Tag: National Golf Foundation

Massachusetts the last state to keep its golf courses closed

After Vermont and Maryland announce plans to reopen courses, Massachusetts remains the only state closed to golf because of coronavirus

Massachusetts is the last state to have neither opened its golf courses nor announced when they can open after governors in Maryland and Vermont said that courses in their states will be allowed to resume play Thursday.

The governors of Maryland and Vermont made their announcements Wednesday, following on the heels of several other states to recently announce when golf could open in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Washington allowed the game to resume Tuesday, and New Hampshire’s courses are allowed to reopen May 11. Alaska remains closed because of seasonality.

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker has ordered non-essential business to remain closed until at least May 18. When asked specifically about golf courses Wednesday, the governor said he wouldn’t speak about hypotheticals, according to masslive.com.

Despite being shut down, the sport is receiving plenty of attention in Massachusetts. The owner of two courses has vowed to open her clubs this week despite Baker’s mandate, and another course – International Golf Club & Resort in Bolton – filed for bankruptcy this week.

Across the country, 79 percent of golf courses in the United States were open as of May 3, according to a National Golf Foundation update. That’s up from 58 percent the week before. The latest NGF data shows that 66 percent of municipal courses, 83 percent of public daily-fee courses and 77 percent of private courses were open as of May 3.

Just because most governors have allowed the game to resume or never shuttered the sport during the pandemic, not all courses have reopened in those states. Some are still closed to seasonality, and others are shut down by municipal or county mandates.

Many top resorts have announced their reopening dates as well, and off-course retail golf shops in several states have started allowing customers into the stores as governors have loosened stay-at-home orders.

On Tuesday, golf industry leaders announced a set of guidelines that could help courses reopen safely as part of the new Back2Golf initiative that includes the PGA of America, the U.S. Golf Association and the PGA Tour, among others. The guidelines were developed in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Only three states remain closed to golf with no announced plans to open soon

Only three states are still closed to golf without announced plans to reopen because of coronavirus, the National Golf Foundation reports

The National Golf Foundation reported Monday that only three states remained closed to golf with no announced plans of when courses might reopen in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic: Maryland, Massachusetts and Vermont.

Washington’s courses are allowed to reopen May 5, and New Hampshire’s tracks are clear to start play May 11. Alaska is closed because of seasonality. The rest of the 50 states are open, albeit a few with some restrictions still in place at the city or county level.

The NGF reported last week that 58 percent of the courses in the U.S. were open as of April 26, and that is expected to pass 80 percent this week when numbers are updated.

Eight states – Illinois, Maine, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – have cleared their courses to open in the past 10 days. There also has been significant easing of local restrictions in New York, Hawaii and California.

For example, in California most southern counties with the exception of Los Angeles County have cleared golf. Six San Francisco Bay-area counties cleared golf May 4, the NGF noted in its report.

The rest of the industry is coming back to life after the coronavirus pandemic also. Off-course golf retail shops are reopening in several states such as Florida, and several top resorts have announced plans to restart the game and reopen accommodations after having been shuttered for more than a month.

For example, Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon plans to reopen May 11, Destination Kohler in Wisconsin has opened several of its options for accommodations to go along with the recent seasonal opening of Whistling Straits, and Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina will begin accepting hotel guests on May 22 to play its courses, which did not close during the pandemic.

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NGF: Only four states remained closed to golf with no announced dates to reopen

Only four states to remain closed for golf, with several states and previously restricted counties having opened this week

The National Golf Foundation reported Friday that soon there will be only four states remaining that bar golf during the coronavirus pandemic.

Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont are the foursome where golf courses have been mandated to remain shut indefinitely during the pandemic. Alaska’s courses are closed because of seasonality.

Courses in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Nevada, New Mexico and Maine were allowed to reopen Friday, May 1. New Jersey plans to allow its courses to open May 2 and Washington’s courses can open May 5.

The NGF reported earlier this week that 58 percent of the courses in the U.S. were open as of April 26, many with social distancing restrictions and other precautions such as only online payment and making walking required to prevent the spread of the disease that has killed more than 64,000 Americans and more than 236,000 around the globe.

Some courses are still closed because of city or county mandates. California has seen a rise in course reopening as counties have eased restrictions, and the same is true in Florida, where Palm Beach County, Miami-Dade and Broward allowed golf to resume.

Other courses, especially at many resorts, remain closed to guest play by choice as affiliated hotels and restaurants are shuttered. Some of those resorts are allowing members to play, such as at Reynolds Lake Oconee and Sea Island in Georgia.

The NGF estimates that 80 percent of courses in the U.S. will be open my mid-May or sooner.

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NGF report: More than half of U.S. golf courses now open

58 percent of U.S. golf courses are now open during coronavirus pandemic, up from 49 percent the week before, according to NGF report

More than half the golf courses in the United States are now open for the first time in more than a month, according to this week’s Covid-19 update by the National Golf Foundation.

As of the week ending April 26, 58 percent of U.S. courses were open, based on a survey of more than 1,200 courses. That’s up from 49 percent open the week before.

Eleven states currently are closed entirely for golf during the coronavirus pandemic, according to the NGF’s report done in cooperation with the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. They are Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Washington. Illinois will allow its golf courses to reopen May 1.

Many courses are still closed despite having the option of opening. Those include the courses at several top resorts where golf might be allowed but hotel operations have been shuttered – with nowhere for guests to stay and amenities such as spas and restaurants closed, there wouldn’t be enough traffic to keep the courses open.

Some states such as California, Texas and Florida have counties or cities where golf courses are closed by local mandate despite no statewide ban.

Percentage of courses open by region (Source: National Golf Foundation)

Regionally, the West Coast and the Northeast have the most closed courses (see map).

Based on several factors such as multiple counties and municipalities in California allowing courses to reopen in the past week and some municipal courses in New York, including Bethpage, coming back online, the NGF anticipates that the total number of courses nationwide to be open to soon rise as high as 68 percent.

Contributing to the greater percentage of courses open are those northern tracks just coming online based on seasonality. Alaska’s golf season hasn’t started because of seasonality, and that state isn’t included among the closed states.

Percentage of courses open based on course type (Source: National Golf Foundation)

The report showed that nationwide 44 percent of municipal courses were open April 26, up from 40 percent the week before. The number of public daily-fee courses increased from 51 percent on April 19 to 62 percent on April 26, and the number of private clubs open increased from 52 percent 60 percent in that time span.

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NGF report: Nearly half of U.S. courses were open last week

A national survey conducted by the NGF found that 49 percent of courses were open for play and that number could soon surge to 57 percent.

The number of golf courses open for play last week in the United States has increased, according to the latest national survey of golf facilities by the National Golf Foundation.

Its fourth survey revealed that 49 percent of courses in the U.S. were open for play last week. This figure, which is based on phone surveys of 1,271 golf facilities, has risen slightly over the past weeks and the NGF expects it to continue to do so as warmer weather creeps further north, Wisconsin allows walking-only play, some private clubs re-open to members in New York, and golf operations resume in a few California counties.

Last week, the NGF said the percentage of open U.S. courses had climbed from roughly 44 to 48 percent. For the week ending April 19, that number moseyed up one more percentage point, meaning just under half of all courses in the U.S. are open for play.

The biggest optimism in the coming weeks is a potential surge in openings at courses located above 45 degrees latitude — namely in states such as Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North and South Dakotas and Wisconsin.

The NGF projects that the percentage of open courses could climb to 57 percent in the immediate future — and potentially higher — as long as there is no further action from state and local governments or voluntary closures.

“At this time we don’t expect to see the percentage of courses open for play to significantly increase until more states begin to ease restrictions or grant exceptions for golf,” the NGF report said. “Once that gains some momentum then the tracking will become very dynamic and you’ll be able to see the numbers really begin to rise.”

The survey also found that daily-fee (51 percent) and private facilities (52 percent) are slightly above the 50 percent threshold while municipal courses are lagging behind (40 percent, but up from 33 percent a week ago).

The majority of golf facilities in the South remain open for play, with more than 70 percent of courses open to players in golf-rich states such as Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. The biggest increase came in the Midwest region, even with polling conducted before Minnesota golf courses were given approval to open as of April 18.

The most noteworthy drop could be found in the Mid-Atlantic, where most New York golf courses that had been open suspended operations in response to an updated executive order that said golf is a non-essential business. While this remains true, private clubs have been told they are permitted to allow members access to the property with strict social distancing guidelines in place.

The full report can be accessed here.

 

National Golf Foundation reports 48 percent of courses open in U.S.

There has been a slight in increase in the number of courses open in the U.S., as 14 states have shuttered the sport.

The National Golf Foundation reported on Friday that 48 percent of golf courses in the United States were open over the past week, up from 44 percent the week prior.

The figures in the NGF’s latest COVID-19 update are based on phone surveys of 1,753 golf facilities conducted April 7-10 and are accurate to plus or minus 2 percent.

The numbers of open courses vary greatly by region (shown in the map above with percentages of open courses). The southern U.S. had the greatest percentage of courses open, with 81 percent. On the West Coast, only 14 percent of courses are open in California, Oregon and Washington.

Source: National Golf Foundation

Currently, 14 states are not allowing golf during the coronavirus pandemic: Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

On Thursday, Governor Tony Evers of Wisconsin announced that golf courses can reopen April 24 with restrictions such as walking only and paying online to keep players out of pro shops.

While several states remain open, some local governments have shuttered courses within their areas of governance.

Source: National Golf Foundation

The NGF research also shows a split among opinions on if golf courses should remain open or be closed by government restrictions (shown in the chart above). Among core golfers aged 18-34, 67 percent believe course should not be shuttered by government, while 26 think they should be closed. For players aged 65 or over, 30 percent believe courses should not be closed, while 55 percent think governments should restrict play.

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National Golf Foundation: Less than half of U.S. golf courses remain open

The National Golf Foundation says 44 percent of U.S. golf courses are still open, a two percent drop from the previous week’s report.

Golfers and fans alike got a much-needed boost of morale when the powers that be announced a revised schedule for the rest of 2020 that featured three major championships, including the Masters in November.

That said, it’s not all good news in our section of the sports world.

According to a new report from the National Golf Foundation, 44 percent of golf courses are still allowing play across the nation (as of the end of last week), a two percent drop from the previous week’s report.

Off the course, retail numbers took a hit, as well. From the report: “approximately 20 percent of independent and regional retailers (doors) are open, down from 35 percent last week. From an overall square footage perspective, only 4 percent of total off-course golf specialty space is now open to in-store traffic, down from 8 percent in the previous polling.”

Coronavirus golf course closures as of April 11, 2020. (National Golf Foundation)

For more information and data visualizations, including a look at several state overviews, visit www.thengfq.com/covid-19.

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NGF report shows most golf courses are open during coronavirus pandemic

The National Golf Foundation released an update to its studies on how the coronavirus has impacted the recreational game.

The National Golf Foundation, which tracks data on courses and rounds played around the U.S., on Tuesday released an update to its studies on how the coronavirus has impacted the recreational game.

Following are several key takeaways from the update.

Open or closed

Nationwide, 74 percent of in-season courses remain open during the pandemic, based on a survey of 1,006 facilities on March 25-27 (the survey has a margin of error of 3 percent ).

The report breaks it down further: 54 percent of municipal golf courses that are in season are open, 78 percent of public daily fee courses are open, and 77 percent of private clubs are open.

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National Golf Foundation reports increase in rounds played in 2019

The NGF says there was a 1.5 percent increase in rounds of golf played in 2019, which translates to an estimated 440 million rounds overall.

Is golf actually turning a corner these days?

In other words, after years of declines in participation and in rounds played, could it be that the game, at least recreationally, is starting to see an upswing?

A 1.5% increase in rounds played in 2019, as reported by the National Golf Foundation, might not be the great resurgence in the game people have hoped for over the last decade. But in the business world — and golf is still a business — any increase is better than a decline.

The 1.5% increase means that NGF estimates 440 million rounds were played last year. The NGF says that number is actually skewed a little because weather in the country was not great. In fact, it was the second-wettest year on record in the United States, meaning that plenty of potential rounds were rained out.

In California, for a least the last few months of the year, things were pretty stable compared to 2018. Across the country, though, other places had strong showings. In the south, basically the area from Florida extending into Texas, rounds of golf were up more than 3% from 2018. But in the upper Midwest, rounds of golf were down, with weather being the main enemy.

So what does all of this mean to the future of golf.

In the area from Florida extending into Texas, rounds of golf were up more than 3% from 2018. (Kamran Jebreili/Associated Press)

Well, for one, it means the game still is dependent on the weather to make the business run. Bad weather means no revenue on certain days, but that has always been the case.

It also means that perhaps there is some light at the end of the tunnel for the game. Despite the weather, rounds of golf reached 440 million. After more than a decade of decline, an increase in rounds played is a good thing.

Yes, we are still hearing stories about golf courses that are closing and equity clubs having to sell out to private companies and private clubs having to open their doors to outside play to generate revenue. But if the argument has been that more people need to play golf, then 2019 saw more people play golf. Or perhaps it wasn’t more people, but the same number of people playing more golf individually. Either way, it was more money in the cash registers of the courses.

What we can’t know from the raw numbers is why the rounds of golf went up. Are more people taking up the game for the fist time? Are people returning to the game after leaving for a while? Are some club initiatives like junior executive memberships getting younger people to come to the game? Are shorter tees keeping older people in the game longer?

The truth is we can’t learn much from one year of such a small increase, even if it is an increase. What we can hope is that this is all part of a decade-long trend of increased rounds and increased participation that will get the game healthier than it is now. Maybe we won’t go back to the boom times of the late 1990s and early 2000s, but increases in rounds played is never a bad thing for golf.