October 2019 National Rounds Played Report

Click image to view the full October 2019 rounds played report

Rounds of golf played in October 2019 were up 4% compared to a year ago, buoyed by significant increases in golf-rich states such as Ohio, Michigan, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

As 2019 draws to a close, the national rounds-played total is up 0.9% year-over-year.

A year ago, October rounds dropped 10.3% as average temperatures dipped in many of the major golf regions. This year, October rounds were up almost 21% in the East North Central (Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin) and rose almost 15% in the Mid-Atlantic region (New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania). Two of the biggest jumps were seen in the metro areas of Cleveland (+34.6%) and Pittsburgh (+29.8).

As the season transitions from Fall to Winter, golf courses in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast tend to be most significantly affected by weather changes that determine the amount of playable days.

The remaining months will have far less of an impact on the national rounds-played figure due to winter weather closing golf operations in some areas of the country. If the current trend continues, the year-end number for total rounds appears to be around 438 million.