This month’s PGA Magazine cover story is about trends in the golf business. An area of the game that’s always important to PGA of America Golf Professionals and golfers at their facilities is pace of play, and trends in this essential area are coming into focus as the 2026 northern season wraps up.
Companies like Tagmarshal, FairwayIQ and E-Z-GO help PGA of America Golf Professionals manage bottlenecks on the course and keep play moving through what the National Golf Foundation estimates to be another record-setting year for rounds played.
Measuring volume is just one part of the equation, though. With over 100 million historical tracked golf rounds across 900-plus course partners, Tagmarshal’s data provides the industry’s most comprehensive look at average round times across different parts of the country. The company calculated regional average round time using all completed 18-hole rounds during the year. These averages are indicative of courses that benefit from tech-driven proactive pace management and will skew lower than courses that are not utilizing technology.
According to Tagmarshal’s data, the South has the quickest yearly round time, averaging 3:58 per round. The Midwest comes through at 4:04, the Northeast at 4:05, while the West averages 4:16 for the 2026 season. The top 10 percent of facilities in each region average between 20 and 30 minutes quicker for their pace of play.
At Woodway Country Club in Darien, Connecticut, PGA of America Head Professional Michael Crawford and his team rely on the course oversight that technology provides to effectively manage pace. By analyzing data that highlights average pace by day, by time of day, or even hole-by-hole, Woodway has reduced round times from around 4:25 pre-technology down to 3:53 in 2026.
“Our improved pace has made a tremendous impact on member sentiment,” Crawford says. “Having the ability to see the whole course and where members are has really changed how we manage things, making staffing so much more effective.”
Craig McLaughlin, the PGA Director of Golf at Candia Woods Golf Links, a daily fee facility in Candia, New Hampshire, has implemented variable goal times at the facility. By setting realistic goals for busy league days, and then adjusting down on busy weekend mornings, his team gets groups through quicker when needed, and allows more leeway for periods when the tee sheet is full. Across 2026, Candia Woods averages 4:18 per round.
“We really like looking at the data of time spent on tee boxes, fairways and greens, which helps us to know where we can position on-course staff to improve flow,” McLaughlin says. “To have the ability to really help the golfer understand their pace, and having data to show them, helps these conversations be smoother, friendlier and easier to manage.”
Nearly 75 percent of players rate pace of play as a key experience factor and use it to decide where they play. Knowing how you compare to other facilities in your region is crucial to driving repeat play. And illustrating that your facility compares favorably against nearby courses, in a key player experience factor like pace and flow of play, is a powerful marketing tool that can be used as a key differentiator. If your facility is not using a benchmarking tool, give one a try and see if you can get your pace of play trending in a positive direction.
