January 2024 National Rounds Played

January 2024 play got off to a sluggish start on a national level, as colder temperatures than a year ago in northern parts of the country rich in golfers and golf courses led to a nearly 17% year-over-year rounds decline.

There’s volatility when comparing yearly results for an “off-season” month like January, given that weather and seasonality can have such a significant impact on what is a low-volume month for play nationally.

A year ago, January play was up 7% YOY thanks to warmer temperatures and rain instead of snow throughout much of the Northeast, helping kick off what would be a record year for rounds. In 2022, January rounds were down 12% from the year prior. That was in part because January of 2021 saw a major increase over the first month of 2020.

• January 2024     (-17%)
• January 2023      (+7%)
• January 2022     (-12%)
• January 2021     (+21%)
• January 2020     (+11%)

This January, chillier temperatures and fewer playable days led to notable YOY declines in the Mid Atlantic (-65%), East North Central (-70%) and West North Central (-71%) regions. In total, January play was down in six of the eight geographic regions, with drops that extended to the South Atlantic (-19%) and South Central (-43%) regions.

NGF provides facility-level rounds data to Golf Datatech in helping compile the free, monthly play reports on behalf of the golf industry. Click the image below to see the full report, which includes state and select market-level data. ⬇

Click image for full three-page PDF

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