This February marks five years since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. While a somber reminder of difficult times, this period is often attributed as the beginning of the recent boon of golf across the United States and abroad. This upward trajectory can be seen at green-grass facilities, off-course experiences like Topgolf and, locally, with the rise of CDGA membership (now up to more than 112,000). The National Golf Foundation (NGF) recently compiled a bite-size summary on the upward trajectory the game continues to be on following the 2024 season. Last year saw green grass golf participation top 28 million people, the seventh consecutive year of annual increase. The rise from 2023 (26.6 million) to 2024 (28.1 million) is the largest single-year jump since 2000, amidst the height of Tiger Woods’ dominance across the sport.
When you compile total golf participation numbers - those who play on- and off-course with a real ball, real club and full swing - that number climbed to 47.2 million in the U.S. This is up 5% over 2023 and more than 38% since pre-pandemic 2019. Overall, golf reached more than 138 million people in 2024, up 12% percent from 2023 alone. Participation numbers grew in key golfer demographics, such as youth, young adults, females and People of Color. With help from data sourced from Golf Datatech, rounds in the Chicago metro area rose 6.3% from 2023 to 2024. See below for more notable callouts from the NGF report:
