Golf has enjoyed a renaissance since the Coronavirus pandemic hit in early 2020, with increases in participation, play and broader engagement.
Golf travel is at near-record levels, the number of new course projects is higher than at any point in more than a decade, and existing golf facilities are generally experiencing dramatic improvements in overall financial health.
Some of the most frequent inquiries our researchers have received over the past few years, and continue to field, are about golf’s momentum during the post-2019 “Covid era.”
This six-page, NGF member report seeks to quantify this unique window in the game’s history (2020 to 2023), providing data on growth in on- and off-course participation as well as the evolution and diversification of participants.
Other topics include record play levels and the potential for the sustainability of these surges, the game’s expanded reach that now touches over 40% of the U.S. population (age 6+), and a continued move towards equilibrium in the U.S. golf course market.
Included are inevitable comparisons between the post-pandemic golf surges and the years immediately preceding the current era, as well as to the “Tiger Boom” years around the turn of the century.