economy Archives • GolfStinks

Should You Golf During COVID-19?

March 26, 2020 | By Greg D'Andrea | 12 Comments

Some golf courses are open. Learn the precautions they are taking; what you should consider before playing; and a potential silver lining post-pandemic.

Golf Courses are feeling the effects of Covid-19 too, but post-pandemic could see an industry boon — *Golf courses are feeling the effects of COVID-19 too, but post-pandemic could see an industry boon (photo by Greg D’Andrea)*

After a couple weeks of being stuck at home due to COVID-19, I can hardly blame you if you’re going a bit stir-crazy.

This virus has us all on-edge. And with the milder spring weather rolling-in across the country, playing a round of golf sounds pretty amazing right about now.

To that end, I received an email from a local golf course yesterday announcing they were open for business!

My fingers couldn’t tap on that email fast enough.

It wasn’t a joke – they are really open. Albeit with the following guidelines that included:

Stay home if you’re not feeling well
Book your tee-time and pay online (the clubhouse is not open to the public)
Please walk if you can (just 1 person per cart)
Maintain social distancing with other players and course workers on all areas of the course
Holes have a foam insert so golfers do not have to touch flagsticks or reach into the cups
No scorecards or pencils – the course suggests downloading and using the digital scorecard on their app
Ball washers, rakes, benches and water coolers have been removed for safety
There is now 10 minutes between groups teeing-off (normally 8 minutes) to help avoid close contact on the course

It sounds like they put a good deal of thought into keeping people safe out there. And to be honest, I’m wrestling with the notion of actually grabbing my clubs and going to play!

But I won’t.

As much as I’d like to support local businesses – especially golf courses, that little voice in my head is telling me “now is not the time.”

There is just too much uncertainty for me, a family man with young kids, to venture out for several hours where others, whom I don’t know, are also occupying space (albeit from at least 6 feet away).

Of course your situation might be different and you’ll need to use your own judgement based on several things including your risk-factor and local laws and mandates. At the very least, I would definitely check to see if your local course has taken specific safety precautions first.

As for me, I’ll be staying home and I apologize in advance to my local golf courses.

However, there is a silver lining in all this for golf courses and golfers in general.

Once COVID-19 dissipates and life begins to return to some sort of normalcy, golf is going to be an extremely viable recreation activity in a post-pandemic world.

To begin with, golf is outdoors and in groups of no more than four. So social distancing shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

With booking online, you’ll never have to walk into a crowded clubhouse. And the foam hole thing is a great idea. With the aforementioned “rules” listed above, you could probably play an entire round without ever getting within 6 feet of another human or touching something that doesn’t belong to you.

I’d venture to say golf might even experience a little boon later this year.

So hang in there – things will get better and when they do, golf should be at the top of your list!

UPDATE! (as of November 2020)

I ended up playing a couple of rounds over the summer when the virus calmed-down a bit here in the northeastern US.

I actually scored my best round ever the first time out this season (what a crazy year this has been) and then back to normal on my second outing. Either way it was great to get out there and play!

That said, it wasn’t totally comfortable. For example, I did have to enter the clubhouse to pay – and the person behind the counter wasn’t wearing a mask (I was). And we were paired-up with a twosome who kept getting within 6 feet (I get it, it’s so hard to remember to follow the social distancing rules – especially when you are doing something familiar – it’s simply force of habit to get within a few feet of someone on the putting green for example).

But I surmise folks will get better the longer we live with this pandemic (and it does seem it will be with us well into next year at least). Overall I’m glad I got out there and played and glad the game I love is a viable option during this surreal time.

Before you go play, I echo my sentiments from this post: Call the course first to see what their COVID-related rules are and once on the course, don’t assume every golfer will follow them; wear a mask (I did pull my down when no one was nearby, like walking in the fairway or rough); keep your social distance; and stay safe!

Golf for the RV Crowd

October 2, 2013 | By Greg D'Andrea | 3 Comments

In these tough times of economic hardship and government shutdown, everyone is looking to make an extra buck…and the golf industry is no exception. After all, our industry is dependent on others having money to spend.

Over the past few years, we here at GolfStinks have seen some pretty ingenious ways to help the golf market and prove you don’t have to bet on golf to make money in this industry. Well, the RV Golf Club is yet another such way:

“There are 17,000 golf courses around the country, all of which are looking for new, creative ways to increase revenues. They all have parking lots that sit vacant all night. RV Golf Club (RVGC) will introduce those golf courses to a whole new demographic of customer with a simple, yet insightful idea. There are 9,000,000 RV owners in the country. The number of baby boomers is growing daily and a large number of them want to sell everything and travel in an RV. So RVGC is a conduit to direct the RV owners to park overnight at RV friendly golf courses.”

Despite not being an RV owner (or Baby Boomer), this idea immediately intrigued me. After all, it is called a recreation vehicle – why can’t that recreation include golf? RV owners can park for free at affiliated courses and in addition, receive discounts on tee-times and pro shop merchandise. Think about it – you wake up and you’re already at the course with your clubs!

RV’ers pay a $49 annual membership fee, which according to RV Golf Club, will save them thousands of dollars a year in parking. Meanwhile, golf courses fill empty tee times “without investing a dime on advertising!”

The RV Golf Club currently partners with more than 340 golf courses in the US and Canada (including many private country clubs) and that number is growing.

In my opinion, courses have nothing to lose with this – the lots are open at night and you potentially have new customers waiting to tee-off in the morning. While there is no one solution to increasing revenue, you can’t argue that every little bit helps. And for those of you who are RV’ers that golf – you’ve got to admit, this sounds like a pretty sweet deal!

For more info on the RVGC, visit their website: http://rvgolfclub.com/.

Are Golf Course Closures a Good Thing?

February 20, 2013 | By Greg D'Andrea | 1 Comment

According to a recent report from the NGF (National Golf Foundation), new golf course openings are at “historic lows,” while course closures continue to pile up. While many will take this as a negative sign within the industry, perhaps we should look at it from a different angle?

Here’s a breakdown of golf course openings and closures last year:

So what does the above graphic tell us? Well, that in 2012, only 13.5 18-hole facilities opened compared to 154.5 that closed. But beyond that, it tells us that the closures mostly stemmed from Daily Fee and Muni-type courses (90%). And of those, nearly 70 percent had greens fees under $40.

So what?

Well, this means lower-end courses are the ones folding. While that may not bode too well for your particular community, it might be a good sign for golf as a whole. Courses offering 18-holes of golf for under $40, at least in my area, are typically not the most well-maintained tracts of land around; there are usually waits on multiple tee boxes; and inevitably end up becoming training grounds for newbie golfers (hence the backups on the course – not from overuse, but instead from slow play).

Let me be clear here: Not every 18-hole facility with greens fees under $40 fits my description above – but, it is extremely difficult to operate a respectable 18-hole course in today’s economy…especially for under $40 per round. Thus the ones that are run the risk of being understaffed and in disrepair (prime candidates to buckle under tough economic times).

Now, there’s nothing wrong with learning the game at an inexpensive course, but perhaps a full-sized 18-hole facility isn’t the best place? There are many decent and inexpensive “9-hole” or “par 3” or “executive” courses out there (which are excluded from the graphic above) that offer a wonderful learning opportunity for newbies. This is where you need to go if you are transitioning from the driving range to the course.

No one asked for this economy, but the reality is we have it. And perhaps the 150+ courses that closed last year will ultimately benefit the golf industry as a whole. Because what we are left with is survival of the fittest. The better 18-hole facilities will remain – and that bodes well for when those golf newbies are ready to make the transition from a 9-hole or executive course to a bigger facility. They will not be disappointed with what they find – rather they will get to experience the best golf has to offer.

And if that happens, then you will have golfers for life.

7 Ways Golf Helps Drive the U.S. Economy

January 23, 2013 | By Greg D'Andrea | 1 Comment

Source: 2011 Golf Economy Report (golf2020.com)

Money circulates in, through and around the golf industry – that much you know. What you might not know is just how much money. What if I told you it was in the hundreds of…wait for it…BILLIONS.

According to the latest Golf Economy Report (commissioned for the 2011 calendar year and released in October 2012 by the World Golf Foundation and Golf 20/20), the golf industry has an indirect economic impact of $176.8 billion in the United States. And, if you extrapolate that out to include everyone’s salary who is affected by a golf-related transaction, the number is even more staggering: Nearly two trillion dollars.

Such robust numbers led the report’s authors to conclude that, “The game of golf is an industry in its own right, and contributes significantly to the U.S. economy.” But how does golf pump that much cash into the system on a annual basis – especially in light of recent economic woes? Well the report boils it down to seven ways.

1) Let’s begin with golf courses. There are nearly 16,000 facilities in the U.S. (some with multiple courses) that employ nearly a million people. But beyond wages, money is spent on several other things such as maintenance (gas, fertilizer and pesticides etc.) and food and beverage (the 19th hole) – in all, golf courses are collectively responsible for contributing more than $86 billion to the U.S. economy.

2) What about hospitality and tourism? This is an area that has actually seen a rise over the last decade. People are traveling to play golf and the money they spend in relation to that travel is substantial – nearly $65 billion is in some way, shape or form correlated to golf-related travel every year.

3) We all know the real estate market has suffered over the past half decade and golf real estate (residential golf-related construction) is no exception. But it’s still the third-biggest contributor, to the tune of nearly $11 billion.

4) The next category lumps the pro tours in with associations (both national and local) and player endorsements. When Tiger and Rory sign a lucrative deal with Nike, many people benefit. This bucket contributes $6.6 billion.

5) Need a new set of clubs? Although people haven’t been spending as much on golf supplies (including equipment and apparel) over the last few years, this space still accounts for $6.5 billion annually.

6) Another thing to suffer due to the recent recession has been new course openings. And while not as much capital has exchanged hands, investors are still investing – nearly $1.8 billion on new course developments in 2011.

7) The last thing on the list might surprise you, but believe it or not, the golf industry is a bit of a philanthropist. Be it a local charity tournament or other fund raising through various organizations within golf, the industry donates nearly $4 billion a year. Top that Bill Gates!

This all adds up to that $176.8 billion indirect economic impact I mentioned earlier – and this is just within the United States! There’s no doubt golf contributes much more on a global scale.

So the next time you’re walking alone down a quiet fairway, just remember – every ball you lose; every dollar of your greens fees; every soft spike you wear-down contributes in some small way to the economic juggernaut that is the golf industry.

The complete report can be found HERE.

Is the Golf Industry Improving Economically?

December 19, 2012 | By Greg D'Andrea | Leave a Comment

The recession we’ve experienced over the last few years has been tough – The job market is terrible; real estate prices are wretched; and progress has been, well…slow. But apparently, more people have been hitting the links this year!

According to a recent report from the National Golf Foundation (NGF):

“The big story of 2012 in the golf business is the year over year increase in rounds played. In fact, if fourth quarter rounds are flat with the same period in 2011, we would end the year with the largest single-year jump since the turn of the century; a national gain of more than 30 million rounds.“

This surprised me, considering the tough times we’ve been living in. Personally, my number of rounds played has also gone up this season, but that was to be expected after a couple of golf-limiting events in 2011: A new addition to the family and my battle with a foot ailment.

Though I was playing more, I suspected many were not. So I was extremely pleased to see that things seem to be improving within the golf industry – at least as far as the number of rounds played is concerned.

Golf has certainly not been immune to the recent economic woes – NGF notes that golf rounds played has declined around 11% over the past decade, bottoming out in 2009 (the height of the recession). But the good news is the numbers from 2012 appear to show nearly half of what was lost might be recovered.

NGF attributes some of this to the weather, in which 2012 saw an 8% increase in “playable days” compared to 2011. But it also credited the general increase in spending in the U.S., which seems to have roughly paralleled the increase in golf rounds.

So more people are playing golf – great! But what about the rest of the industry? Not surprisingly, course operators have seen an increase in revenue this year. But new course development is still at “historic lows and that should continue for the foreseeable future.” Meanwhile, golf equipment sales are progressing slowly – but progressing nonetheless (still below pre-recession levels).

NGF points out that as we continue to emerge from the recession, so too should we see a general improvement in all things golf-related. But one has to wonder, with Tiger a cub of his former self and no real face to the PGA tour, will the golf industry ever reach its pre-recession hay day – even in a thriving economy?

Related Posts: The Economics of Golf