Surging Costs Halting Golf’s Growth Trends

Golf has been one of the fastest growing sports in the country over the past few years. But the speed of the price just to get out on the course seems to be moving just as fast.

Golf Industry Impacted by Soaring Prices

Business is Booming

Golf has grown significantly over the past few years, driven by factors like the COVID-19 pandemic, increased interest from younger players, and new technology. These have made the game more accessible. The growth of golf content consumed on YouTube and other forms of social media has influenced a whole new generation of golfers.

Research figures for 2023 indicate a growth of 3.1 million on-course golfers since 2022. The growth trend began before the onset of COVID-19 and is now accelerating faster than the 2020-2022 pandemic period. During that time, there were an average of 2.5 million new on-course golfers per annum. The sport continues to increase in popularity, up 44 percent from 29.6 million on-course players in 2016, according to The R&A.

The exponential growth is not only in the states. Numbers show its rise around the world as well. Since 2022 over a million people have started to consume the sport. This can also be credited to the work LIV Golf has done in creating more worldwide tournaments. More people around the world have access to golf than ever.

Prices Are Booming

While golf is being consumed at a higher rate than ever before, the price just to participate seems to be as well. Overall golf equipment sales are up about 40 percent compared to pre-pandemic. Golf apparel sales established an all-time high in 2023, according to Golf Datatech. Apparel is up about 55 percent compared to 2019. Consider the new golf apparel company owned by Tiger Woods.

An analysis of 550 million green fees between 2019 and 2024 revealed that golfers are paying 29.2% more on average than before the pandemic. The average tee time cost across all 50 states and the District of Columbia rose from $38.09 in 2019 to $49.21.

From 2020 to 2021, more than a third of courses in the U.S. raised their peak season greens fees by an average of 11 percent. That trend has continued. A study of the top 100 golf courses in the UK showed summer green fees for 2023 were up 12 percent compared to the previous year.

Although the price of golf equipment has remained relatively stagnant, the price was already an exuberant amount. A beginner set alone will set you back hundreds of dollars. If you are a somewhat serious golfer that money will only get you as far as a decent driver. This is before spending hundreds of dollars on balls, gloves, shoes, and golf bags.

How Beginners Can Be Affected

Once you’ve saved enough to finally be able to afford to play, you realize that you don’t know anything about how to get better. This is also one of the biggest reasons why golf has grown so much. More players than ever are looking to social media for tutorials on how to improve their game, and you have the wild growth of some of the game’s biggest YouTube personalities.

Any golfer would tell you golf is one of the hardest sports in the world. It takes years of practice and discipline to even look like you know what you’re doing. For a beginner and even average golfers, for a game that takes hours of your day, it’s very difficult to find that time. Sometimes paying a hundred bucks just for an hour-long lesson will not be worth it to most people.

Post-COVID price hikes seemingly affect every aspect of the game. It has become more expensive than ever to get involved in golf. But with golf being more accessible than ever, there’s no reason why companies and courses will lower their prices. This is worrisome and unsustainable if it continues. It will be a tough bridge to cross once we get to it.

Photo by Soheb Zaidi on Unsplash