The rounds data that the entire industry has waited on finally came in, and there was a big collective sigh of relief: the numbers are still up.
Last month the number of rounds played was continuing to surge compared to the prior year, but the question hung in the air whether June would continue the surge that started last June. NGF and Golf Datatech’s data show that rounds played is essentially equal to June of 2020.
Since most of the coronavirus-related shutdowns happened between March and May of 2020, increased rounds this year were expected, but June was an unknown quantity. June of 2021 finished with an increase of 0.4%, while June of 2020 saw an increase of 13.9% over the prior year.
Overall, play is up 22.8% for the first half of 2021 (January-June) compared to last year’s same stretch. The real question now is whether the rest of the year will bear out the same way. The year-over-year gains for the second half of 2020 looked like this:
July (+19.7%)
August (+20.6%)
September (+25.5%)
October (+32.2%)
November (+56.6%)
December (+37.3%)
Those months had the benefit of golf’s status as a relatively safe outdoor activity during the pandemic. It remains to be seen if the same will hold true for this year.