NGF: "2021 total rounds will exceed last year’s"

While the final numbers will not be in until January, the NGF’s Joe Beditz says that despite small declines in recent months, rounds of golf will finish up 4-5% in 2021.

He offered this thinking on the rise despite a return to the office for some.

So how do we explain rounds being up over last year? A few thoughts:

1. Lots of golfers continue to have more schedule flexibility than prior to the pandemic, and so afternoon tee sheets are still being filled

2. While the weather this year hasn’t been quite as ‘golf friendly’ as last year, it wasn’t too bad

3. We’ve hung on to many of the new and returning golfers (public and private) from last year

But the main reason rounds are going to finish up: March and April crushed it relative to the previous year. Because half of all courses were closed during those months in 2020, and others had restrictions on play, this year’s comparable rounds were bound to be way, way higher … and they were.