Heavy rains slightly depress late summer golf rounds played, NGF says

Golf rounds played, 2019 to 2021 (Chart: National Golf Foundation)

Rounds of golf played fell slightly in July in August from the massive records set in 2021, but the National Golf Foundation credits the decline to poor weather, not a weakening of demand.

“This year, 29 states had higher-than-average precipitation levels in August and rainfall totals were 43 percent or higher in four of the northernmost geographic regions, according to Golf Datatech,” said NGF officials “Five states, among them New York and Pennsylvania, had one of their 10 wettest Augusts in the NOAA’s 127-year record.”

The overall results were a 4 percent decline in rounds from 2020’s July and a 7 percent decline from 2020’s August. The NGF also notes that most of the country experienced golf-friendly weather in 2020’s late summer. And, COVID-19 restrictions kept many golfers from traveling that year, making it more attractive to spend vacation days on home courses.

More importantly, those late-summer 2021 numbers are still significantly higher than prepandemic levels of golf play. August rounds were 13 percent higher than the 2017-to-2019 average.

For the rest of the year, matching 2020’s fantastic numbers will be extremely difficult, no matter what weather conditions Mother Nature throws at golf courses.

From 2019 to 2020, golf rounds in the final four months of the year increased:

• September: 26 percent
• October 32 percent
• November 57 percent
• December 37 percent