The number of rounds of golf played late in 2020 have seen enormous surges versus 2019 as all kinds of golfers – from novices to past enthusiasts reentering the sport – have sought escape from the coronavirus pandemic. But that doesn’t mean 2020 will set the growth record.
Turns out, even this year’s flood of golfers can’t beat Tiger Woods in his youth.
The National Golf Foundation and Golf Datatech, both industry observers tracking rounds played and trends, estimate in a report released this week that 2020 will end with about a 12-percent increase in rounds played in the United States over 2019’s total round played. That equates to 50 million more rounds played in 2020, the second-highest increase of any year reported.
The highest? That would be 1997, when Woods grabbed international fame with his record-breaking Masters title at the age of 21.
The U.S. saw a jump in rounds played of 63 million in 1997 over 1996, according to Golf Datatech. That year spawned what became known as the “Tiger Effect” as players flocked to the game in the wake of Woods’ inspirational April performance.
Not that 2020 has been anything to scoff at, considering the pandemic and the fact that many courses – and the sport in entire states – were shut down for much of the spring and early summer as coronavirus cases first surged.
Since June, not only have rounds played increased each month versus the same periods in 2019, the rate of increase has climbed significantly. In October 2020, rounds played in the U.S. were up 32.2 percent over the same month in 2019. That followed increases of approximately 14 percent in June, 20 percent in July, 21 percent in August and 26 percent in September.
U.S. golf courses had lost approximately 20 million rounds as courses were closed in the spring, according to Golf Datatech, which at the start of May put total rounds played in a 16-percent hole compared to the same period of 2019. But the increases since June have resulted in an increase of 50 million rounds year to date. October 2020 alone saw an increase of 11 million rounds over October 2019.
There are other factors besides the pandemic. Good weather certainly has played a role. But the NGF reported that typical fluctuations in rounds played in the U.S. have averaged less than 5 percent per year for more than 20 years, so golf’s position as a relatively safe recreational activity during the pandemic appears to have played the starring role in 2020’s surge.
Despite all the good news, there is still uncertainty about any long-term gains. A large portion of the surge in rounds played has been by juniors and novices, and it is yet to be seen if those players will continue in golf for years to come or if capture rates will decrease. The NGF also points out that not all business segments are equally enjoying the “V-shaped” recovery and boom in rounds played. For example, resorts that require travel, especially air travel, have not seen the same spikes as locally favored destinations.
And while rounds played at private clubs have soared, that doesn’t necessarily equate to increases in revenues. Dues typically have remained static for existing members, so basically the average cost per round has dropped at many private clubs while maintenance requirements have increased. Meanwhile, food and beverage revenue has dropped for many clubs because players are reluctant to linger in a clubhouse after a round.
Still, all things considered in what has been a terrible year for so many, golf as a whole has proved to be a silver lining as the pandemic continues to storm.
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