Rounds at U.S. courses fell sharply in September, according to the National Golf Rounds Played report.
For the month, rounds were down 7.5 percent from September 2007, the largest one-monthly drop of the year. It also reversed an upward trend that had seen rounds increases of 0.5 percent in July and 4.4 percent in August.
The weak September total pushed rounds for the year 1.4 percent below the previous year’s level.
Biggest declines were reported in the eastern half of the nation. Rounds fell 14.6 percent in New England, 10.9 percent in the Mid-Atlantic states and 10.6 percent in the South Atlantic region.
Slightly smaller drops were seen in the East North Central (-8.6 percent) and South Central states (-8.4 percent).
Only one region, the Pacific, had an increase. It was up 1.3 percent.
Here are the rounds totals for selected metropolitan areas.