That state of the golf industry isn't as bad as many people may believe.
"The golf industry is like any other industry, says Greg Nathan, National Golf Foundation senior vice president. "It's been challenged, but the sky is not falling on the golf."
Nathan reported that much of the health of golf is dependent on the attitudes and financial health of its core players.
Today, those attitudes among core golfers seem to be improving slightly. For example, Nathan says nearly half (47 percent) of golfers were concerned with their job secruity in June 2010, but by September, that number had dropped to around 39 percent.
In addition, nearly 66 percent of golfers reprot that they were adopting more frugal behaviors, and only one third (33 percent) of core golfers feel they are on track to meet their long-term financial goals.
"People's feeling of personal financial health needs to improve, and that will impove, but not to extent that we need to see to turn things around.
"To go through two recessions and be down only 8 percent is not the end of the world," Nathan says.
Here are some additional facts and figures from the NGF's research:
- In 2010, 21.1 million golfers played at least one round of golf, and of that, 15.3 million represent about 90 percent of the rounds played last year.
- There were 475 million rounds of golf played in 2010, that represents a 2.3 percent decrease from rounds played in 2009, and a 4.9 percent decrease from five years ago.
- 46 courses opened in 2010, including 29.5 daily fee, three municipal and 13.5 private.
- 107 courses closed in 2010.
- Among course conversions in 2010, 21.5 were public to private and 94 were private to public.
- There were 99.5 course renovations in 2010.
- The five year renovation total is 517 -- 208 dailyl fee, 103 municipal and 206 were private. 220 of those were in the South Atlantic region.
