3-Minute Business Insights
A few high-profile fights for the preservation of municipal golf courses have led some to believe that Muni golf is facing an existential threat. It isn’t. Well, at least in 49 out of 50 states it isn’t.
"this legislative initiative is based, at least in part, on inaccurate information"
Municipal golf is under fire in California, misguidedly so. See the attached PDF for NGF's full response.
A new year brings new rounds-played data
On a national level, January '22 rounds didn't match the relatively strong starts seen the past two years, at least for regions in season.
"We thought we could never keep up with the fall of 2020”
Nationwide, play in 2021 increased by almost 6% over 2020. The biggest gains were seen in the spring given that during 2020 over half of U.S. golf courses were shut down for more than a month. But for the year, it was this category that really spurred rounds increases.
Rounds of golf in 2020 were almost unthinkably high – the industry erased 20 years of decline in about six months. Naturally, we all wondered how 2021 would go. Would demand maintain, or regress as people presumably fell back into old routines? Emphatically, it was the former.
Annual Members-Only Report Summarizes U.S. Play
This summary report provides an overview of the record-setting 2021 play in the world's top golf market.
A Closer Look at Course Openings
A member-only dive into new facilities
In 2021, the number of new course openings in the U.S. was again limited. And yet these debuts, from Florida to Washington, hit their highest number since 2017.
Need to Know Numbers About Golf Course Closures
Member-Only Look at Ongoing Supply Correction
During the past two years of the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. golf course market has experienced noteworthy changes. In 2021, course closure numbers reached a level not seen in over a decade.
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.
Big Shift for Course Closures in 2021
Over the past year or so we’ve talked about the improving supply/demand balance for golf in the U.S. There are indications of this move toward equilibrium in the year-end 2021 data, including a slight increase in not one, but two facility types.
U.S. Golf Supply Changes
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.
