BY AAGD STAFF
April 21, 2020
In response to the worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus, questions, answers, and insights are being provided by the National Golf Foundation (NGF) with its COVID-19 Weekly Update webpage. The page is designed to aid in providing information for persons interested in the business of golf and in following the impact in which the pandemic is having on the $84 Billion golf economy.
COURSE STATUS
The website provides Course Status, Status Forecast, Consumer POV and Government Orders. Readers can discover the status listing of golf courses open for play along with indicating how and when a few states plan to ease restrictions on golf as warmer weather begins to perminate the north. Anxious, golfers across America are waiting for more golf facilities to open for play and it is expected this will likely happen over the next few weeks, according to NGF, as the remainder of the nation’s northernmost golf facilities “officially” open for the season. Logistically, 8% of the nation’s golf courses are located above the 45th parallel.
ANTICIPATING CHANGES IN GOLF SUPPLY
A newly added feature of the website indicates the anticipated change in golf supply. Am easy to understand graphic details the analysis with the percentage of golf courses that could open soon. also included on the webpage is information related to state-by-state comparisons that display open golf courses by U.S. Census Regions.
Beginning April 6, 2020, a map shows the significant regional differences of golf course locations which leps viewers understand the impact the pandemic is having on the closures: “The majority of golf facilities in the South remain open for play, with more than 70% of courses open to players in golf-rich states such as Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. The biggest increase came in the Midwest region, even with polling conducted before Minnesota golf courses were given approval to open as of April 18. The most noteworthy drop could be found in the Mid Atlantic, where most New York golf courses that had been open suspended operations in response to an updated executive order that said golf is a non-essential business. While this remains true, private clubs have been told they’re permitted to allow members access to the property with strict social distancing guidelines in place.”
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The “Golf Itch Meter” and Golfer COVID-19 Anxiety Meter
“Key to understanding golfer behaviors and intentions is understanding their emotional stability and response to the current situation. One of the more direct ways to do this is to have golfers characterize their current anxiety level – when considering health, finances and concern for family and friends – on a sliding scale ranging from “Not anxious at all” to “Extremely anxious.” Alongside that, we gauge their current “itch” to play golf on a sliding scale ranging from “Much less of an itch” to “Major itch.” These sentiments, as you might expect, have some predictive power when observing current and expected behaviors. “
Valuable to retainers is the noteworthy indication that golf equipment purchases are down considerably, as compared with this same period (March-April) in 2017. 2018, 2019.
Stay-at-Home Order
New data trends on golfers who are on the hunt for open courses when a Stay-at-Home order is in place nationwide for many residents. The NGF webpage showcases this impact: “It was a big turnaround week in terms of Google searches for open golf courses, fueled no doubt by golf operations being cleared to resume in states like Minnesota and Wisconsin, more pockets of play permitted in California, a ruling in New York that allows play at private clubs, and continued warming weather in the northern U.S.”
