Rounds of golf for September 2019 were up 4.7% compared to a year ago thanks to increases in play throughout the East Coast and Midwest. Through the first three-quarters of the year, the national rounds-played total is now up a modest 0.6% year-over-year.
A year ago, September rounds in the U.S. tumbled by -7.2% due to heavier-than-normal precipitation levels in six of the eight geographic regions, with only the Mountain and Pacific Regions seeing increased rounds. This September saw a reversal of fortunes. Of the eight national regions, only the Mountain and Pacific experienced declines in rounds-played, as both were down more than 10% for the month and precipitation levels more than doubled.
The six other regions all saw year-over-year increases in play for September, including double-digit jumps in the Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, New England and South Central.
Less precipitation likely meant more playable days for September in areas like Washington/Baltimore, where play surged by 36.9%, as well as San Antonio (+32.5%), Myrtle Beach (+29.4%), Philadelphia (+27.4%) and Cincinnati (+23.9%).
As the golf season starts to wind down or end in various parts of the country, the remaining three months of 2019 will have less of an impact on the national rounds-played figure due to less play overall. If the current trend continues, the year-end number for total rounds could be in the neighborhood of 438 million.
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National Rounds Played Coalition
Golf Datatech spearheads the National Rounds Played Coalition, with assistance from the National Golf Foundation and the National Golf Course Owners Association.