Vital Signs, march 20, 2015

     Leave it to the National Golf Foundation to find the silver lining in even the darkest of clouds. The Jupiter, Florida-based trade group and some of its closest associates (Golf Datatech, the PGA of America, and the National Golf Course Owners Association) have determined that the total number of rounds played last year in the United States was down by 1.7 percent from the number posted in 2013. The NGF blames the decline on “poor weather that affected nearly half of the country during multiple stretches of the year,” a phrase that translates as factors beyond the industry’s control. Despite the decline, the NGF has concluded that U.S. golfers “remained resilient in their commitment to playing the game,” because the number of rounds played on good-weather days showed an increase. Unfortunately, the increase was a measly 1 percent, which, as a measure of commitment, isn’t anything to brag about. Clearly, all those grow-the-game strategies that our industry leaders have unveiled in recent years aren’t having much effect.

     While the number of rounds played in the United States continues to deteriorate, Australia’s golf properties registered a healthy increase. According to data compiled by the Australian Golf Industry Council, the number of “competition” rounds (a.k.a. “handicapped” rounds) played in 2014 was up by 7.2 percent over the number recorded in 2013. What’s more, the evidence of improvement was widespread. Every month in 2014 showed an increase over its counterpart in 2013, every state showed an increase, and the Australian PGA reports that growth “consistently spread across metropolitan and regional areas.” Even better, both genders contributed. The number of rounds played by men grew by 7.4 percent, while the number played by women grew by 6.2 percent. The question now is whether Australia’s golf industry can post a second consecutive year of improvement, for in 2014 it capitalized on what the Australian PGA describes as “a relatively mild and drier winter.”

     Golfers in the United Kingdom were also somewhat more active last year. Sports Marketing Surveys reports that the number of rounds played in 2014 improved by 3.5 percent over the number from 2013.

     U.S. vacationers may not yet be traveling to Cuba in significant numbers, but those from other nations certainly are. Citing figures provided by an official government source, the Miami Herald reports that slightly more than 3 million international travelers set foot in Cuba last year, a number said to be a record. The island nation has long been a favorite among Canadian travelers, but these days it also draws well from European nations, particularly Germany, England, France, and Italy.

     In its first year as a publicly traded company, ClubCorp added more than 50 golf and country clubs to its portfolio and rung up $884.2 million in revenues, an 8.5 percent increase over 2013. “Fiscal 2014 was an outstanding year for us,” Eric Affeldt, the company’s CEO, acknowledged a press release. ClubCorp generated $695 million from its golf and country clubs, a 10 percent increase from 2013, but revenues from “same-store” golf operations -- that is, previously owned properties in its portfolio -- was up by just 2 percent. Although the company identifies its central business strategies as “consolidating market share” and “growing membership and increasing ancillary spend” (in this case, spend is corporate-speak for spending), its central purpose, as it so often notes in a trademarked phrase, is “building relationships and enriching lives.”