COVID sparks golf resurgence
Courses both locally, nationally see huge uptick in play
We are well into the heart of the autumn season. The sun is rising a little bit later and it is getting darker just a little bit sooner. We are at that point in the calendar where daylight hours are slightly less than darkness hours. Throughout much of the country, the golf season is coming to a close as the leaves are starting to fall. It’s only a matter of weeks until freezing temperatures and wintry conditions will be the norm.
The year 2020 will be forever remembered as the year of the pandemic. It was in mid-March that COVID-19 reeked havoc upon the metropolitan cities of the East Coast. The world of sports closed down, businesses were shuttered and the nation was in the midst of a full-blown health and economic crisis. For close to two months, even golf courses throughout the country were closed down. It was a most trying time for all Americans.
Over time, health officials starting determining what aspects of our lives and our economy could reopen. The neighborhood tavern and barber shop had to remain closed along with the health club and diner. However, outdoor activities such as hiking, bicycling, fishing, hunting and even golf were encouraged. Indoor spaces were off limits, masks were a necessity, and yet going outside and enjoying some form of socially-distanced activity was good for the body and good for the mind. Golf is a safe outdoor activity and is a natural for social distancing.
The end result, for those of us actively involved in the world of golf, was that the sport would experience its most successful season financially in decades. The decline of the sport that started in the new millennium suddenly had a big boost. Active Americans couldn’t necessarily go to their health club, couldn’t play in their men’s basketball league or softball league, but they could fish or hike or even play golf. While not everyone has fishing poles or mountain bikes in the corner of their garage, most folks seem to have a set of golf clubs lying about, even if they are laminated woods made by PowerBilt and endorsed by Frank Beard (shades of 1965).
At the conclusion of August 2020, Golf Datatech estimated that total rounds of golf in comparison to 2019 were up 20 percent. That penciled out to 17 million more rounds of golf played in the months of June and July with 10 million more rounds in August. As Joe Beditz of the National Golf Foundation was quoted as saying, “It’s been quite a summer for golf.” In Florida, play was up this summer by 37 percent while Arizona was experiencing an uptick in golf at 31 percent.
For the past 10 years golf has been trending downward with a golf course closing in America every other day. Locally we have seen the demise of Clear Lake Riviera, Langtry, Black Rock (Hobergs) and Aetna Springs.