“The More the Better”

Significant industry resources and efforts have long been directed at growing participation levels in golf.  Motives from an industry standpoint are easy to understand - more golfers naturally translate into more customers at the facility level and more spending within all golf product categories from drivers to shoes - a rising tide floats all boats.   

But how does the typical golfer view this situation? Some, including us at the NGF, have pondered whether some golfers would be apathetic, if not partially turned off, by a significant growth in the number of individuals playing golf.  We recently presented our Core golfer panel with a series of agreement questions aimed at shedding some light on the situation.   

The reality – we have a consumer base who believes that the growth of the game is a good thing. Approximately 8 in 10 Core golfers agree “the more golfers the better.” Industry stakeholders have long theorized that there might be a segment of golfers who would like nothing more than to see fewer people playing golf – however, we really never had any insight as to the possible size of that group.  This research, although a limited window into that phenomenon, shows evidence that this group of “golf hoarders” is small – 5% to 6%. 

On a related note, the vast majority of Core golfers feel it is nice to see both juniors and women playing golf (89% agree “it’s nice to see juniors playing golf” - 80% agree “it’s nice to see women playing golf”).  It’s good to know that our consumer base understands what is good for the game.