Is the Game of Golf Growing?

Is the Game of Golf Growing? You Decide!

Hi, I’m Mel Sole, Director of Instruction at the Mel Sole Golf School, headquartered at Pawleys Plantation Golf and Country Club in Pawleys Island, SC.  We conduct 1, 2, and 3-day golf schools, hourly golf lessons, and senior golf schools—any golf instruction program your heart desires. Give us a call at 800-624-4653 or 843-237-4993.  We will be happy to book a commuter school or a package that contains accommodations, golf, and golf school.

Golf Blog by the Mel Sole Golf School.

Golf is a discretionary income pastime.  In the past few years (2007 to 2013), golf in America has been in a financial slump not seen in many years.  Subsequently, golf courses, golf equipment sales, golf instruction, and golf accessories have really struggled to survive.  Some did not make it.

In this article, Steve Eubanks writing for golfbusiness.com, looks at the ins and outs of these tumultuous years.

Conflicting Signals.

Is the Game of Golf Growing?

By most published measures the United States economy is thriving. Unemployment has dropped to 5.6 percent, the lowest rate since June 2008, while nominal disposable income has risen by a whopping 61 percent since 2000. Gross Domestic Product is at $17 trillion, up a full $2 trillion since 2010, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has broken all-time records. Based on those numbers, an outside observer would think American business is booming, especially in sectors like golf and leisure travel, which tend to thrive during periods of high employment and increased wealth creation.

But those observers would likely be confused. At the same time that unemployment is at a seven-year low, the total number of Americans not in the work force sits at a record 92 million, more than the entire population of 190 countries, including every nation in Europe. And median household incomes are lower now than in 1999 despite millions of college-educated millennials entering their late-20s and early-30s.

So, what’s the real story?

And where does golf fit in the nation’s current economic picture?

According to the most recent U.S. Labor Department statistics, for the middle 60 percent of the population (a segment that includes households with incomes between $18,000 and $95,000 a year, the sweet-spot market for growing the game), overall spending since the beginning of the Great Recession in 2008 has increased by only 2.3 percent, while compound inflation has grown by 12 percent. At the same time, income in this group has grown by little more than one-half of 1 percent.

For the rest of this interesting article read on here

Is the Game of Golf Growing?

Source: Steve Eubanks Golfbusiness.com   Mel Sole Golf School

Pictures: David Hilgart   Phil Sexton

Thanks for reading - Is the Game of Golf Growing?  I think it is!

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