some cases, a golf course served its purpose and its remnants will reward its users equally well, or even better. For some course owners, selling is a long-planned exit strategy.
Topics: Closures, Facilities, Facility Operations, Golf Courses, Golf Facilities

May Rounds Climb as Summer Months Loom as Measuring Stick

May rounds were up year-over-year, as expected, given the operational restrictions that were still in place for the month in 2020. Now, with summer upon us, is when it really starts getting interesting – in terms of comps – for the golf industry.
Topics: Engagement, Facilities, Facility Operations, Golf Courses, Municipal Golf
