The good news keeps coming for the golf industry.
At about the same time that it was announced that the opening date for the Stillwater Golf Club in northern Florida would be sometime in May — its first new course built in the area near the PGA Tour’s headquarters since 2002 — came news from the National Golf Foundation that golf-course closings nationwide are down 53 percent from its peak two years ago, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Only 130 courses closed in 2021, less than a one percent decline in the overall U.S. supply of 16,035 courses on 14,033 facilities.
The National Golf Foundation compiles annual statistics on golf course openings, closings, and renovations, as well as demographic statistics for players and rounds.
Rounds of golf have gone up across all demographics since the pandemic began in March of 2020, mainly because it was one of the few activities that remained open, even in areas that had the most severe shutdowns, because it could be played outdoors under social distancing conditions.
The NGF reported that December rounds nationwide increased two percent over December of 2020, for a net increase of 5.5 percent for the year. Golfers played 25 million more rounds in 2021 than in 2020.
Rounds in Florida went up 8.2 percent in December of 2021.
The NGF also reported that the number of municipal courses increased four percent over 2020. That was a combination of new courses but also of cities and counties purchasing daily-fee clubs and re-opening them.
The number of U.S. courses (as measured by 18 holes) has dropped 11 percent since the peak in golf course construction prior to the recession that began in 2007. Since 2006 more courses have closed than have opened every year, most the victim of overbuilding which preceded the burst of the housing bubble.
The NGF also reported that the private course inventory increased in 2021 for the first time since 2007. It was a net increase of 12 facilities, but as the report noted, it wasn’t a loss.