Keeping up with the Jones: It’s a great time for golf
Here we are — the third Golfdom Tour Guide! A big golf clap to all the superintendents who gave us some of their valuable time so we could share their stories. And another big golf clap (I’m talking final putt at the U.S. Open on Sunday) to our advertising partners who made this issue possible.
My entire working career has been in the game of golf. What a time to be working in golf, and what a time to be a fan of golf.
In this same issue last year, I lamented what I called a “strange time in professional golf,” noting that the PGA Tour’s ratings were struggling. This was when I was still trying to wrap my head around LIV Golf and what it would do to the PGA Tour.
Well, things have changed. Ratings are no longer down. NBC notified golf media and shared that, according to Nielsen and Adobe Analytics, ratings are up for six straight weekends of PGA Tour golf. The viewership has increased by 10 percent compared to the same tournaments last year. The number jumps even more if the rain-delayed Players Championship round is excluded; viewership gains are 18 percent in that case.
This streak started with the Mexican Open at VidantaWorld (Feb. 22-23) and continued through the Texas Children’s Houston Open (March 29-30). Total Audience Delivery (TAD) averages came in at 2.2 million viewers across 41 hours of coverage (I’m shipping this magazine to press before the ratings of the Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio have been shared, so this streak could still be on; time will tell).
With the Masters here — always a ratings bonanza and a signal to the country that it’s time to dust off the sticks — golf is about to really take off.
So, what is to credit the ratings bump? It’s hard for me to say. We’ve had a few nice leaderboards, yeah. But mostly … people are just interested in golf across the country. They’re ready for better weather and to be out there on the golf course themselves. In this magazine last month, I did a Q&A with Greg Nathan, CEO of the National Golf Foundation. In that Q&A, we talked about the NGF’s recent Graffis Report, which showed that for seven straight years, the number of green grass golfers has increased. There were 28.1 million golfers in America in 2024, an increase of 1.8 million from 2023. Nathan predicted that in the next 10 years, 50 percent of Americans will play, watch, read about or follow the game of golf.
Half of all Americans! For a game that, not so long ago, was considered a game only for elites.
My own professional golf year is off to a hot start. I recently attended the Players Championship, where our coverage was sponsored by the Quali-Pro team. As I sit here and write, I’m about 24 hours from attending the Wednesday practice round at the 2025 Masters.
The U.S. Open at Oakmont is also on my agenda, among a few other tournaments.
You’ll see me dropping copies of this very issue in maintenance break rooms around the country. Why? Because we want to celebrate this great industry. Whether it’s a superintendent at one of the courses profiled in this issue or a superintendent at the local municipal course, it’s a great time to be in golf — I’m sure you agree.
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