GOLF TRAVEL in USA

According to the Golf Participation Study, by the National Golf Foundation (NGF, www.ngf.org), the number of people playing at least one round of golf has been as ollows:

2011 25.7 million

2012 25.3 million

2013: 24.7 million

2014 24.7 million

2015: 24.1 million

About 80% of all golfers, or 20 million of the 24.1 million, make up a committed base who accounted for 94% of all rounds played. Play among this group drove an overall increase in rounds played of 1.8% versus 2014.

In addition to the 24 million people who played golf on a golf course in 2015, another 7 million took part in the game at a driving range, a TopGolf facility, or on an indoor golf simulator.

According to Golf Datatech (www.golfdatatech.com), approximately 450 million rounds of golf are played each year.

According to the U.S. Travel Association (USTA, www.ustravel.org), 12% of U.S. travelers played golf while on a trip of 100 miles or more in the past year. This translates to 17.3 million U.S. adults who golfed while traveling. Golfing travelers averaged 2.6 trips over the period, with 10% golfing on six or more trips. Forty-six percent (46%) of golfing travelers participated in the sport on only one trip; 34% went on either two or three golfing trips. Sixteen percent (16%) of travelers who played golf said that golf was the most important reason for taking the trip. Fifty-five percent (55%) of golfing travelers said that on their most recent golf trip, golfing was not a primary or secondary reason, but rather just an activity on the trip.

The National Golf Foundation estimates that golfers spend about $26 billion a year on golf travel, 75% of which goes to the hotel, transportation, and food and beverage industries.

Golf Courses

As of year-end 2015, there were 15,204 golf courses in the United States, according to NGF.

The following are the states with the most facilities:

• Florida

• California

• New York

• Michigan

• Texas

A list of award-winning golf resorts is presented in Chapter 75 of this handblog.