NGF releases results of 4th survey

The National Golf Foundation’s (NGF) fourth national survey of golf facilities revealed that 49 percent of courses in the U.S. were open for play last week.

This figure has risen slightly over the past weeks and the organization expects it to continue to do so as warmer weather creeps further north. Wisconsin allows walking-only play, some private clubs are reopening to members in New York and golf operations resume in a few California counties.

NGF conducted a cool analysis of northern golf courses (above the 45th parallel) in order to estimate the potential impact of regularly scheduled seasonal openings. It doesn’t expect to see the percentage of courses open for play to significantly increase until more states begin to ease restrictions or grant exceptions for golf. Once that gains some momentum then the tracking will become very dynamic and the numbers will rise.

Other new information on NGF’s COVID-19 impacts page includes:

• One seven-state region had the biggest jump in facility openings to 77 percent open overall.
• Online searches for open golf courses have spiked again.
• Opposition among core golfers to government mandated closures is growing.