By most measures, 2023 was a very good year for the golf industry. John Krzynowek, a co-founder and partner at Golf Datatech, an independent market research firm, recently described it as “thriving financially.”
That is thanks in large part to a near-record number of rounds played in the U.S. – up 18 percent over 2019 – and overall sales hovering just below all-time levels. “And rounds played are the engine that makes the rest of the business run,” he said.
Casey Alexander, a keen observer of the golf industry and the managing director of equity research at Compass Point Research & Trading, shares that optimism. Looking to 2024, he sees a sport poised to prosper even more, especially if the weather cooperates.
“I cannot tell you what will be,” Alexander said. “But I can tell what the odds are of the game doing even better in 2024, and I think they are very good if golf playable hours revert in 2024 to the 10-year mean.”
“A recent poll indicated that roughly 90 percent of golfers plan to tee it up at least as often if not more next year as they did in 2023."
Casey Alexander, Compass Point Research & Trading
Developed by the Pellucid Corporation and Edgehill Golf Advisors, a pair of market research and consulting firms, golf playable hours has become an important metric to assess the state of the sport by looking at how weather affects people’s ability to tee it up.
“According to Pellucid, 2022 was one of the worst weather years in history,” Alexander said. “Things improved marginally in 2023 with playable hours rising 3 percent, but golf was still 4 percent behind the 10-year average.”
What that means, Alexander said, is that if the U.S. enjoys anything approaching normal weather in 2024, golf could set a record in rounds played. That will spread wealth throughout the game, where according to Golf Datatech, overall equipment sales in 2023 were up 39 percent when compared with pre-pandemic 2019. At the same time, private and public golf operations will benefit from people playing more often at their establishments.
“Business will be very strong as a result,” he said.
Alexander contends that another factor in golf’s favor for 2024 is an overall enthusiasm among players.
“A recent poll indicated that roughly 90 percent of golfers plan to tee it up at least as often if not more next year as they did in 2023,” he said. “And if they are actually able to do that, the game will benefit in a number of ways.”
But all will not be lost if they are unable to tee it as much as they would like.
“That’s because their intentions to get out on the course with as much or more frequency will likely result in their buying golf gear as they get ready for their golf seasons, meaning that equipment companies will still make out,” Alexander said.
His optimism for 2024 also has been stoked by what he saw at his North Carolina club during the Christmas holidays.
“The tee sheet was jammed throughout December,” Alexander said. “The club did more than 2,000 rounds that month, and something like 32,000 for the year, which was nearly double the number for 2019.”
It sounds like a can’t-lose situation, so long as the weather holds up.
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