After crunching the relevant financial numbers and weighing the likely impact of economic trends, the National Golf & Resort Properties Group has concluded that “the golf industry has turned the corner.”
Steven Ekovich, one of the group’s founders, believes that “brighter days are ahead,” thanks largely to strong corporate earnings that have increased consumer confidence, particularly among wealthy Americans.
“The better a golfer feels,” Ekovich writes, “the more likely cost of play becomes less of an impediment to hitting the links.”
He suggests that private clubs will benefit before daily-fee tracks do, because their members “tend to be more invested in the stock market, better educated and better off than your average public, occasional golfer.”
It’s an argument we’ve heard before, and one that rings particularly true in our industry: As the wealthiest go, so goes golf.