We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Golf Continues to Surge

It is both good and bad IMO. My local muni is always packed but starting to back off a little since restrictions have been lifted so much. Too many people out playing that have no clue to courtesy and respect for the course. Prices have gone up considerably for course to recoup $$'s lost from last year (my course never closed at all).
 
I am a member at a municipal course where rounds were way up in 2020 and again so far this year. Mainly due to people having nothing else to do because of covid. Now things are beginning to open up and I think that some of these "new golfers" will go back to their old interests. Golf just is to expensive and time consuming for people who need instant gratification.
 
I would suggest that comparing to last April this isn't surprising as many golf courses were closed in April. I know courses in Massachusetts were totally closed.
 
I've seen it at my course. Remote classes have also contributed to additional play. Students will bring their laptops and have their classes going while they're playing golf and drinking beer.
 
Buddy is part owner in a course west of Minneapolis. He told me Thursday they had 10,000 rounds more last year than they had projected for the year. Crazy!!!:unsure:
 
McRock said:
That same study, done last August, shows that April 2020 rounds were down 42.2% versus April 2019 rounds. Of course, that is because COVID temporarily killed the sport of golf.

I'd be more interested in seeing April 2021 rounds versus April 2019 rounds, to get away from the COVID shutdown. And then, I'd like to see July 2021 rounds versus July 2020 rounds, to see if we are sustaining last years growth that occurred when golf courses opened back up.

~Rock
Click to expand...

You beat me to it.

Comparison year over year to 2020 doesn't seem like a super valuable way to look at the data.
 
Parrot said:
I've seen it at my course. Remote classes have also contributed to additional play. Students will bring their laptops and have their classes going while they're playing golf and drinking beer.
Click to expand...

Remote learning while playing golf and drinking beer. Too bad that wasn't an option in college or Law School. :ROFLMAO:.
 
NVGOLFER80 said:
That's insanity..

This begs the question... Will new courses start to get built to handle new capacity? Or do the existing courses just ride the wave out? I know a few of the private courses in my area are not accepting new member applications at this time.
Click to expand...

Once COVID restrictions end and summer camps and youth leagues and vacations start again I am pretty confident rounds will start decreasing.
 
One thing I know for sure right now is that friends of mine who are not golfers were watching and/or aware of Phil's round yesterday. TV ratings should be huge from this past weekend.

I've still been able to get tee times but I don't mind playing off peak times and I normally go out as a single. I have seen a big uptake in late afternoon tee times around here. I used to be able to regularly get out for an after work 9 that I book the same day or day before but it seems like an increase in leagues has made those hard to come by lately.
 
Definitely harder to get tee times at all of the courses I play. And prices are up too. Several courses charging $70+ that used to be in the $50 range two years ago. Not a fan of price gouging. :cautious:
 
Courses are definitely packed on the weekends here is the NVA area. I try & play afternoon rounds during the week if possible. Especially with the lower rates.
 
NVGOLFER80 said:
That's insanity..

This begs the question... Will new courses start to get built to handle new capacity? Or do the existing courses just ride the wave out? I know a few of the private courses in my area are not accepting new member applications at this time.
Click to expand...
Was going to ask the same thing. The economics of new courses seems challenging (especially in San Diego) but I really hope we see some new public courses popping up. The demand is definitely there.
 
jvbart said:
Was going to ask the same thing. The economics of new courses seems challenging (especially in San Diego) but I really hope we see some new public courses popping up. The demand is definitely there.
Click to expand...
The problem is by the time courses open the wave will have most likely passed.. The planning, purchasing, developing, etc of a golf courses has to take years.. Please everything right now is so dang expensive. I am assuming that even now, most would consider it not worth it..
 
NVGOLFER80 said:
The problem is by the time courses open the wave will have most likely passed.. The planning, purchasing, developing, etc of a golf courses has to take years.. Please everything right now is so dang expensive. I am assuming that even now, most would consider it not worth it..
Click to expand...
I do think (hope) this wave will last but the economics just don't make sense. Even if a course was certain to be profitable I would think you could make way more money on housing or commercial property. That may not be the case everywhere but in San Diego it's hard to imagine how a golf course could compete financially with those options.
 
The Snowmegeddon event of Texas did some significant damage to a few of the clubs near me. Because of that, both are either partially or completely waiving their initiation fees. Guess it's a good time to join up! I'd imagine we may have seen some increases, otherwise.
 
This is very apparent at the course I frequent. Tee times for non-members are all booked up 7 days in advance. The parking lot is packed etc. etc.

I am glad that I get out before all the craziness of the afternoons most weekends.
 
campilobaxter said:
And prices are up too. Several courses charging $70+ that used to be in the $50 range two years ago. Not a fan of price gouging. :cautious:
Click to expand...

Raise your rate. Problem solved. Besides, everything is noticeably more expensive than it was 2-3 years ago.

~Rock
 
Definitely can see the consistency in the course being busy. I wonder if there's a big uptick in younger golfers, like 16-25.. with schools doing a lot of remote they may be home and having more time to get into a new hobby
 
Wild. I'm really happy for the sport and the golf courses that are able to fill their sheets, but this is probably the top reason why I went private club this year. Even so, I've noticed 7 day advance is almost necessary if you want a weekend tee time.
 
I am part of a group of seven and am fortunate that two or three of the guys are dedicated to making sure we have the first tee times available on the weekends.

Golf was off-limits in Ontario for the past six weeks, and it's a long weekend here today. We finished at 10:30 and to my surprise the parking lot was not packed. Sure, there were lots of golfers out on the course but it did not seem "packed". I wonder, however if it's a case of timing - I believe not everyone looks to play early in the morning.
 
It’s a blessing and a curse. It’s great because courses will see an influx of money to (hopefully) make improvements and keep the lights on. The downside is tee times, at least around me, are going to be harder and harder to come by and the rounds will likely get longer. Only time will tell how many of those golfers actually stick with it
 
init.6 said:
Wild. I'm really happy for the sport and the golf courses that are able to fill their sheets, but this is probably the top reason why I went private club this year. Even so, I've noticed 7 day advance is almost necessary if you want a weekend tee time.
Click to expand...
I agree 1000%. I wish I stayed private this year. Hoping to get on a waitlist for next year
 
Our winter was about like usual - less snowbirds this year, but more Californians coming over pretty much made up for it. It's now starting to thin out for the summer as it usually does, with the snowbirds going home and the Californians turning to boating instead of golf. Our tee sheets have some decent (not packed) business early morning, then they're wide open for the rest of the day.

We played this morning at 8:00, and once we got through a twosome (husband giving wife lessons on the course) on #3, it was wide open the whole rest of the way.
 
There are enough courses around here that tee times are not really an issue. There is one course that has always been a bit difficult and it has not really changed either way but it is not because it is spectacular. It’s a pretty good course compared to a lot of the local courses but it just happens to be in an ideal location so it stays busy.

My home course is definitely busier but I have not had any issue just showing up and playing whenever I feel like it. It is ranked 14th or so overall in the state and is a more expensive course for non members to play which scares off a lot of the casual players.

My only concern is there seems to be a bit more slower play issues that are also starting to arise from the influx of people and many of them with limited to no experience or understanding of pace of play.
 
That is great to hear, lets keep growing the game. I am trying to get wifey into it and a coworker .Wifey has the golf bug , for that I am so pleased.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top