The National Golf Federation released its report on golf rounds played in the month of January this week, finding that the number of rounds played had dropped 4.0% against January 2004.
The NGF attributed the drop to heavy rains, flooding and mudslides in the Southwest, where rounds played fell 18.6% in addition to a drop of 15.3% in the South Central region. In the more pleasant regions of the Southeast and Central/South Florida, rounds played were up 12.3% and 0.3%, respectively. Golf did seem to prosper in the areas where winter sports were having a tough season, as rounds played for January jumped 134.1% in the Northeast and 57.1% in the Northwest over January 2004.
The report also gave numbers comparing Private Clubs and Public Courses. Private Clubs saw a drop of 5.0% in rounds played, while Public Courses stumbled 3.7% overall. Within the Public Courses category, Premium Courses, costing more than $70 for a green fee with a cart, were down 4.0%; Standard Courses, costing between $40 and $70, were down 0.6%; and Value Courses, costing less than $40, were down 5.1%.
In related NGF news, the foundation recently elected officers and directors for 2005. The newly elected officers are Mark King, president and CEO of TaylorMade-adidas Golf, Jim Connor, president of FootJoy, and Stephen Mona, CEO of the GCSAA; while the newly elected directors are Gerard Hinckley, VP and national sales director for Textron Financial Corps golf finance division, Gary Schaal, principle, Cannon Ridge Golf Club, and Jim Thompson, president & CEO of Golfsmith.
