THE OUTLOOK | a look at the state of the golf industry and the hope for the new season from several local golf course professionals

HARBOR SHORES RESORT

THE OUTLOOK

Text: R.J. Weick

Golf is a sport of millimeters in an industry of considerable metered weight. It is an economic engine at the national level that is an $84.1 billion industry supporting more than two million jobs and providing $58.7 billion in annual wage income in the United States, with an average $3.94 billion raised across 143,000 charity golf events on an annual basis, according to WE ARE GOLF, a coalition of leading organizations dedicated to promoting and advocating for the game of golf. In Michigan alone, golf is a $4.2 billion industry comprising nearly 57,000 jobs and 865 golf courses with $1.4 billion in total wages.

Its impact, of course, extends beyond economic dollars to serve as a powerful vehicle for shared social connection, cross-collaboration, environmental stewardship, and recreational outlets. e thoughtful design and construction of golf courses can lead to enriched biodiversity and landscapes that are bene cial for both people and wildlife; and intentional management of those protected green spaces supported by innovative and highly e cient irrigation technology and practices can enhance air, water, and soil quality, providing a sustainable asset for people, communities, and businesses.

In recent years, some of the golf industry’s more intangible or unseen value emerged as social interaction, recreational opportunities, and indoor venues felt the tightening of restrictions in response to the global pandemic, prioritizing health of communities across the country. First-time players, long-time enthusiasts, and elite athletes picked up a club and looked to the greens and fairways for a chance to connect once more to both sport and each other. While the annual volume of golf rounds was down nearly 16 percent around 2018 compared to the benchmark volume in 2000, the 2020 season saw a signi cant increase in rounds volume for the U.S., according to the National Golf Foundation and Golf Datatech. It is a trend that continued for 2021, where a new record volume surpassed the original 2000 benchmark to nish roughly two percent ahead of 2000 numbers.

Emily Rohdy, PGA Head Professional at Bucks Run Golf Club in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, noted since a lot of golf courses experienced a similar boom or a comeback of golf in 2020, everyone was pretty hopeful 2021 could be a really good year. ough initial rate increases for 2020

were put on hold due to COVID, Rohdy said they went ahead with the increase in 2021 and received no push back.

“I would say we actually discounted less rounds, because people were just amped up and ready to get outside and play. We were selling more golf at full rate and getting bigger groups and getting more people traveling, which was awesome,” Rohdy said.

“I was able to stock up the shop with plenty of merchandise ahead of time. I know a lot of people ran into supply chain issues, but I do most of my buying at the end of the season—sometime between September and October—so I had everything locked in and our shop sales went through the roof; rounds went through the roof. It was just a phenomenal year. We couldn’t have predicted that it was going to be that successful,” Rohdy added.

BUCKS RUN GOLF CLUB

Rohdy also noted the course usually sees somewhere between 18,000-to-18,500 rounds per year, which increased about 15 percent to more than 21,000 rounds for 2021, which was measured at 18-hole plays and gured in converted 9-hole rounds into full 18-hole starts. While Bucks Run doesn’t have onsite lodging, the public, resort-style golf destination partners with a number of local courses and hotels in the area and saw their stay-and-play package business grow by about 20 percent last year.

“I’ve been here for three years and it was my rst year getting to fully buy everything for the shop. In 2020, we had to cancel a bunch of stu , because we didn’t know how we were going to be shut down and the shop sales grew exponentially,” Rohdy said. “We increased our margins by about four percent in sales and—this puts it into perspective as well that people were just really looking forward to travel and buying—we increased our shop sales by almost 38 percent last year here at Bucks Run.”

Joshua Doxtator, PGA Professional, general manager at Harbor Shores Resort in Benton Harbor, Michigan, also said golf surged due to COVID with a number of people either working from home or getting back to the game, because it was one of the activities an individual could do outside.

“I think for us in 2021, it was doing whatever we could to make sure we maintained that additional tra c that we saw in 2020. We had rounds up again in 2021 over 2020 as well as across every department,” Doxtator said.

“Ultimately, it was having the opportunity to do more functions, getting back to charity golf,

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and things like that. I want to say in 2020 almost every charity golf event that we typically would host was canceled and in 2021 we saw those return, the return to food- and beverage-speci c to special events, whether that is rehearsal dinners or golf outing dinners and things like that,” Doxtator added.

At the national level for 2021, overall golf participation increased to 37.5 million people aged six-years-old and older, with the growth split rather evenly across golfers who participated in o -course, on-course, and both o course and on-course play. O -course only, which ranges from golf entertainment venues like Topgolf and other simulators to standalone driving ranges, reached about 12.4 million in participation; while on-course only reached about 12.6 million in participation. ere were also an additional 12.5 million individuals who participated in both on-course and o -course play, according to the National Golf Foundation, or NGF. e latter of which also noted the demographics for each type of play varied, such as the average age for o -course only was about 30-years-old, while on-course only players were roughly 45-years-old, with both on- and o course players averaged about 42-years-old.

Women and people of color were also more likely to play o -course only at 42 percent and 40 percent, respectively, compared to on-course only at 30 percent and 20 percent, respectively. NGF also noted on-course participants in 2021 showed “a continuing trend towards diversi cation—spurred in some respect by the heightened interest and engagement being generated by o -course forms of golf.” In 2021, women comprised 25 percent of golfers and people of color comprised 21 percent, which are both up from the past ve years. Young golfers, while stable in 2021, have also increased by nearly 25 percent in the past three years to reach about three million players. e number of beginners who played golf on a golf course for the rst time also rose in 2021 to reach 3.2 million, re ecting a 20 percent increase in the past ve years, according to NGF.

“It is really exciting where the golf industry is at right now. ere is a lot of potential for growth and we’ve been trying, I know the PGA of America has been trying to grow the game, increase the game through women’s play, junior play, all-around golf in general, and now they have the opportunity where the interest is there, so it is going to be very interesting from this point on to see where golf goes, not only here at the local level in Mt. Pleasant and Michigan, but also across the entire United States and PGA of America,” Rohdy said. “I think now is the time that we could really grow the game the way we haven’t in the last couple decades.”

For Harbor Shores, which will once again host the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship a er a four-year hiatus, there is an excitement and energy throughout the community—especially since the focus at the golf club has been to highlight the course and the southwestern region as a destination for the last few years.

“You have the entire world’s eyes watching you and your property and having that platform to be able to showcase southwest Michigan and everything we have to o er from the resort to the beach to the breweries and wineries; it’s having the opportunity to take advantage of that and getting more people to come visit whether they like golf or not,” Doxtator said.

Doxtator also said while golf was on a lull for quite a while and COVID, as horri c as it has been, created an opportunity for those in golf to draw a lot of people back into the game, it is now up to every facility and every PGA Professional to be able to retain and cultivate that, creating additional programming opportunities for people to go out and play golf.

“I know that we have had a lot of campaigns over the last decade, whether it was 12-holes of golf or Tee It Forward. rough this pandemic, we have seen so many people want to get back into it, because I think they’re cherishing more the opportunity to be able to get outside to take a walk, to breathe fresh air, and focusing more on some of the health bene ts as opposed to it just being a game,” Doxtator said. “We’ve seen a surge, especially in junior golf at Harbor Shores with our PGA Junior League, and ultimately it is up to us to be able to retain what we’ve been able to see and not let it just slide back to where it was.”

Rohdy noted golf is o en unpredictable, like with the boom in the 90s and the subsequent industry recession, and now that the industry seems to be reaching another high, there is a lot of uncertainty in the industry, especially in a weather-dependent region.

HARBOR SHORES RESORT

“It is a risk-reward. If you don’t take those steps right now going into this next year to really push your courses, pricing, and rates; if you don’t push it now and if you don’t stock up on product now, you are going to miss out on potential sales,” Rohdy said.

“With the potential of great reward in this next year, I think there is also a risk of maybe potentially losing those rounds and that revenue. In Michigan, golf is very much seasonal, so it depends on whether our weather is good. Last year, we had one of the longest seasons we have ever had—we opened up March 19 and we didn’t close down until about November 12 and I know a lot of courses even played some rounds in December. e state of Michigan is very much weather dependent and it is just trying to play your odds and we just don’t know what the spring or the fall will hold for us. It’s about trying to be aggressive where you can and push the envelope,” Rohdy added.

Weather can play a hugely in uential role in the health of the golf industry in the state of Michigan and for course superintendents, the health of turfgrass alone can prove to be a challenge. Michigan, which has become a leader in course environmental stewardship and turf research, is home to a number of organizations dedicated to turfgrass research, integrated pest management strategies, and innovative technologies and methods to ensure landscapes are healthy, sustainable, and responsible resources. One such example, in January 2022, Michigan Turfgrass Foundation donated $1 million to the Michigan State University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources as part of a $5 million campaign to endow the Joe Vargas Chair in Turfgrass Pathology, named for the international expert on turfgrass diseases and member of the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame. e endowment will ensure MSU’s land-grant tradition of linking research to regional needs continues, advancing environmental stewardship, economic development, and improved quality of life in the state and across the world, according to the press release.

For Levi Brindley, course superintendent at HawksHead Links in South Haven, Michigan, his philosophy is about trusting the science and the new technology to ensure great quality golf for those who visit the course.

“It’s ever-changing. at is what I rely on. I rely on talking with my reps who come in, the seminars, and keeping up with what the progression is with the science. at’s how I go forward with everything: what is the science telling me, what is the new science that is out, what is the new technology that is going to help me provide a better golf course out there?” Brindley said.

Brindley also noted some of the highlights of the 2021 season was having a good-sized crew to carry out projects and the day-to-day management of the course, having a good turnout and amount of golf, and the quality of golf that they were able to provide for the golfers.

“We were busy every day and we were still able to provide a great quality for them. e challenges for sure, just like every year, has been trying to get more crew members in the door just because it is a seasonal position,” Brindley said. “I also think water is going to be a big challenge the more it stays hot out—not overwatering too much, but not trying to underwater where we are losing turf.”

As for opportunities, Brindley noted it is about taking another step forward in the progression of the golf course itself and nding new ways through science and technology to provide a safer, healthier way that allows the team to do more things on the golf course while not interfering with play too much. While gas and fertilizer prices are currently on the rise—and potentially will impact the course in the future—Brindley noted he had an early order in for chemicals last year before the Russia-Ukraine con ict, but with a golf cart eet that relies on gas, even though tanks were lled before everything went up, there will be a time when decisions will have to be made based on cost-reward.

“You know, it wasn’t particularly golf, it was the outdoors,” Brindley said in reference to what drew him to the industry. “I’ve always been an outdoor person growing up as a kid and for me, it was more about the results. You could do something and you could see a result right away or you could see a result that was three months down the road. I got into golf and I enjoy and love playing golf, but for me it was more of being outside all the time and seeing your results all the time.”

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