The scorecard:
an industry outlook Text: R.J. Weick
To the competitive enthusiast, golf is a numbers game. It is a sport where success is often determined by the lowest number, though each hole, round, and course are a little more nuanced than that, offering a range of par-levels and surprising landform obstacles rather than a single, static goal. There is, of course, much more to the game than numbers as it has been used as a vehicle to foster community, lifelong skills, philanthropic investment, and land preservation— and as an industry, golf is an economic tour de force.
In the United States, golf is an estimated $84.1 billion industry with an overall economic impact of about $191 billion as of 2016, according to WE ARE GOLF, which is a coalition of leading golf organizations such as: Golf Course Superintendents Association, PGA Tour, PGA of America, USGA, U.S. Golf Manufacturers Council, and World Golf Foundation. The industry comprises nearly two million jobs with a wage income of about $59 billion and about 15,000 facilities. In Michigan alone, golf employs roughly 60,000 individuals with wages paid by courses reaching $1.4 billion, according to the Michigan Golf Alliance. The industry’s economic impact is valued at about $4.2 billion and covers roughly 127,500 acres of managed greenspace—28,000 acres of which provide wildlife habitats as forest and wetlands. Though the relationship between the numbers realized on-course, as a player secures a birdie or par on a hole, may seem intangible, there is a direct and symbiotic relationship between them. Drawn to the fairway, by competitive nature or to experience the natural landscape, golfers— professionals and amateur enthusiasts alike—play a role in the larger outlook of the golf industry and economy in the state. Jada Paisley, executive director at the Michigan Golf Course Association—formerly Michigan Golf Course Owners 96
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Association—said as a seasonal state, it is really important for that economic impact to be realized by all and players should feel good when they are out on the course playing a round of golf knowing that they are helping to support the economy in Michigan. “Golf courses are really a part of our community and communities are a part of golf courses. It is not just golf that happens there if you think about it; it’s weddings, it’s fundraisers, it’s family events, it’s bridal showers, it’s baby showers, and it’s your monthly Rotary luncheons,” Paisley said. “It has really changed; it’s not just golf. Golf itself is a community, but the communities are as much a part of the golf course; they are so intertwined.” The Michigan Golf Course Association, or MGCA, is a nonprofit organization promoting and preserving the best interests of the industry in terms of private and public sectors—essentially serving as the voice of golf business in the state. It also focuses on education and advocacy initiatives, such as securing a strategic partnership with the Small Business Association of Michigan to provide free memberships for MGCA members. “In a nutshell, we represent the owners and operators of golf courses in Michigan. The course is really who we serve and our members are the staff the courses,” Paisley said. “We may be dealing with the owner
of the golf course, the operator, the PGA, or the superintendent. The landscape of the golf industry in Michigan has changed with who is running the daily public golf course; so our name changed a couple of years to ref lect that.” Despite the rough start to the decade as the industry—and others across the board—faced severe national economic recession and huge disruptions to the day-to-day business of things, the golf industry at the national and state level have endured. The oversaturation of golf course supply has continued to stabilize in the last 10 years to meet a more sustainable supply and demand in the market. In 2018, the supply declined by 1.2 percent throughout the nation—attributed to an ongoing correction—and yet still remains “the best-supplied golf market in the world” with more than 16,600 courses and 14,600 facilities, according to the 2019 Golf Industry Report by the National Golf Foundation. Chris Sobieck, general manager at Watermark Properties in Grand Rapids, Michigan, said the golf market has solidified itself, but about 10 years ago when Golf Now came into the market really strong with its online tee-time system and deals, it was a challenge many golf courses had to address. “We were coming out of that recession in 2009 when there was a little bit of panic