90 Years in 90 Seconds
How the National Golf Foundation has evolved alongside the game it serves
In 1936, with golf courses emptied and equipment makers struggling through the Great Depression, brothers Herb and Joe Graffis, along with six manufacturers, pooled $17,000 to keep the game alive. That act founded the National Golf Foundation.
In the decades since, NGF has moved as the industry has moved. The organization reconditioned golf balls during World War II so the game could continue, then helped towns across the country build public courses, extending access to a game once reserved for the few. It trained a generation of physical education teachers and published golf instruction by the millions.
In 1989, NGF shifted from a promotional organization into golf’s dedicated data and research authority, a role it has held through the building boom, the Tiger Woods-era peak, the Great Recession, and the 2020 pandemic, tracking the industry’s highs and lows in real time.
Today, golf generates more than $100 billion in economic impact annually, and NGF’s research informs decisions ranging from Wall Street analysts to the manager of a nine-hole course in Iowa.
This year, as NGF marks 90 years, the organization also moves into a new home, carrying the same mission into its next chapter. Watch the full story above.
