Golf Enjoys a U.S. Boom That’s Making Tee Times Scarce
Golf Enjoys a U.S. Boom That’s Making Tee Times Scarce
(Bloomberg) -- The sport of golf is having a renaissance moment in an era when outdoor activities are at a premium. The trend has caught the eye of investors and raised hopes among boosters that a new wave of converts will take up the centuries-old game.
Play started to bounce back in May after dropping significantly in April, when many courses were closed due to stay-at-home orders. The number of scores posted to the U.S. Golf Association’s Golf Handicap Information Network rose 22% in May from last year. Rounds played at courses in San Francisco, Phoenix and Orlando, Florida, jumped more than 20% from mid-May to the first week in June compared with average traffic in previous years, according to National Golf Foundation data.
“It’s a boom right now,” said Mike Davis, chief executive officer of the USGA, which runs the U.S. Open and 13 other championship tournaments every year. “We’re hearing about courses where you can’t get a tee time.”
The rising participation is welcome news for the $84 billion golf industry, which at times has struggled to attract young adults. An 18-hole round can take as long as five hours at peak times, and equipment and course fees are costly -- making the resurgence amid the virus-driven recession all the more remarkable. Over the past six years, the number of U.S. golfers has stayed steady at around 24 million, down from a peak of 30.6 million in 2003, during Tiger Woods’s heyday, according to the National Golf Foundation.
It hasn’t helped that the men’s and women’s professional tours have been suspended since March. With the PGA Tour set to resume on Thursday with the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, the industry is hopeful that television coverage will provide another boost.
Perfect Pursuit
If epidemiologists were to design an athletic pursuit for the Covid-19 era, it’s unlikely they could do much better than the game of golf. The sport is played outside, typically on dozens of acres of open turf. Players use their own equipment and are naturally distanced from other golfers. Most even wear a glove, which mainly prevents clubs from slipping but can also be used to guard against touch points.
The surge in participation has been a boon for makers of golf equipment. Shares of Acushnet Holdings Corp., owner of the Titleist and FootJoy brands, have rallied to a record as investors look past supply-chain disruptions and retail-store closures and bet that sales will surge in coming months. The stock has gained 67% from a March 23 low. Callaway Golf Co. has seen a slower rebound in its stock price, but all 10 analysts covering the company have buy ratings.
“We expect that golf’s appeal will continue to be robust given its outdoor field of play and embedded ease of social distancing,” CEO David Maher said on Acushnet’s earnings call last month. “The game is well positioned for the post-pandemic world, and this bodes well for our business in the long term.”
Although golf has the advantage of taking place outdoors, courses have still had to adapt their operations to reduce health risks for employees and customers. At the Oregon Golf Association course in Woodburn, 30 miles south of Portland, golfers must pay for their rounds before arrival and food is only being served for takeout. Golf carts are available, but restricted to one rider unless the occupants live together or drove to the course in the same car.
‘Really Creative’
“People have been really creative,” said Barb Trammell, the head of the association. “Everyone’s just bent over backwards to share best practices and ensure that we are offering this in a safe environment.”
Over Memorial Day weekend, more than 800 rounds were played at the course, nearly twice as many as in previous years, according to Trammell.
That kind of traffic is “unheard of for us,” she said, adding that other golf professionals she’s spoken with are seeing similar levels of participation.
The desire for more physical activity and to get out of the house prompted Calin Thomas of Menlo Park, California, to start playing more golf. Since courses reopened in early April, he’s averaging about four 18-hole rounds a month, up from two before the pandemic. The 41-year-old has noticed that his rounds are quicker, a development he chalks up to streamlined processes like paying ahead of time and a lack of frills like an obligation to have drinks afterward with friends.
“I get to the course now 10 or 15 minutes before I’m supposed to tee off,” he said. “I’ve been playing more because it’s a way to get out and it’s not the time commitment that it was.”
The USGA’s Davis said he’s been hearing lots of stories about new golfers learning the game in recent months, and dormant players returning.
That’s been the experience of Scott Seymour, managing director of golf at sports marketing firm Octagon. Seymour’s college-age daughter, who was always a good ball striker but hadn’t been a big fan of playing a round, has reconnected with the game since the pandemic began.
“She’s totally got the bug and loving every minute,” he said. “I think we all were tired of going for a walk around the block.”
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.