There’s continued good news about the strength of the golf boom as the prime golf season heads into the homestretch across the northern part of the country. According to The Golf Wire, the annual National Golf Foundation (NGF) midyear rounds played update shows that through June 2024, U.S. rounds were trending 2 percent ahead of last year – with 2023 being the busiest year on record for rounds played in the country. The story notes that in the 49 months since pandemic restrictions on golf were lifted in most of the country, only three months have failed to outperform their pre-pandemic averages – and all three were in April with bad weather around the country. As the NGF notes, these strong numbers support the idea that today’s golf boom is likely a new normal for the domestic golf industry.
link: https://bit.ly/3SNt5QB
An example of the “new normal” described by the NGF can be seen by a reversal of fortune for municipal golf facilities in one Midwestern town. The Rockford (Illinois) Register-Star recently ran a story on the renaissance of muni facilities since 2020, quoting PGA of America Golf Professionals Jeff Hartman and J.J. Maville on what’s happened with golf in the town 90 minutes west of Chicago. Area municipal courses are seeing rounds up 10-15 percent over a record pace from last year. The story mentions programming from PGA of America Golf Professionals as a key reason why new players are sticking with the sport in greater numbers than in past golf booms. “The whole industry was asking: How sustainable is this? After the Tiger Woods boom, we had all these new players and the industry wasn’t prepared to take advantage of it,” Maville is quoted as saying. “We can maintain new players better than we did 30 years ago by getting them instruction so they can find enjoyment in the game much sooner.”
link: https://bit.ly/3X0MXCc
The 2024 Summer Olym pics recently concluded in Paris, France, and the PGA of America was part of the International Golf Federation team helping put on the men’s and women’s golf events. PGA of America Chief Championships Officer Kerry Haigh (pictured right) was one of the officials guiding the course setup each day – mentioning that greens were running at “Olympic speed,” and PGA Rules Committee Vice Chairman Ted Antonopoulos was one of the International Technical Officials on site. New Orleans news site Nola.com ran a list of some of the prominent Louisiana sports figures at the summer games, and Mike Raby, PGA (pictured left), also a Vice Chairman of the PGA of America Rules Committee, was one of them. Raby also worked the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
link: https://bit.ly/3AqI90g
With the 2025 Ryder Cup just a year away at New York’s Bethpage Black, the U.S. Team’s leadership is continuing to take shape. U.S. Captain Keegan Brad ley has named Webb Simpson and Brandt Snedeker as Vice Captains, and Bradley’s position as Captain continues to be big news in the sport. Golfweek ran a story on how 2023 U.S. Captain Zach Johnson was glad to call Bradley this year and inform him he was the next U.S. Captain – just a year after Johnson called Bradley to let him know he wouldn’t be on the 2023 squad as a player in a moment immortalized on the Netflix series “Full Swing.” Check out the full story for more interesting details on Bradley, who is poised at age 39 to be the youngest U.S. Captain at a Ryder Cup since Arnold Palmer was a playing Captain at age 34 in 1963.
link: https://bit.ly/4fKsyJ8
PGA Magazine readers: If you come across articles, websites or other media coverage that you think PGA of America Professionals should know about, let us know! Become a MediaWatch tipster by emailing Senior Editor Don Jozwiak at djozwiak@pgamagazine.com, including information about where and when the item appeared.