Page 12 - Golf Guide 2021

PLAYING
18 AND
COVID-19
SURPRISE, SURPRISE ... THE PANDEMIC WAS A GAME-CHANGER FOR GOLF.
By Jim Finnegan
Without exception, COVID-19 impacted all of us in 2020—and most of the news was bad. But an unlikely upside of the pandemic was the resurgence of golf. According to the National Golf Foundation, play at private clubs increased 17 percent over 2019, while public courses enjoyed a 9 percent bump. That equates to about 10 million more rounds nationwide—a spike not witnessed since a young Tiger Woods took the world by storm over 20 years ago. “Our play was up 30 percent. Membership was capped, and we now have a waiting list for the first time in club history,” says Dave McNabb, head pro at Applebrook Golf Club in Malvern, Pa. “We were busier than ever, with caddies often doing multiple loops in a day.”
Kyle Ruane witnessed the same growth on his public courses. “All three saw close to a 30 percent increase in rounds and revenue, and our tee sheets were full every day” says Ruane, who’s director of golf at Gilbertsville, Pa.’s Bella Vista Golf Club.
The renewed interest in golf can be traced to a perfect storm of quarantine and pandemic policies, the outdoor
and socially distant nature of the sport, schedules that were suddenly more flexible, and the pent-up demand of people being pent up. As luck would have it, even some of the new rules implemented prior to COVID-19—like the option to leave the flag stick in while putting—helped minimize surface contact. “Golf, by its nature, sets up for
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social distancing. I have a job because not everyone hits the ball down the middle of the fairway,” says Ruane with a chuckle. “We did a great job of making our
golfers feel safe with our new policies and protocols, and the added safety of being outdoors made them comfortable enough to choose golf over other activities.”
John Cooper cites many reasons why his facility’s rounds increased from 12,000 to 18,000 during 2020, a record during his 11-year tenure. “Little League was shut down, the movies and malls were closed, kids couldn’t go to sleep- away camps, and parents had more flexibility with working from home,” says the head pro at Green Valley Country Club in Lafayette Hill, Pa. “So families returned to playing golf.”
The emergence of new golfers and
the return of lapsed players translated into growth in other unexpected ways. Anthony Hollerback saw a lot of positives thanks to newbies. “All told, we were up over 5,000 rounds during the summer season, with more beginners and more multiple rounds by golfers per week,” says the head pro at Baywood Greens in Long Neck, Del. “We sold more golf balls and rental clubs than ever before. We even picked up overflow play from area private courses like The Peninsula and King’s Creek because they were so full.”
There was growth in other areas, too. “We’ve never seen more women and couples golf than during 2020,” says Frank Horton, managing partner of
Golf Back Creek, which operates several courses in Delaware. “Husbands and wives have flexibility. They can get their work done from home and still have time to get out and play nine or 18 holes.”
Jim Smith concedes that his initial fears about the 2020 season were short-lived. “When the pandemic first hit, worries about massive attrition existed,” says the head pro at Philadelphia Cricket Club.