Golf’s Cost of COVID-19

Industry Insider

THE SUMMER THE GAME STOOD STILL

THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 HAS AFFECTED EVERY FACET OF OUR DAILY LIVES — INCLUDING THE GAME OF GOLF

BY DON SHELL

Tournament re-runs on TV. Face masks in the clubhouse. Foam donuts around the flagstick. The ripple effect of a global pandemic washed over the game of golf with an unprecedented, unbelievable fury, shuttering clubhouses, shutting down tournaments, and forcing everyone involved in the game to adapt to a stark, sudden reality few could’ve ever imagined.

Welcome to golf’s new normal — at least, for now.

With more than 20 million infected worldwide and more than 155,000 deaths from COVID-19 here in the U.S. alone, the impact on golf is minuscule in the broader context of the loss of life and livelihoods on a global scale. Yet the impact has been felt on a sport enjoyed by millions across the globe all the same, especially here at home.

As state governors took measures to protect the public nationwide in March, with many closing courses or delaying season starts here in the Midwest, the number of course openings slowly began trending upward in May, as the infection curve began to slow across the country. As of press time, courses are open in all 50 states, with varying levels of restriction on courses and clubhouses.

In an open letter to members in late May, National Golf Foundation (NGF) President and CEO Joe Beditz said hope was on the horizon, and that signs showed golfers were definitely “scratching their itch to play.”

Beditz indicated that 86 percent of core golfers reported that they’ve teed it up in the past couple of weeks of May.

“I can’t say if that’s high because it’s not how we’ve traditionally collected this data, but it seems an encouraging sign,” he said.

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

The NGF estimates as many as 20 million rounds were lost due to COVID-19 in March and April, mostly due to forced closures but also to virus-induced anxiety, with about $1 billion lost in golf course green fee revenues alone.

But one strange side-effect as the stay-athome orders lessened has been the boon to golf courses, as golfers were looking for any excuse to leave their quarantined quarters for some socially distant exercise outdoors.

“There is evidence both anecdotal and scientific that rounds in May might be up significantly over last year as a result of a surge in demand, not only from core golfers, but from beginners and lapsed players too,” Beditz said. “If this surge proves true and if it persists even partially into the summer months, then we could recoup the rounds and revenue lost in March and April. Put another way, we’ll break even with last year if rounds are up 5% for the period May through December.”

The “trampoline effect” of pent-up demand for golf, coupled with comparatively fewer entertainment options in a COVID19 landscape — no summer movies, fewer restaurant and bar options, to name just a few — has also benefitted the game.

For proof, look no further than the rounds-played report for June from Golf Datatech, with a meaty 13.9% increase nationally over 2019, to the tune of an estimated 7-8 million more golfers on courses than last year. That results in an increase of as much as $400 million in operational revenue, Golf Datatech estimates. Here in the Midwest, rounds are up an average of 11.2% for the year through June, with that number likely to only increase.

“We had 14,000 rounds booked (in the spring), which was three months ahead of where we normally were,” lamented Don Helinski, the normally jovial director of operations at Forest Dunes Golf Club. “So, because of losing our early season, we decided to alter our schedule, and we’re going to close later, Oct. 10. The whole thing has had a trampoline effect for us. June might end

Actual & Potential COVID-19 Eects on Rounds Played Actual monthly changes vs. 2019 Actual YTD changes (Jan-Jun) vs. 2019 Potential year-end scenario if Jul-Dec flat vs. 2019

20%

10%

EVEN

-10%

-20%

-30%

-40% +11.1% vs. Jan ’19

+11% YTD +19.1% vs. Feb ’19

+15% YTD +4% YTD

-8.5% vs. Mar ’19

-16% YTD +6.2% vs. May’19 +11.1% vs. Jun ’19

-8% YTD -2% YTD -.8% Projected

-42.2% vs. Apr ’19

Source: National Golf Foundation

up being the best month — the most rounds we’ve ever done in a month in history.

“We’ve had five of our best days all-time in the last two weeks. It’ll be really nice to see where we end up at the end of the year.”

A SEASON SET ASIDE

While the average Janes and Joes are free to play to their hearts’ content, the professionals had their careers put on hold due to COVID-19, then had to adapt to a fan-free tournament experience.

As the coronavirus gripped the nation in mid-March, the PGA Tour, among others, began cancelling or postponing tournaments. The Players Championship, at famed “fifth Major” at the TPC at Sawgrass, was the first to fall, with six others following suit in subsequent weeks.

Even such a venerable institution as The Masters wasn’t immune, and opted to postpone its pimento sandwiches and patrons until a potentially post-COVID-19 world November 12-15, an idea that seems in serious jeopardy based on current trends.

When the PGA Tour did return with the Charles Schwab Challenge in early June (sans fans), it was met with an almost immediate spate of positive tests among caddies and players, including Brooks Koepka’s bagman, Ricky Elliott, and Webb Simpson, among others. Even Jack Nicklaus announced he’d tested positive for COVID-19 in March, and thankfully recovered fully.

After the initial cases, the Tour quickly tightened testing and new rules to protect people on-course. But PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan seemed resigned to the fact that positive cases are an eventuality as long as the show goes on.

“You don’t want to have any, but I think as you look at where we are and the trends of our overall program ... the tightening that we’ve done, I think that the results are very good,’’ Monahan said. “We’re certainly encouraged by that. We’re proud of that. I think our players deserve a ton of credit for not only what they’re doing here on site in terms of social distancing and masking and being entirely aware of what we need to do when we’re on property.”

The Tour’s efforts haven’t gone unrewarded by fans, however. With virtually all other professional sports shuttered in spring and into June and July, the PGA Tour’s tele

EVEN SUCH A VENERABLE INSTITUTION AS THE MASTERS WASN’T IMMUNE … POSTPONED ’TIL NOV. 12-15

vision ratings have skyrocketed. The Charles Schwab Challenge averaged 3 million viewers, up 50 percent over last year’s tournament, with 3.88 million viewers tuning in to watch Daniel Berger’s final-round win — the biggest audience for the tournament’s final round in 16 years.

The week before, a whopping 5.8 million tuned in to “The Match,” the two-on-two competition pitting Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning against Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady. Woods and Manning held on to win, 1-up, with the match raising $20 million for COVID-19 relief.

EQUIPPED TO HANDLE THE HIATUS

As courses gradually began reopening, the need for golf equipment — a leading indicator of industry strength — rose right along with it.

Golf equipment dollar sales grew by 51 percent in June, compared to the comparable month last year, building off of the market’s 22 percent growth in May according to The NPD Group.

“Golfers seem to be letting their spending belts out a notch too,” said Beditz. “(In June) we saw a significant jump in the proportion who say their spending has returned to a normal level (45%, up from 35%). And, as another measure of golfer confidence, the percent who’ve made an unexpected ‘big ticket purchase’ in the past 30 days has risen to 38%, up from 28% just a few weeks ago.”

Retailers concur.

“We’ve seen so much increased interest in the game of golf,” PGA Tour Superstore President and CEO Dick Sullivan told Forbes. “We’re seeing so many new faces in our stores. People that haven’t played in 20 years and they want to come back into the game. Our women’s business, whether its beginner sets, or in club business, is up 45-50%.

“It is the one sport that people can physical distance. People want to get outdoors, they want to be healthy and people that work from home are tired of being inside. Golf courses are packed.”

As the COVID-19 landscape shifted throughout the spring, golfers’ buying patterns shifted along with it. In April, the chain’s sales of push-pull walking golf carts

Junior golf is up 20% this year, according to the NGF.

were up 375%, as many courses limited golfers to walking-only or one person per cart.

Whether those buying appetites will continue post-coronavirus remains to be seen, but the trend clearly beats the alternative.

THE NEXT NORMAL

What the future holds for golf and especially, golf tournaments, no one knows, but it’s clear the game is much more resilient than many would have expected, and the game is finding new fans and new players in the face of all its adversity.

The number of junior golfers (ages 6-17) could swell by as much as 20% this year, according to the NGF. With approximately 2.5 million kids having teed it up on a golf course last year, that’s a potential Covidrelated bump of half a million junior golfers by year’s end. And coupled with a 20% increase in new and returning adults to the game this year, golf’s future is suddenly seeing a silver lining.

But to keep the momentum building, golfers everywhere must exhibit some of the same skills that make good players great — persistence, practice, and courtesy to their fellow golfers.

“While it’s encouraging to see the golf business making a comeback, this isn’t business as usual, not from the standpoint of golf course operations, or from golfers’ compliance and responsibility,” Beditz said. “Golf course operators have specific safety protocols to follow, as do golfers.

“Golf has been given the go-ahead because it’s considered a relatively safe activity when social distancing is maintained and other precautions are followed. But make no mistake, what has been given can be taken away. It’s now up to both golf course operators and golfers to keep golf open.”

For more about COVID-19’s impact on the game, visit www.ngf.org.

2021 Ryder Cup Preview

WHISTLING MUST WAIT

The 2020 Ryder Cup postponed to next year amid coronavirus fears

By Gary D’Amato

As May turned to June and June to July in 2020, hope faded that the 43rd Ryder Cup could be staged as scheduled in September at Whistling Straits.

The coronavirus was surging in numerous states and showed no signs of abating. Positive tests were popping up on the PGA Tour and in professional sports leagues despite strict safety protocols. Quarantines were in place for international travel. Top players were calling for postponement if the Ryder Cup could not be safely held with spectators, and construction had not yet begun on grandstands and corporate chalets at the Straits.

Finally, the PGA of America could wait no longer. On July 8, the PGA, which conducts the Ryder Cup when it is held in the United States, announced that the event would be postponed one year.

The biennial match between 12-man teams of professionals from the U.S. and Europe was rescheduled for Sept. 21-26, 2021, at Whistling Straits in Haven, Wisconsin, with the competition the final three days.

“Obviously, this nasty virus has shown its teeth again with the resurgences that are coming across the country,” said Seth Waugh, CEO of the PGA. “And it became clear very recently that a postponement was the real logical, practical or responsible move that we had.