TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2008
Golf Recession: The Number of People Playing Golf Is Flat/Declining
Here is a story that may have implications for businesses where you live. It may even have implications for cities and states that run golf courses.
Golf Business Magazine, a trade journal for golf course owners, says the real estate bust has huge implications for course owners. Many high-end developments have golf as their central attraction. When home sales and building slows in those developments, the course, which planned to rake in big initiation fees and annual dues, bring in zilch.
Golf Business Magazine reports:
For an industry so inextricably linked to real estate,
the timing of this "market correction" certainly couldn't be any worse
for golf, given the game's own growth issues. Despite the confluence of
this perfect economic storm -- the devastating real estate slowdown, flat
golf participation and stagnant rounds played growth over the last five
years -- golf's outlook isn't gloomy these days. At least that's the
opinion of numerous golf operators and real estate developers, many of
whom remain bullish on golf's future, especially as it relates to the
lifestyle matrix of certain markets.
To be sure, some golf course owners and developers have
felt the fallout from the nation's sluggish real estate market. Joey
Garon, vice president of operations for Bonita Springs, Florida-based
real estate developer Bonita Bay Group, says the real estate malaise is
significantly affecting cash flow at clubs, particularly from an
initiation deposit standpoint.
More people are quitting golf than are picking it up. Even hardcore golfers are playing less. And it is not just golf, it is a trend that washes over many outdoor activities.
The New York Times reports:
Over the past decade, the leisure activity most closely associated
with corporate success in America has been in a kind of recession.
The
total number of people who play has declined or remained flat each year
since 2000, dropping to about 26 million from 30 million, according to
the National Golf Foundation and the Sporting Goods Manufacturers
Association.
More troubling to golf boosters, the number of
people who play 25 times a year or more fell to 4.6 million in 2005
from 6.9 million in 2000, a loss of about a third.
The industry
now counts its core players as those who golf eight or more times a
year. That number, too, has fallen, but more slowly: to 15 million in
2006 from 17.7 million in 2000, according to the National Golf
Foundation.
Maybe there is a bigger story:
The disappearance of golfers over the past several years is part of
a broader decline in outdoor activities -- including tennis, swimming,
hiking, biking and downhill skiing -- according to a number of academic
and recreation industry studies.
A 2006 study by the United States Tennis Association,
which has battled the trend somewhat successfully with a forceful
campaign to recruit young players, found that punishing hurricane
seasons factored into the decline of play in the South, while the
soaring popularity of electronic games and newer sports like
skateboarding was diminishing the number of new tennis players
everywhere.
Additional resource:
National Golf Course Owners Association
Posted at 3:40:23 PM
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