The Cold, Hard Facts, january 11, 2013

In 2011, the U.S. golf industry had a direct economic impact of $68.8 billion and a total economic impact of $176.8 billion, according to Golf 20/20. “The economy has endured two significant recessions the past decade, and golf has fared well,” concluded an official from Golf 20/20. A press release points out that golf’s “core industries” -- things like golf facility operations and retail sales -- by themselves pack a stronger economic punch than spectator sports, the performing arts, and the amusement and recreation industries. It’s also worth noting that our business was responsible for 1.98 million jobs and $55.6 billion in wages.

Despite the wettest summer in 100 years, a survey by Sport England has determined that 850,500 people in England played golf at least once a week during the 12-month period that ended in October 2012. The number is said to be “steady” in comparison to the one posted in 2011 and proof of “how popular golf is when the weather is right,” according to an official with the England Golf Partnership. Monthly figures indicate that play increased during the relatively mild winter of 2011-12 but decreased when the rains came, particularly in April and June. “The weather has clearly influenced participation, and obviously that’s not something we can control,” the official said. “It is disappointing that the atrocious weather in spring and much of the summer coincided with the peak playing period.”

The 393 golf clubs in New Zealand are “losing members in the thousands,” according to a story by one of the nation’s television stations. 3 News says that New Zealand’s clubs have collectively lost 17,000 members over the past nine years, a fact labeled as “quite a concern” by the CEO of New Zealand Golf. The station also notes that New Zealand has the second-largest number of golf courses per capita in the world, a statement that might lead curious readers to wonder which nation finished higher. The answer comes from Aussie Golfer, which, citing a 2007 study by Golf Digest, says that Scotland has the largest number of golf courses per capita. The United States finished eighth on the list posted by Aussie Golfer, behind Australia, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Canada, and Wales.

In a report produced for the city of Portland, Maine, National Golf Foundation Consulting says that the average number of rounds played at an 18-hole course in the United States is now 32,497, down from more than 50,000 in 2000. An economist from the University of Maine told city officials that an 18-hole U.S. course rings up, on average, $1.46 million in revenues annually. Maine’s 18-hole courses generate somewhat less, about $1.32 million, probably due to the brevity of the state’s golf season.

Golfers who vacation in Ireland spend about three times as much as a typical tourist, according to research from Fáilte Ireland. Historically, most of the golfers who’ve vacationed in Ireland have come from the United States and the United Kingdom, but today they’re coming from other places as well. “We now see traffic coming from mainland Europe and China,” the general manager of a course in Kinsale told the Irish Examiner. “[In 2012] we had, for the first time, bookings from Turkey, and the Scandinavian market is also growing at a good pace.” The newspaper reported that golf travelers help to support 7,300 jobs in Ireland, and a tourism minister notes that “golfing visitors tend to play at more than one location, which creates a more dispersed pattern of spending.”

The U.S. golf business raised $3.9 billion for charities in 2011, according to Golf 20/20 and the National Golf Foundation. Most of the money was provided by 12 million golfers who played in 143,000 fund-raising golf tournaments at 11,800 facilities.

In an article decidedly unfriendly to the golf business, PolicyMic reports that the U.S. Department of Defense operates 234 golf courses in the United States and in other nations. The article estimates that the military spends more than $140 million a year to maintain its courses -- a piddling amount, if you think about it -- and contends that “continuing to spend a single dollar supporting the military’s golf courses is indefensible.” The article’s bottom line: “Our servicemen and women can surely unwind in some other way.”

Even though North Korea once had a leader (Kim Jong-il) who reportedly notched five holes in one the first time he played golf, the nation today has just 42 “registered” golfers, according to Golf magazine. North Korea has a population of 25 million.