Login | June 16, 2025
Ohio golf industry hoping 2013 is at least on par with last year
RICK ADAMCZAK
Special to the Legal News
Published: April 1, 2013
A year ago golfers and golf course operators were basking in an unusually warm March, one that gave the local golf season an early boost.
That boost continued throughout the rest of the season and led to a solid year for Ohio’s golf industry.
The number of rounds played last year in Ohio was up 13.7 percent from 2011, thanks mostly to the favorable weather compared to the wet, cool weather of 2011, according to PGA PerformanceTrak.
Mother Nature hasn’t repeated herself this year; March in Ohio has returned to its normal chilly, damp self. Still, the Ohio golf industry is hoping that momentum from a strong 2012 season will carry over into 2013.
“Last year was a good year. We had almost no winter to speak of. It was a good year for golf courses all through the Midwest. Rounds played in the Midwest were up 6 percent,” says Ken Guenther, executive director of the Ohio Golf Course Owners Association.
Indeed, the weather plays a major factor in the bottom line of the golf course industry — other than some die-hard players, few people are going to pay money to play in the rain or cold.
Rounds played in January in the East North Central Region — which includes Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin — were down 52 percent compared to a year earlier, according to Golf Datatech.
“The number of available days to play last year was up 6 percent too so I’m not sure if that’s telling us golf is growing back or if it was the weather. Probably a little of both,” said Guenther.
He said in Ohio there typically are 215 to 200 days a year during which the weather is favorable enough to play golf.
“That sounds like a lot but that means there are 140 days you can’t play and if you get a rainy stretch in April, that’s another 20 days you lose,” said Guenther.
The golf industry has suffered over the past decade due not only to the recession but societal changes, too.
According to surveys, when people list the reasons they don’t play golf, or have stopped playing, cost is generally not a major issue.
The top reason is time: finding four to six hours to fit in a round of golf.
“The number of core golfers is not going up. The problem remains that the players 50 and up and younger than 25 are playing (but) it’s the 25- to 50-year-olds who are not playing or not playing as much as they did years ago,” said Guenther.
“Time is critical. People that age have families and people are working more.”
There was a time not long ago, however, when golf was red hot.
From the mid-1980s to about 2000 the golf industry was booming.
The number of regular golfers in the country shot up 50 percent, from 20 million to 30 million during that time, according to the National Golf Foundation.
As a result, construction of new courses to accommodate those golfers also skyrocketed, as seen first hand in Central Ohio with many new courses opening up.
In the 1990s, more than 2,600 new courses were built in the U.S., according to the NGF. Today it’s nearly unheard of to have a new course open.
In the past decade the number of golfers plateaued and even dropped slightly, a change that left the golf market with too many courses.
“There’s an overabundance of golf courses in Ohio and in the country. The number of golfers has not increased enough to compensate for the supply,” said Guenther.
He said some courses in Ohio are barely hanging on.
“Certainly there are courses in trouble and one good year is not going to turn the industry around,” said Guenther.
As for the future, the NGF predicts the number of new golfers will grow at a modest annual rate of 1 percent until the end of the decade.
Guenther said the inability to lure women golfers to the course is a huge missed opportunity.
“Back in the early 2000s there was a big effort to get more women into golf and it’s been largely unsuccessful,” he said. “I don’t know what the answer is to get women on the course.”
Golf courses have tweaked their food menus from burgers and hot dogs to wraps and other offerings to make them more appealing to women, also offering wine as a beverage option.
Simple cleanliness, too, is necessary to attract women.
“I walk into some pro shops and the floor’s messy, the windows are dirty and merchandise isn’t appealing,” said Guenther. “If you’re going to appeal to women, the floors and windows need to be clean. It not only appeals to women, but it will also help bring in men.”
He said courses need to modernize and “change their thinking.”
“Golf is no longer a good ‘ole boys game. It can’t be and still survive,” said Guenther.
He added that he’s surprised at the number of golf courses throughout Ohio that don’t do things to attract junior golfers.
“It surprises me that I still run across courses that don’t run junior golf programs. A lot of them do, but a lot of them are doing nothing to attract that younger golfer. To not be developing your future customers is unbelievable,” said Guenther.
Copyright © 2013 The Daily Reporter - All Rights Reserved