A strong September resulted in positive gains in golf course rounds, through revenue was relatively flat.
The National Rounds Played Report, compiled by Golf Datatech with the cooperation of the PGA of America, National Golf Course Owners Association and National Golf Foundation, showed total rounds for the month of September were up 4.0 percent.
Daily fee club rounds showed the largest gain in September, rising 4.6 percent. Private course play was up 2.5 percent. For the first nine months of 2009, rounds are up 0.5 percent.
Median revenues in September showed a 0.2 percent decline from the same month in 2008. Overall, median gross revenue per facility for the year so far is down 4.6 percent from 2008, according to PGA PerformanceTrak data.
The best performance in the median revenue numbers for September was in food & beverage. Per facility, F&B was up 0.4 percent for the month compared to September 2008. Merchandise revenue was up 0.2 percent and median golf fee revenue fell 0.2 percent.
So far in 2009, median gross revenue per facility is down 4.6 percent from 2008, according to the PGA.
Here are the rounds totals for selected metropolitan areas.
September YTD
Washington-Baltimore 8.3% – 0.9%
Orlando -0.4% – 3.7%
Atlanta – 19.9% – 8.3%
Myrtle Beach 13.8% – 4.1%
New York City – 7.9% – 2.5%
Boston 15.5% – 0.2%
Chicago 21.4% 2.4%
Detroit 4.8% – 2.6%
St. Louis 6.0% 7.3%
Dallas/Ft. Worth – 9.2% 0.0%
Los Angeles – 2.0% – 1.1%
San Diego – 0.3% 0.8%
Phoenix – 7.6% – 2.9%
Las Vegas 4.3% 1.8%
Seattle – 5.7% – 2.0%
Source: Golf Datatech National Rounds Played Report