Callaway, Dick’s Sporting Goods score with growth of golf
Buckets of golf balls at the driving range at the 2021 TOUR Championship on September 03, 2021 at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia.
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Golf surged in popularity in 2020 by nearly every metric, as people sought out the socially distanced outdoor activity amid the pandemic.
More than 24.8 million people played golf in the U.S. in 2020, up more than 2% year-over-year and the largest net increase in 17 years, according to the National Golf Foundation. The sport also saw the largest percentage increase in beginner golfers and youth golfers since 1997 — the year a then-21-year-old Tiger Woods won his first major championship at the Masters.
Now almost two years since the pandemic first hit the U.S., and even as other activities have opened back up, golf has continued to grow in 2021, providing long-standing golf brands like Callaway and Titleist a boost. It has also elevated companies looking to capitalize on the changing demographics and trends within the sport.
Golfers continue to flock to courses
For many in the golf industry, it was unclear if the growth seen in 2020 was a function of the pandemic or a new inflection point for the sport.
Through the end of July — the peak of golf season in the U.S. — the number of rounds played in 2021 was up 16.1% compared to 2020, according to data from the NGF. While the July-specific figures were down 3.1% compared to 2020, a month in which nearly all golf courses had been reopened following pandemic closures in certain states, the 2021 numbers are significantly higher than previous year averages.
While those increases are being mainly driven by older, already passionate golfers — the average number of rounds played by golfers grew to 20.2 in 2020, an all-time high since NGF started tracking that statistic in 1998 — younger golfers, and especially female players, saw significant upticks.
“New participants are increasingly younger; they’re hooked on the game and they want to get better,” David Maher, CEO of golf conglomerate Acushnet Holdings, said on the company’s second-quarter earnings call with analysts in August. “A lot of the energy is coming from avid dedicated players who are simply playing more and consistently; more juniors, more women, more younger [players], and more families.”
The number of female golfers grew 8% in 2020, the largest uptick in five years, according to NGF data. Forty-four percent of people who played a round of golf on a course in 2020 were under the age of 40, and nearly the same amount of people in their 30s played golf as those in their 60s, according to NGF data.
Golf equipment companies seeing growth in sales
That increase in new golfers has been a boon for Acushnet, which owns golf brands like Titleist and FootJoy.
Acushnet’s second-quarter net sales in the U.S. grew 117.1%, fueled by a 98.1% increase in Titleist golf ball sales and a 111% increase in Titleist golf club sales. Over the first half of its fiscal 2021, sales in the U.S….
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