GOLF PARTICIPATION IN THE UNITED STATES
2012 EDITION
Published by National Golf Foundation 1150 South U.S. Highway One, Suite 401 • Jupiter, FL 33477 www.NGF.org • 888-ASK-4NGF
GOLF PARTICIPATION IN THE UNITED STATES 2012 Edition
Published by National Golf Foundation 1150 South U.S. Highway One, Suite 401 Jupiter, Florida 33477
Š2012 by the National Golf Foundation. This publication or any part thereof must not be reproduced without written consent of the NGF.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Methodology and Definition of Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 All U.S. Golfers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Core Golfers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Occasional Golfers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Junior Golfers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Beginning Golfers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Rounds Played. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Regional Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
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INTRODUCTION The number of golfers remained essentially steady in 2011 at 25.7 million. Compared to the 26.1 million recorded in 2010, the estimated drop of 400K golfers is within the range of sampling error. For research purposes, a golfer is defined as a person age 6 or above who played at least one round of golf in a given year. While the estimated number of Occasional golfers (age 6+, one to seven rounds a year) remained unchanged at 11.3 million, we saw a slight decrease in the Core golfer category. Core golfers (age 6+, eight or more rounds a year) fell 2.7%, from 14.8 million to 14.4 million. In 2011, 3.5 million golfers were either first-time beginners (1.5 million) or those who returned after not having played in over a year (2.0 million). Conversely, there were 3.9 million individuals who had played in 2010 but did not in 2011. The number of rounds of golf fell 2.5% during the past year, from 475 million in 2010 to 463 million in 2011. This drop in rounds was primarily driven by extremely unfavorable weather in northern regions.
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METHODOLOGY Each January since 1986, the NGF has surveyed Americans regarding golf participation. In 2007, the NGF joined a partnership of sports associations to cooperatively conduct sports participation research (the Physical Activity Council). The other associations are: • International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) • Outdoor Industry Foundation (OIF) • Snowsports Industries America (SIA) • Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA) • Tennis Industry Association (TIA) • United States Tennis Association (USTA) The Council currently surveys 40,000 Americans ages 6 and above regarding their participation. The survey is conducted by Synovate and covers over 100 sports and fitness activities, including golf. Although the resulting sample closely matches that of the entire U.S. population demographically, statistical weighting is used (including age, income, geographic region, etc.) in order to make the sample match the population as accurately as possible. Approximately 9% of the sample in 2012 indicated they played golf in calendar year 2011. Those golfers we identify enable us to take an in-depth look at golfer characteristics by age, income, education, etc., and to track the trend in the number of golfers by segment over time. All statistical samples are subject to a margin of error. The margin of error on the total number of golfers in 2011 (25.7 million) was plus-or-minus 800,000 golfers.
Definition of Terms Used in this Report Participation Rate: The percentage of individuals within a given population or demographic segment who played golf at least once during the survey year. Core Golfers: Individuals ages 6 and above who played at least eight rounds of golf in 2011. Occasional Golfers: Individuals ages 6 and above who played one to seven rounds of golf in 2011. Junior Golfers: Individuals ages 6-17 who played at least one round of golf in 2011. Beginning Golfers: Individuals ages 6 and above who played for the first time in 2011.
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ALL U.S. GOLFERS Number All golfers age 6+
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2011
19.5
27.4
24.7
28.8
30.0
26.1
25.7
(in millions)
Averages All golfers age 6+ Age HH income Annual rounds
Male
Female
Total
41.7 $85,700 18.6
40.7 $82,400 15.5
41.5 $85,100 18.0 Number of golfers (000)
Participation Rate (1) (Percent of population age 6+)
Total Male Female
9.0% 14.8% 3.4%
Age 6-17 18-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70+ HH Income Under $30,000 $30,000-$49,999 $50,000-$74,999 $75,000-$99,999 $100,000-$124,999 $125,000+ Education Non-HS Grad HS Grad Some College College Grad
4.7% 9.7% 12.1% 11.1% 9.3% 8.7% 7.1%
3.9% 6.6% 8.8% 11.0% 13.5% 14.5%
5.0% 5.5% 8.5% 13.2%
Percent of all Golfers
25,682
100.0%
20,724 4,965
80.7% 19.3%
2,381 4,860 5,063 5,115 3,733 2,652 1,885
9.3% 18.9% 19.7% 19.9% 14.5% 10.3% 7.3%
2,419 3,523 4,950 4,492 5,108 5,198
9.4% 13.7% 19.3% 17.5% 19.9% 20.2%
2,805 2,925 6,024 13,928
10.9% 11.4% 23.5% 54.2%
(1) Percentage of individuals within a given population or demographic segment who played golf at least once during the survey year. NAT I ONAL GOL F F OUNDAT I ON
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CORE GOLFERS Number All golfers age 6+
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2011
13.4
16.0
16.4
19.7
18.0
14.8
14.4
(in millions)
Averages All golfers age 6+ Age HH income Annual rounds
Male
Female
Total
45.2 $85,700 30.3
45.9 $85,200 29.1
45.3 $85,600 30.1 Number of Core Golfers (000)
Participation Rate (1) (Percent of population age 6+)
Total Male Female Age 6-17 18-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70+ HH Income Under $30,000 $30,000-$49,999 $50,000-$74,999 $75,000-$99,999 $100,000-$124,999 $125,000+ Education Non-HS Grad HS Grad Some College College Grad
4.9% 8.4% 1.6%
2.3% 4.3% 4.8% 6.3% 5.7% 6.7% 5.8%
2.2% 3.6% 4.5% 6.4% 7.6% 8.0%
2.5% 3.0% 5.0% 7.2%
Percent of Core Golfers
14,421
100.0%
11,977 2,444
81.4% 18.6%
1,203 2,207 2,046 2,950 2,345 2,092 1,586
8.3% 15.3% 14.2% 20.5% 16.3% 14.5% 11.0%
1,379 1,954 2,567 2,651 2,935 2,942
9.6% 13.5% 17.8% 18.4% 20.4% 20.4%
1,451 1,596 3,630 7,744
10.1% 11.1% 25.2% 53.7%
(1) Percentage of the given population or demographic segment who are Core golfers. NAT I ONAL GOL F F OUNDAT I ON
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OCCASIONAL GOLFERS Number All golfers age 6+
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2011
6.1
11.5
8.3
9.1
12.0
11.3
11.3
(in millions)
Averages All golfers age 6+ Age HH income Annual rounds
Male
Female
Total
37.1 $85,700 2.7
36.0 $79,800 2.3
36.9 $84,400 2.6 Number of Occasional Golfers (000)
Participation Rate (1) (Percent of population age 6+)
Total
Age 6-17 18-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70+ HH Income Under $30,000 $30,000-$49,999 $50,000-$74,999 $75,000-$99,999 $100,000-$124,999 $125,000+ Education Non-HS Grad HS Grad Some College College Grad
11,260
100.0%
8,755 2,505
77.7% 22.3%
1,172 2,630 2,982 2,176 1,399 586 322
10.4% 23.4% 26.5% 19.3% 12.4% 5.2% 2.9%
5.9% 6.5%
1,040 1,560 2,374 1,846 2,176 2,256
9.2% 13.9% 21.1% 16.4% 19.3% 20.0%
6.0%
1,349 1,327 2,404 6,180
12.0% 11.8% 21.4% 54.9%
4.0%
Male Female
Percent of Occasional Golfers
6.4% 1.8%
2.4% 5.4% 7.3 4.8% 3.6% 2.0% 1.2%
1.7% 3.0% 4.3% 4.6%
2.5% 2.6% 3.5%
(1) Percentage of the given population or demographic segment who are Occasional golfers. NAT I ONAL GOL F F OUNDAT I ON
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JUNIOR GOLFERS Number Junior golfers age 6-17
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2011
2.0
2.9
2.8
3.0
3.8
2.5
2.4
(in millions)
Averages Junior golfers age 6-17 Age HH income Annual rounds
Male
Female
Total
12.9 $92,000 12.9
13.2 $80,400 14.0
13.0 $89,600 13.2
Participation Rate (1) (Percent of population age 6-17)
Total Male Female Age Elementary (6-10) Middle (11-13) High School (14-17) HH Income Under $30,000 $30,000-$49,999 $50,000-$74,999 $75,000-$99,999 $100,000-$124,999 $125,000+
4.8% 7.3% 2.0%
2.7% 5.1% 6.8%
1.6% 2.3% 5.1% 6.4% 6.7% 8.8%
Number of Junior Golfers (000)
Percent of Junior Golfers
2,381
100.0%
1,885 496
79.2% 20.8%
541 601 1,239
22.7% 25.2% 52.4%
180 218 526 428 518 526
7.6% 9.1% 22.1% 18.0% 21.8% 22.1%
(1) Percentage of the given population or demographic segment who are junior golfers.
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BEGINNING GOLFERS Number All golfers age 6+
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2011
1.3
1.9
1.4
2.4
1.8
1.5
1.5
(in millions)
Averages All golfers age 6+ Age HH income Annual rounds
Male
Female
Total
24.3 $80,100 8.8
26.9 $74,000 6.5
25.1 $78,100 8.3 Number of Beginners (000)
Participation Rate (1) (Percent of population age 6+)
Total
0.6%
Male Female Age 6-17 18-29 30-39 40+
0.8% 0.4%
1.1% 1.1% 0.8% 0.2%
HH Income Under $30,000 $30,000-$49,999 $50,000-$74,999 $75,000-$99,999 $100,000-$124,999 $125,000+ Education Non-HS Grad HS Grad Some College College Grad
0.4% 0.4% 0.5% 0.8% 0.5% 0.8%
1.1% 0.4% 0.3% 0.6%
Percent of all Beginners
1,521
100.0%
1,009 505
66.4% 33.2%
505 519 311 180
33.2% 34.1% 20.5% 12.2%
249 214 270 318 194 277
16.4% 14.1% 17.7% 20.9% 12.7% 18.2%
583 181 194 556
38.4% 11.9% 12.8% 36.5%
(1) Percentage of the given population or demographic segment who are beginning golfers. NAT I ONAL GOL F F OUNDAT I ON
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ROUNDS PLAYED Average Annual Rounds Played Total Male Female Age 6-17 18-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70+ HH Income Under $30,000 $30,000-$49,999 $50,000-$74,999 $75,000-$99,999 $100,000-$124,999 $125,000+ Education Non-HS Grad HS Grad Some College College Grad
18.0 18.6 15.5
13.7 11.5 11.6 16.1 18.8 31.8 41.8
22.0 19.7 16.1 17.9 18.2 16.7
14.2 18.2 19.8 18.0
Number of Rounds (000)
Percent of all Rounds
463.0
100.0%
386.1 76.7
83.4% 16.6%
32.6 56.0 58.7 82.2 70.2 84.3 78.9
7.0% 12.1% 12.7% 17.8% 15.2% 18.2% 17.0%
53.2 69.5 79.9 80.6 92.9 86.7
11.5% 15.0% 17.3% 17.4% 20.1% 18.7%
40.0 53.3 119.3 250.2
8.6% 11.5% 25.8% 54.0%
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REGIONAL PROFILES
Participation Rate New England
9.9%
1,367
5.3%
15.6
21.3
Middle Atlantic
7.9%
3,035
11.8%
16.4
49.9
East North Central
11.8%
5,213
20.3%
16.9
87.9
West North Central
11.7%
2,238
8.7%
17.9
40.2
South Atlantic
8.2%
4,560
17.8%
22.7
103.7
East South Central
8.1%
1,397
5.4%
18.2
25.5
West South Central
7.0%
2,268
8.8%
18.2
41.2
10.0%
2,028
7.9%
16.0
32.4
Pacific
8.0%
3,583
14.0%
17.0
60.7
Total (in millions)
9.0%
25,682
100.0%
18.0
463.0
Mountain
Percent of Golfers
Average Annual Rounds
Total Annual Rounds (mm)
Number of Golfers (000)
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