SLRG Insights and analysis from Jon Last are prominently featured in the cover story of December’s PGA Magazine, which takes a look at critical success factors for golf course operations.
The business and sport of golf has been flying high for nearly four years now. It is rising to a new altitude on the strength of unprecedented demand during and following the coronavirus pandemic and fueled by a strong economy that withstood supply chain and employment obstacles.
As 2023 wanes and 2024 awaits, the question many PGA of America Golf Professionals and industry experts are asking is whether the industry is due for turbulence, or if the game’s leaders can navigate around potential headwinds. Beyond that, experts are keeping a close eye on trends that will be shaping the game in the coming decade – trends that PGA of America Professionals can be aware of to prepare themselves, their staffs, their players and their facilities for the future, while also prospering in short term.
“A PGA of America Golf Professional who is tuned into the trends affecting the golf business will be able to help boards and owners of facilities make decisions that will lead to success, not just today, but five and 10 years down the road,” says PGA of America President John Lindert. “It isn’t just what’s in front of you today – it’s what’s next. People want to move forward, and if you stick to the status quo, you’re probably going to be moving backward.
“Having the ability to see and forecast – and act – on trends raises the value and influence of PGA of America Golf Professionals, and that’s how we play a vital role in keeping the health of the game in good shape and continually improving.”
In discussions with numerous PGA of America Professionals and industry experts from around the country, PGA Magazine has identified a number of key trends that are already influencing the golf business and are likely to do so for years to come. They include:
- Understanding the depth and resilience of golf ’s continued boom;
- Employment challenges and opportunities;
- How teaching and coaching keeps new players in the game;
- What environmental factors will influence golf operations;
- Maintaining the demand for golf over the long term;
- Using technology to make decisions and benchmark results;
- Reinvesting in golf facilities;
- How alternative golf experiences are fueling interest in the sport;
- What an influx of new golfers means to the game;
- The rise and continuation of work from home policies;
- Fitness and wellness becoming part of golf ’s landscape.
“Golf is in a really good place because people want to play our game, and because PGA of America Golf Professionals are working hard to see the trend lines and plan accordingly,” says PGA of America Chief Membership Officer John Easterbrook Jr., PGA. “We’ve come to understand that while the game is blossoming, we need to make sure golfers are enjoying the game the way they want to enjoy it, and that our facilities have the information and expertise they need to convert and retain those new golfers into core golfers. We understand that we have a great opportunity to put the game on a healthy path for a generation.”
What follows is a closer look at the trends PGA of America Golf Professionals and industry experts have identified as driving the health of the game now and for the next decade and beyond:
Trend:The Strength of the Golf Boom
Think back to the state of the golf business in 2018 and ’19, a pair of down seasons that were among the lowest for rounds played in a generation due to a pair of unusually wet spring/summer seasons and a fear that golf was missing out on the millennial generation. Now contrast those gloomy seasons with the ongoing strong results the National Golf Foundation (NGF) is reporting for 2023: After a slight dip last year, 2023 is on track to approach or exceed the record number of rounds seen in 2021.
NGF data shows that national rounds played data through August 2023 saw rounds of golf up almost four percent over the same month in 2021. That’s a slight increase over last year, and a 17 percent improvement over the years 2017–19. If fall and early winter weather is favorable, it’s possible 2023 will set a record for rounds played as recorded by the NGF.
Clearly, the data shows that the golf boom has not gone bust. Keeping an eye on the factors surrounding the health of the game, however, is increasingly important in forecasting future participation and spending.
With more than a quarter century of experience in research and market analysis in golf and other activities, Jon Last has seen the sport go through a number of cycles. As Founder and President of Sports & Leisure Research Group, Last closely tracks the health of the golf business, and is watching a number of factors for the coming years.
“The general sense of the health of the golf business boom is still bullish, but it’s a little tempered, perhaps,” Last says. “Most facilities we are talking to still think rounds and usage are going to keep going, and some are still planning on raising rates more in the coming year. But the real questions are about how far is too far when it comes to pricing, and how high inflation and interest rates are going to play out for consumers and facilities – there’s some skittishness there.” Last and other experts note that consumer spending on golf – including playing the game, dues paid to private clubs, travel budgets and equipment/apparel purchases – has remained strong despite many predictions of a recession over the past two years. Continued pressure on consumers in the form of higher prices and stagnant wage increases could have an impact on golf spending in the coming year.
“Wages are really being stressed in ways we never anticipated three or four years ago,” Last says. “Our consumer optimism barometer, which asks golfers about costs and inflation, saw an easing of stress this past summer, then really snapped back in the last three months as perceived price increases and higher interest rates took people back to a more pessimistic mindset. That’s something that should be top of mind for operators and PGA of America Golf Professionals as they’re thinking about pricing next year and in years to come.”
Another important factor Last sees that could take some steam out of golf ’s momentum is increased demand for other activities that waned during the pandemic. While golf took off in mid2020, entertainment staples such as restaurants, bars and movie theaters continued to struggle throughout the pandemic. With concerns about COVID-19 having receded significantly, those previously popular outlets are among those roaring back – and competing for the same spending as golf.
“Golf is still well above where it was five years ago, but there is a ceiling – and the bigger threat is that other leisure activities are hitting their strides,” Last says. “Movies, bars, restaurants – they’re delivering on the memory of what those experiences were like before COVID. Before this past summer, that wasn’t really there. Now they’re back, and golf needs to reinforce the idea of why people turned to the sport and keep meeting consumers where they are, and providing what they enjoy about golf.
“The outlook is still very positive, but these are factors to be mindful of in the coming years.” As Easterbrook says, PGA of America Professionals are positioned to help transition golf from a pandemic boom to a generation of sustained prosperity.
“PGA of America Golf Professionals have figured out that the game has always been about fun and the social benefits of playing,” Easterbrook explains. “As we’ve come out of COVID, the social benefits are blossoming, a new generation sees the sport as a way to be social and interact with people and get activity outdoors. Keeping the focus on fun and community will go a long way in maintaining the health of the game.”
Trend:Employment Crunch Continues
One of the top trends across golf – and many other industries – over the past three years is employment, specifically the difficulty in attracting and retaining talented team members. The numerous challenges for golf facilities range from competing with fast food restaurants and big box retailers who are paying higher wages for hourly employees to the demographics of an aging population. Coupled with the high demand for golf programming and need for employees to enable it, the crunch continues for PGA of America Golf Professionals.
“I just had a conversation with some PGA of America Golf Professionals in my area about employment, and we were comparing the situation to what NCAA coaches go through with college athletes today,” says 2023 PGA of America Golf Professional of the Year Jeff Kiddie, the PGA of America Head Golf Professional at Aronimink Golf Club in Newton Square, Pennsylvania. “For coaches, recruiting is 365 days a year now. It never stops, even after a 5-star prospect commits, because athletes can transfer and go somewhere else from year to year.
“We’re in the same boat of having to continually recruit and retain talent like never before. Between compensation, work-life balance and a smaller talent pool, it’s different than we’ve ever seen in golf.”
Kiddie points to his journey in hiring two assistants at Aronimink last season. Five years ago, he may have had a short list of names from area clubs ready for an opportunity, plus many resumes to consider after posting an opening. This time, however, he had to scramble just to find a pair of candidates.
“There are a lot of openings for really good jobs, and some of those jobs aren’t getting any applicants in different areas,” Kiddie says. “I found two good assistants, but I’ve never worked harder to fill any staff positions in my career.”
Kiddie says there are some silver linings that he sees going forward in terms of employment trends. First is that PGA of America Golf Professionals and their owners/operators are realizing that job descriptions and compensation packages must change to attract millennial and especially Generation Z workers. And giving decision makers at your club data to back up those decisions is key.
“I shared some numbers with my board as I was in the hiring process: From when I started here in 2008, we’ve doubled the number of days we scored an event, tripled our junior golf programming and tripled sales in the golf shop – all with the same size golf staff working the same schedule,” Kiddie says. “That’s cut into the amount of time we can spend with members on the lesson tee or golf course, but it also cuts into job satisfaction and increases burnout.”
To compensate, Kiddie and Aronimink have instituted a five-day workweek for the golf professional staff, down from the traditional six-day workweek in season, so staff members can have more time to decompress and enjoy their families and off-course activities. He’s also worked to make sure members realize that a more rested golf staff is better for the club.
“It’s a positive for our staff and their personal lives, and I can’t see us going back now that we have five-day weeks,” Kiddie says. “Long-term, it might lead to us hiring more staff so we can maintain our schedules and not let down on any member services. But in the meantime, we’ve really humanized the issue with our members – they’re not upset if someone’s not at the club because they’re coaching a Little League game or at a family event.
“The days of being chained to the golf course are over.”
Meanwhile, the PGA of America is seeing results in its recruitment efforts to bring more potential golf professionals into the pipeline. The PGA Recruitment Specialists on the PGA of America Career Services team attended approximately 450 events this year, and the approach is bearing fruit. Year to date, there are more than 5,400 PGA of America Associates in the education program – up approximately 1,800 from last year.
“We ramped up recruiting and revamped education to make Level I quiz-based and virtual, more in line with how Generation Z likes to learn, and all this really helps in getting more people in the pipeline,” Easterbrook says. “We’re spreading the word about non-traditional golf opportunities, and the people entering the PGA of America Education program are younger and more diverse than ever. We also have a lot of young golfers coming through the PGA Jr. League who’ve been exposed to what careers in the golf industry look like, and all these programs are starting to mature and bring more young people into the game, which will help tremendously in the years to come.”
Trend:Importance of Teaching and Coaching
With so many new players entering the game, combined with existing avid golfers and players who’ve returned to the game in the past three years, the demand for teaching and coaching programs remains high – and essential for keeping players of all skill levels active in the game over the long term.
PGA of America Golf Professionals provide the swing expertise needed to help players improve and enjoy the game, and they also play an important role in using teaching and coaching to build community and connection in the game.
“Teaching and coaching are what bring people together and make them enjoy golf in different ways,” says 2023 PGA of America Teacher and Coach of the Year Kevin Weeks, a PGA Certified Professional in Golf Instruction at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club in Lemont, Illinois. “Teaching is training people to play above the level they’re currently at. Coaching is being engaging and welcoming, and giving people what they want from a golf experience – maybe that’s getting better, maybe it’s some exercise. It’s about the process, not the result.
“Coaching creates connections, especially in groups, where everyone is pulling for everyone else in the group to get better and have fun. By taking people for who they are and what they want, our golfers feel less like customers and more like family.”
Weeks and other PGA of America Coaches are the reason why studies show that golfers who take part in instruction programs play more often and spend more money on golf than those who don’t. That has to do with how they play the game, and also how PGA of America Golf Professionals can bring people together through group lessons or suggesting pairings on the golf course.
“At the end of the day, swing mechanics are essential, but so is knowing how to communicate with your students – this is a communications business and that’s what builds community,” Weeks explains. “Coaching them, welcoming them, making them feel welcome at their facility, making yourself available to them is key. If golfers feel that coming from you as a coach, they’ll keep coming back to play, to practice, to eat and to hang out.”
Trend:The Environment
As a predominately outdoor sport, golf is especially susceptible to extreme weather. In recent years, volatile weather has impacted golf courses in a variety of ways – from cycles of draught and flooding in California to extreme heat in Arizona and Texas, along with hurricanes in the Southeast and wildfires in the western and northern areas of the United States.
While weather has always been a part of golf, there are trends PGA of America Golf Professionals can be aware of to mitigate some of the worst outcomes while positioning their facilities to be leaders on environmental issues. For example, newer event insurance policies can protect facilities in the case that inclement weather postpones or washes out a member-guest or charity outing. Advanced lightning detection and storm warning systems can add safety in the event of dangerous weather, and a variety of range covers can provide protection from the sun or rain to keep practice sessions going in a variety of conditions.
Among the biggest ongoing environmental trends in golf is water usage, especially in the Southwest. Nearly 6,000 PGA of America Golf Professionals work at facilities that receive water from the Colorado River Basin, which is being overused as the population surges in areas of Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and California. Learning to maintain golf courses using less water is a reality that is unlikely to change in the coming years.
Golf ’s reputation for using too much water is often unfair, and PGA of America Golf rofessionals can help educate the public about golf ’s ability to be a positive influence on water usage and the environment.
PGA of America Vice President Don Rea Jr. recently attended a summit for golf facilities in the Colorado River Basin, and he says arming yourself with facts is the best way to make sure your community understands how golf facilities make the most of the water they use.
“I’m in Arizona, where the perception is that golf uses a lot of water,” says Rea, the owner of Augusta Ranch Golf Club in Mesa, Arizona. “In reality, golf uses less than 2 percent of the water in the state but has over a $6 billion economic impact on the state economy. When non-golfers, which means 90 percent of America, think we use too much water, we have to be able to explain that we’re actually among the best stewards of water use, and that we work hand in hand with our superintendents to manage our water use.
“You don’t have to understand all the hydrology and geology of the issue, but you do need to be able to speak intelligently about the environmental benefits of golf courses.”
Rea suggests explaining that golf courses are sanctuaries for wildlife, and important green spaces in urban areas that support many ecosystems. In recent years, many courses have started removing turf to lower the area that needs irrigation, and also installing state of the art sensors that monitor moisture and adjust watering cycles accordingly for greater efficiency.
Going forward, PGA of America Golf Professionals should be sure to stress the importance of being safe while enjoying the game outdoors, from selling sunblock and UV-protective apparel and headwear to emphasizing the importance of hydration on the course. And be sure to remind golfers and non-golfers of the role golf plays in helping humans enjoy the outdoors.
“Golf needs to be sustainable, and to contain costs and water usage while maintaining the quality of the experience for golfers,” Rea says. “Let’s tell the story that golf is all about the environment, and that being out in the fresh air and smelling the grass is all part of what makes this game so great.”
Trend: Maintaining the Demand for Golf
Golf has always needed to strike a balance between what different groups want from their experience with the game. That tension has only been exacerbated by the surge in demand for golf following the pandemic, as older, more established avid golfers find themselves sharing the course with younger, newer golfers who may expect to play golf while listening to music and wearing non-traditional golf clothing.
“PGA of America Golf Professionals are in the midst of this tug-of-war every day,” says Jay Sutherland, the PGA of America Head Golf Professional at Country Club of Buffalo (New York) and the 2019 Western New York PGA Golf Professional of the Year. “The pandemic ramped up the demographic change at a lot of traditional clubs, like mine, which would normally have been a slower, more long-term process.”
What Sutherland and other PGA of America Golf Professionals find is that the best approach is often not to enforce policies as much as explain what the policies are and why they exist.
“Showing empathy to golfers, especially newer golfers, is so important to keeping them in the game while making sure the club rules are being followed,” Sutherland says. “If someone’s behind on pace of play or is in violation of the dress code, you want to make them feel like you’re helping them out instead of reprimanding them.
“If a group is out of position by a couple holes, I might ask them to skip ahead while inviting them in for a free hot dog or drink after the round. Or if a guest arrives and has a dress code violation, I’ll offer them a 50 percent discount on an appropriate item from the golf shop so they can be in compliance. The important thing is showing them that the golf staff cares about their experience, and that we’re not trying to be jerks.”
Sutherland says it’s also important to be cognizant of how the club’s existing core golfers feel about having their experiences upended in recent years due to the influx of new golfers and facility usage. These golfers may be adjusting to having tee times instead of an open first tee, or seeing the culture of the club change around them.
“Across the board, we’re 20 percent busier than before the pandemic, and those 20 percent of additional rounds are all rounds with newer members taking golf cars instead of walking with caddies,” Sutherland says. “It’s a great thing for the club, but there is a consistent sentiment among more tenured members that they don’t really enjoy the club being busier, and their dues are still going up with everyone else’s.”
Sutherland makes tenured members feel more comfortable by grouping them into the prime Saturday and Sunday morning tee times, when they’re more likely to be playing with like-minded walking golfers, then sending newer golfers and younger families out later in the day. It’s another way he and other PGA of America Golf Professionals keep the demand for golf strong by helping golfers create their own communities within golf facilities.
“The golfers who enjoy the same sorts of experiences create their own groups, and those communities find their grooves and play together – so you have the older members playing fast and walking in the mornings, then you have the younger members playing music and enjoying the game differently in the afternoons,” Sutherland says.
“These are different experiences, and we facilitate them finding each other and enjoying the game together.”
Trend:Technology
One of the biggest differences between the current golf boom and past influxes in participation is the work PGA of America Golf Professionals are doing to engage with and contact golfers. While past booms may have dwindled after a “build it and they will come” approach put the onus on golfers to interact with golf facilities, today’s PGA of America Professionals are using technology to stay in touch with their customers in a number of ways.
As PGA of America Director of Golf at Indiana’s Pleasant Run Golf Club and Sarah Shank Golf Club, Ryan Ford uses data collected through the point of sale system at each daily fee facility to interact via email with approximately 24,000 golfers throughout the year. That helps him drive business on a daily basis, as well as pumping up special events and sales. For example, in 2019 the two golf shops combined to sell approximately $5,000 in gift card sales on Black Friday. In 2022, that number had increased tenfold thanks to targeted email promotions.
“Data is the start of the process,” Ford says. “I use Teesnap for their marketing, and they can dissect my database based on zip code, gender, when they last played, you name it. So, I can send a free round on someone’s birthday, or emails to men before Mother’s Day. We’ll add 70–100 people to the database each week during the summer, and the results for our business are staggering.”
Sports & Leisure Research Group’s Last has been studying how golf facilities are using technology to market themselves, and he finds that social media – especially short videos on Tik Tok, Instagram and Facebook – is one of the most influential things golf facilities can do to interact with golfers. But as Ford has learned, Last sees customer data and segmentation being a gold mine of information for golf facilities.
“Facilities need to be tracking what their customers like and what they expect so they can customize the experience as much as possible,” Last says. “Part of it is knowing that Mr. Smith likes a cheeseburger and a Pepsi at the turn, and having it waiting for him. But it’s also surveying customers to learn about what their ceiling or floor is on pricing, or engaging with customers in the off-season. You can learn a lot by watching what college and professional sports teams are doing with dynamic pricing, and also offering perks to your best customers. It all comes from collecting that info from your customers.”
Trend:New Golfers
The surge of new golfers to find the sport in recent years includes a significant number of women, juniors and golfers from diverse backgrounds – a development that could have a transformational impact on the golf industry by spreading the game to a number of new demographics.
PGA of America Golf Professionals are equipped to welcome these new golfers into the game in a way that teaches them the game and incorporates them into the greater golf community, and it can all start with a simple step.
“At its core, golf is an invitation – PGA of America Golf Professionals are the ones to extend that invitation at their facilities,” says Chris Noble, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Development Lead for the PGA of America. “Not just playing the game, but being a part of the golf profession. If you share this game with a new golfer, they might have the same calling you felt that got you into the profession.”
Noble says traditional barriers to entry, and ideas that golf is too hard, too expensive or takes too long, are falling by the wayside as the game grows in popularity. From the overall interest in the game to the ongoing work of PGA REACH and PGA WORKS, the game of golf stands poised to become much more representative of the country as a whole in the years to come. And through PGA.org, PGA of America Golf Professionals can access a number of useful tools, such as the Inclusion Guidelines for Golf Facilities 2.0 workbook.
“It’s an exciting time to be in golf, from seeing more women and juniors in the game to seeing Veterans, the adaptive community and other demographics becoming part of the community,” Noble says. “Reach out to local groups and start small, host some clinics or events, and you’ll see the positive perception of golf and your facility in your community. It isn’t something you have to do, it’s something you get to do to grow the game.
“By 2044, the majority of our population will be made up of minority groups, so taking small steps now will give your facility a chance to grow over time.”
One interesting thing to note about new golfers that started in the sport at the outset of the pandemic: Many of them no longer consider themselves “new” golfers, but they still require attention.
“The last couple of years, we’ve consistently seen a focus on the new players in the game, and keeping the COVID-era golfers in the game,” says Last. “This year, we’ve seen a lot more focus on retaining golfers, which says to me that many of the new golfers are now part of the core. That’s very healthy, and shows that unlike some other spikes in golf over the years, this one should have a bit more stickiness.”
Trend: Reinvesting in Golf
An important effect caused by the current golf boom is strong revenue being reported at golf facilities of all types – making it possible to reinvest in the facility in the interest of maintaining engagement for years to come. Many private clubs, daily fee facilities and resorts are choosing to embark on capital expenditure projects of all kinds, from building new courses or renovating existing layouts, adding short courses or putting courses, expanding ranges and practice facilities, adding simulators, upgrading clubhouses and dining options, and even adding on-site accommodations at private facilities.
“It shows you the strength of golf right now that so many facilities of all kinds are reinvesting in their golf courses and amenities looking toward the next five to 10 years,” says Jason Epstein, PGA of America Director of Golf and Athletics at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. “I think you’re going to see this continued focus and investment in the game for years to come.”
Epstein has helped oversee a major transformation of the golf experience at Congressional, including a reimagining of the club’s Blue Course – which hosted the 2023 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship – and the construction of an 8,000-squarefoot golf fitness center. The club intends to continue evolving its golf offerings beyond the next decade, with hosting the 2037 Ryder Cup on the horizon.
“We did a lot of listening so we could understand what our members really want,” Epstein says. “We’re going to do more rounds this year than in any other year in our history. Clubs are a lot of things, but most of all they’re a community, and it’s a powerful thing when you strengthen that community by reinvesting in the experience.”
PGA of America Golf Professionals can be key advisors to facilities of all kinds as they explore ways to reinvest in their offerings, and bringing in outside experts can also provide a fresh insight into how a facility can evolve.
“It can be tough to get honest opinions from customers at your own facility sometimes – nobody wants to call your baby ugly to your face,” says Last. “A culture audit is a highly customized look at the human dynamics of why people support and frequent your facility, and understanding that behavior can help you invest in an experience that will keep your pipeline full into the future.”
Trend:Alternative Golf Experiences
Everyone knows the impact that off-course facilities like Topgolf are having in introducing nongolfers to the game in a fun, non-threatening environment. But just how much of an impact is there? Consider the impact of more than 14.8 billion – yes, billion – shots being hit at Topgolf facilities last year, and that the brand hopes for that number to grow to 25 billion in the coming years.
Roughly 10 percent of all recreational golfers say Topgolf was their introduction to the sport, and with 65,000 people visiting the brand’s facilities each day, that percentage stands to grow. Add in the new players coming to the game from similar facilities like DriveShack, Back Nine, 5-Iron Golf and TopShots, and you can see there are plenty of people who might be interested in golf who have never set foot on an actual golf course.
That’s a pretty substantial opportunity for PGA of America Golf Professionals to convert alternative golf aficionados into on-course players.
“I saw a statistic that 67 percent of the people who visit Topgolf have never swung a club,” says Ford. “We had an Indiana PGA Section Career Day at Topgolf recently, and it was packed. You saw golf swings of all kinds, people barefoot and in sandals. And all I could think was how much I’d love to have those customers, and what kind of program I could set up to teach them about actually playing golf on the course.”
Ford envisions a Get Golf Ready-like program that walks a prospective golfer through the entire process of playing their first round of golf, starting with what they need to bring with them and where to check in for a round, some instruction and a brief on-course experience to break the ice.
“We already see these customers, and they show up with a deer-in-the-headlights look,” Ford says. “It’s up to us as PGA of America Golf Professionals to take them under our wings and show them how this world works in a friendly way.”
Congressional’s Epstein sees the same opportunity to convert large numbers of new players into regular golfers through the expertise of PGA of America Professionals.
“Every course and club should have a robust program to get new golfers on course as quickly as possible,” he says. “And don’t just throw your lowest-level staffers out there for a clinic. Provide a great experience and we can capture them for the long term. We can’t build that out fast enough in this industry.
“We offer a Putter Club, which could be a prototype for a new golfer program. We do an hour of putting, because everyone can putt, then we have cocktails afterward. It’s a great stress-free way to get a taste of the golf course, we have lots of high-fives, and you can ease them into the community and get them ready for the golf course.”
The PGA of America’s Easterbrook says this new potential audience will get plenty of attention in the years to come.
“I think you’re going to see the PGA of America and its Members working hard on the conversion of non-traditional golfers,” Easterbrook says. “Over 15 million people put a golf club in their hands for the first time last year at a non-traditional golf facility, and it’s mostly a younger demographic. If we can convert a good share of those people into regular recreational golfers, it’s going to put our industry in really good shape for a generation to come.”
Trend:Working from Home
Another major factor in the pandemic golf boom is the sudden and ongoing adoption of work from home policies in a number of industries. When offices shut down and employees at many companies started working remotely, the impact on golf was swift. Without daily commutes or strict office hours, established golfers were able to use their newfound schedule flexibility to spend more time at and on the course.
“We continue to see the trend in how many additional hours members are spending at the club post-COVID,” says Katie Wiedmar, the PGA of America Golf Shop Manager and Assistant Golf Professional at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York. “There are a lot of members we would only see on the weekends, and now they’re regularly at the club on a lunch break to practice, or getting in a quick nine holes during the day. Our rounds played number has stayed pretty steady, but usage of the club overall is way up.”
To adjust for this newfound usage of the club – and the fact that many club members no longer had to dress for office life – Wiedmar has shifted the product mix in Winged Foot’s golf shop. “In the shop, we used to have a lot more button downs and wovens for men, things you could wear into the office,” says Wiedmar, the 2023 PGA of America Merchandiser of the Year for Private Facilities. “Now we have much more athleisure, joggers, hoodies and sweatpants – even T-shirts. We’re a traditional private club, but a lot of those barriers have fallen as work life has changed for so many people.”
The beginning of 2023 did see a push from some large companies to bring more employees back into the office full-time, which could have had a major impact on golf. But all indications are that many employers are content with employees working from home when possible, or maintaining a hybrid work schedule that sees them work from the office a few days a week – still leaving some days open for additional golf when possible.
“We’ve tracked work from home policies through the Chamber of Commerce, and the good news is that COVID really did drive a foundational shift in flexibility that is unlikely to go away,” says Last. “October (2023) was the first month since March 2020 that more than 50 percent of workers were in the office most of the time, and it was just barely above 50 percent.
“Time availability is a real inhibitor to playing golf, and COVID attacked this barrier in a way we never would have expected. Work from home has been tempered a bit, but we as a society have reprioritized time, and that’s a big plus for golf.”
Trend:Fitness and Wellness
Golf and fitness have always had a relationship, whether it was better players attempting to improve performance through strength and flexibility or simply fitness-conscious golfers choosing to walk the course instead of riding. The trend in recent years, however, has been to bring golf and fitness closer together at the facility level by incorporating health and wellness into the world of playing and learning golf.
That’s the approach Congressional Country Club took when it added an 8,000-square-foot fitness facility. Instead of focusing on shaving strokes off the scorecard or inches off the waistline, the club has emphasized a broader approach to feeling better overall.
“Wellness transcends golf, and the way we talk about it here is holistic – how can we make your life better, not just your golf better?” says Congressional’s Epstein. “Research shows that people who work out vigorously five days a week live longer, and our members have embraced that opportunity.”
Epstein points out that simply having a fitness center on property is not the same as offering a fitness and wellness program. Congressional hired a performance coach who works with PGA of America Golf Professionals to integrate sport-specific exercises into golf coaching. The club also hired a stretching expert and instructors to teach classes like Pilates. The results were strong on the course and for the club as a whole.
“We’ve measured performance, and our members who take lessons at least once a month and work out at least once a week lowered their handicaps by three strokes,” Epstein says. “They’re more flexible, and they feel better on and off the course. “In addition, a powerful thing that happens when your membership embraces a healthier lifestyle is that it breeds community – and what strengthens a club is a stronger community. That’s the magic of a good fitness and wellness program. It has a lot of business upside, but it enriches the lives of our members, which keeps them at the club longer.”