National golf rounds played in the U.S. were up 4.4% in August 2008 vs. August 2007, bringing the year-to-date total to 0.5% under last year’s results, according to Golf Datatech. Year-to-date, the best-performing region compared to last year has been East North Central, with the Mountain region faring the worst.

                          August         Year-to-date
Region
Pacific                    1.9%          0.1%
Mountain               -2.9%         -2.1%
West North Central   8.1%         -4.6%
East North Central    14.4%       -0.7%
South Central          3.3%          3.8%
South Atlantic        -2.1%         -1.9%
Mid-Atlantic            1.9%          0.4%
New England          -2.5%          3.0%