Under estimated the growth of golf
There have been many discussions here over the years saying golf is a dying sport.
There are also many discussions (active now) asking about driving ranges and additional executive courses in TV. An interesting data point is that off course golf (i.e.. simulators and TopGolf) is a top 10 sport in the US.
It seems to me, the one thing the developer mis read was the growth of golf, especially post COVID. Golf is not dying, exactly the opposite. It takes a long lead time to plan and develop the areas and insert any golf amenity.
Some data points
The sport had a direct economic impact of $102 billion in the United States in 2022 - an increase of 20% from 2016.
Golf has seen millions of new golfers.
• Nine straight years of two million beginners
• The last three years have seen three million beginners
Juniors are the fastest-growing cohort.
• 3.4 million juniors played in 2022
• 900,000 new juniors in the last three years
And golf is one of the most popular recreational sports in America.
• On-course golf ranks 5th with 25.7 million
• Off-course golf ranks 7th with 15.5 million
|