According to Golf Datatech, golf rounds played in the U.S. were down 5.9 percent in March compared to March 2010. Public access play was down 6.8 percent for the month and private course activity was down 3.1 percent.
A total of 3470 courses are represented in the report.
By region, the biggest declines were seen in New England, down 41.7 percent; East North Central, 38.7 percent; West North Central, 25.7 percent; Pacific, 15.5 percent; and Mountain, 5.5 percent. Gains were seen in South Central, rising 8.4 percent; and South Atlantic, 5.0 percent.
“More than any other factor the pace of golf rounds played is affected by the weather,” said Tom Stine of Golf Datatech, which tracks golf rounds played and retail sales. “Weather Trends International matches the regional, state and city rainfall and temperatures for the golf industry to our national rounds played reports, he added. Their reports showed a big increase in precipitation (112.7%) in the Pacific region, the Midwest states and the Mid Atlantic region over March of 2010. Favorable weather in the South and South Atlantic regions created an increase in golf rounds there, but not enough to offset the bad weather in the rest of the country.”
“Golf ball sales, which typically mirror rounds played, were also down marginally (-0.7%) in March, but year to date are up 4% over the first quarter of 2010, Stine reported.
