Golf gains and you

Riding the euphoria of a record-setting year — according to the National Golf Foundation, rounds were up, participation was up, revenues were up, and more women, beginners and minorities found their way to the course in 2023 — those fortunate enough to be part of the business of golf streamed through the doors of the industry’s major trade shows and were greeted with an abundance of innovation, ideas and possibilities.

The GCSAA Conference and Trade Show revealed new products and equipment alongside proven science. The PGA Show was highlighted by new technologies in swing analysis and gaming. The CMAA World Conference featured new capabilities for member services and more data for club managers to ponder.

Four big takeaways stand out for consideration by superintendents and club leaders who exited the aisles of the 2024 show season with the same question every new year brings: “What does it mean for our course, our facility, and for the men and women who care for them?” 

Women

The impact and influence of women in and around golf is proving considerable. The NGF reports four straight years of gains, yielding a 1.4 million increase in female participants since 2019. Females now comprise 26 percent of all on-course golfers, according to the NGF.  

What does this mean for golf courses and the men and women who care for them? Enhanced alertness to women’s on-course needs, preferences and expectations should be a top priority for golf course setup, management and service levels. Women are golf’s biggest, most influential and potentially most valuable cohort. Treating them that way is not only the right thing to do; it’s the smart thing to do.

Golf training

New technological advances supporting enhanced measurement and performance tracking, and the underlying sciences for kinesthetic and visual learners are growing more rapidly. Golfers’ awareness of tech that can accelerate improvement and their enjoyment of the game appear to be the leading segments of emphasis and commercial success. 

What does this mean for golf courses and the men and women who care for them? The growing market for tech-enhanced products suggests more golfers are more serious about improvement. Those players want and need more space for practice and training. As expectations rise, short-game training spaces will need to be comparable in design, care and upkeep to the course. Practice putting surfaces will gradually require more square footage, care and renourishment. Each of these spaces requires fit and finish at the same high caliber as the course.

Small golf

What were once considered outparcels within master-planned communities and resorts are finding new purpose and promise as golf relaxes its definitions and perceptions. Architects and builders are getting more calls these days from clients interested in 3-, 5- and 7-hole formats often tucked into small spaces. Hybrid work environments, which have persisted past the COVID pandemic for many, have made available small segments of workdays for golfers who can sneak out for a few holes.

What does this mean for golf courses and the men and women who care for them? In a word, opportunity. Do you have access to some land adjacent or near your course that can be repurposed as a short course? The after-work crowd, beginners and juniors who know they have a place that meets their needs for a taste of golf, translate to incremental revenue.

Energetic Capital

Favorable economic conditions for golf, which have helped support an increase in rounds and revenues and led to a 3 percent decline in supply, have brought investors off the sidelines. Capital continuously seeks opportunity. As long as golf segments continue to show favorable return possibilities, new investments will likely follow.

What does this mean for golf courses and the men and women who care for them? Supply chain impacts and global economic patterns will more closely affect supplies and suppliers. Thoughtful forward planning and developing budgets and agronomic plan agility are essential to those who must successfully work the Rubik’s Cube of agronomic sciences, golfer preferences, weather and the global economy.

The question anyone in golf-related businesses has been asking the past several years is whether the COVID-induced spike in popularity is sustainable. Whether the record-setting post-COVID years have been an anomaly or a new normal now seems a less important question than a more inviting one: What are we going to do to take advantage of the recent advancements in science, participation and golfers’ expectations?