Exclusive NGF Articles and Reports
Buttoning Up Play in 2021
Play in 2021 finished ahead of 2020 after yet another positive year-over-year gain for December. See how many more rounds that translated to.
Coming into the year, only the most optimistic thought the industry could beat 2020 rounds. Here's how 2021 play shaped up.
Consumer surveys indicate that gift-giving for all things golf – including equipment, apparel and accessories -- is projected to remain strong this holiday season, even as manufacturers and retailers wrestle with production, inventory and shipping challenges.
October rounds-played almost matched the late-season surges seen in 2020, as total play remains up year-over-year.
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.
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.”
Rounds played continued to see strong momentum during July even though year-over-year play was actually down compared to last year’s pandemic-fueled summer surge.
There have been far more golf course closures than openings in the U.S. over the past 15 years. But did you realize that almost 740 U.S. golf courses have had openings during that period? That total, during what’s looked at as a “down period” for the industry, is more than the entire golf course supply in nations such as Scotland, Ireland, Spain and South Africa.
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.
Course Supply Leveling Out
NGF's database team has seen a significant drop in a particular supply-based area during the first half of 2021. Could this be the year golf course supply in the U.S. levels out?
Early summer play matches initial surge seen in 2020
In the first real test of the sustainability of the 2020 summer surge, June 2021 rounds were essentially equal to June of last year.
