According to the National Golf Foundation, January rounds played were down nearly 21% on a same-store basis against last year's results. However, NGF noted that January 2006 rounds were up 30% over January 2005 rounds, so the decline is really a return to normal January volume. In areas where a significant amount of golf is played in January, only the Central/South Florida region held its own, increasing marginally (0.4%) for the year.
The January decline reversed the strong improvement in rounds played at the end of 2006 that was seen as a result of unseasonably warm weather across most of the country. NGF reported a 16.7% increase in rounds for December that pushed the year-to-date figure up 0.8% on a same-store basis, with total calendar year 2006 rounds were up nearly one percent from 2005.
