Golf Datatech, which has agreed to be acquired by Circana, a provider of market research on durable consumer goods, reported that the national rounds of golf played in January 2024 were down 16.6 percent as wetter, colder weather in key Southeast markets offset the growth in rounds played in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada.
The U.S. states in the middle of the country had the weakest growth in January 2024, compared to January 2023, as rounds played fell in the strong double-digits across the West North Central, East North Central and South Central regions. Golf rounds played were also down sharply in New England, the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic regions. All areas with significant declines were up against more moderate weather patterns in the year-ago period.
The Pacific region had the biggest year-over-year gain (+7.8 percent) for the month, but all the growth in rounds played came from the California market, offsetting declines in Oregon and Washington.
The Mountain region, up 1.3 percent year-over-year in January, showed some increase in growth with more than 2.0 percent in Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico, offsetting weakness in the off-season states to the north.
The January 2024 trends were in sharp contrast to December 2023, when most states outside of New England and East North Central saw rounds played grow more than 2.0 percent for the month.
Regional Change in Rounds Played
(January 2024 v. January 2023)
- Pacific +7.8 percent
- Mountain +1.3 percent
- West North Central -71.3 percent
- East North Central -70.4 percent
- South Central -47.7 percent
- New England -53.5 percent
- Mid-Atlantic -65.0 percent
- South Atlantic -18.5 percent
National Rounds Played at private courses were down 14.3 percent for the month, and rounds played at public access courses were down 17.5 percent year-over-year.
Image courtesy Torrey Pines
