We are well into the heart of the autumn season. The sun is rising a little bit later and it is getting darker just a little bit sooner. We are at that point in the calendar where daylight hours are slightly less than darkness hours. Throughout much of the country, the golf season is coming to a close as the leaves are starting to fall. It’s only a matter of weeks until freezing temperatures and wintry conditions will be the norm.
The year 2020 will be forever remembered as the year of the pandemic. It was in mid-March that COVID-19 reeked havoc upon the metropolitan cities of the East Coast. The world of sports closed down, businesses were shuttered and the nation was in the midst of a full-blown health and economic crisis. For close to two months, even golf courses throughout the country were closed down. It was a most trying time for all Americans.
Over time, health officials starting determining what aspects of our lives and our economy could reopen. The neighborhood tavern and barber shop had to remain closed along with the health club and diner. However, outdoor activities such as hiking, bicycling, fishing, hunting and even golf were encouraged. Indoor spaces were off limits, masks were a necessity, and yet going outside and enjoying some form of socially-distanced activity was good for the body and good for the mind. Golf is a safe outdoor activity and is a natural for social distancing.
The end result, for those of us actively involved in the world of golf, was that the sport would experience its most successful season financially in decades. The decline of the sport that started in the new millennium suddenly had a big boost. Active Americans couldn’t necessarily go to their health club, couldn’t play in their men’s basketball league or softball league, but they could fish or hike or even play golf. While not everyone has fishing poles or mountain bikes in the corner of their garage, most folks seem to have a set of golf clubs lying about, even if they are laminated woods made by PowerBilt and endorsed by Frank Beard (shades of 1965).
At the conclusion of August 2020, Golf Datatech estimated that total rounds of golf in comparison to 2019 were up 20 percent. That penciled out to 17 million more rounds of golf played in the months of June and July with 10 million more rounds in August. As Joe Beditz of the National Golf Foundation was quoted as saying, “It’s been quite a summer for golf.” In Florida, play was up this summer by 37 percent while Arizona was experiencing an uptick in golf at 31 percent.
For the past 10 years golf has been trending downward with a golf course closing in America every other day. Locally we have seen the demise of Clear Lake Riviera, Langtry, Black Rock (Hobergs) and Aetna Springs. Yet this summer the tee sheets at the three remaining Lake County courses, namely Hidden Valley Lake, Buckingham and Adams Springs, have seen a marked upturn in play, whether it occurs on a weekday or a weekend. Of course, this has led to some difficult moments as regulars who never needed a tee time find that their favorite local course is packed and they cannot get out and play. Sometimes the course is crowded and there aren’t carts available to those playing later in the day. From the insider’s perspective, the first tee at Adams Springs has been as busy as the first tee at Haggin Oaks for a major portion of the summer of 2020. Some people are returning to golf as their only healthy alternative.
Public access courses aren’t the only places with issues. At Winged Foot Golf Club, the recent site of the U.S. Open, tee times have been required of the private club’s membership for the first time ever. At the San Francisco Golf Club alongside the south shore of Lake Merced, the caddies have been laid off for the summer because of the pandemic. At Northmoor County Club in the north Chicago suburbs, the caddies were laid off, but a number of them secured jobs as forecaddies for the members. You might get assigned to spending a half day out on the course near the ridge on the 15th hole, watching for golf balls as the members teed off.
At my old stomping ground, Beverly Country Club in Chicago, the 200 teenage caddies still have jobs. However, the caddie yard is closed and kids come to the golf course in waves. For instance, perhaps 20 kids are assigned to show up at 9 a.m. while the next 20 kids are scheduled to arrive at 10 a.m. Also Beverly, as well as many other private clubs, no longer deals with cash. The caddies are paid electronically by the members at the conclusion of their loop.
Golf courses aren’t the only part of the business dealing with increased revenues. Equipment companies are having their best season in close to 15 years. The National Golf Foundation contends that equipment sales were up 32 percent in August and totaled out to a staggering $331 million. The last time the golf industry had a successful August for sales was way back in August of 2006 when equipment went off the shelves at a rate of $287 million. Of course, many people are probably asking, “Who buys golf equipment in August?” The vast majority of golf sales occur just before Christmas or in the early spring prior to the start of a new season.
However, if you think about it, the spike in golf equipment sales is most probably attributable to those people who were hitting the PowerBilt wooden woods off the tee in June. They decided that they had a good time playing golf, knew that they had few alternatives during the pandemic, and went out and got themselves some metal woods to replace those old Frank Beards. In August, golf ball sales were up 27 percent, golf bags were up 54 percent, wood sales were up 77 percent, and iron sets were up by a staggering 83 percent. It was a busy time at Golf Mart and Golf Galaxy.
Of course this new influx of golfers has its pitfalls, including golf cart riders who think they’re at Scandia, golfers who question why they can’t play in a seven-some, and foursomes with a 10 a.m. tee time who show up at 10:40 a.m. and wonder why their tee time is gone. It’s kind of like losing your table at a fancy restaurant on the S.F. Wharf when you show up 40 minutes late.
These are very trying times with wildfires throughout our state, a still out-of-control pandemic, and unrest in the streets. Yet in the midst of all the chaos and uncertainty, the game of golf has offered a respite during these difficult times. It’s hard to ascertain whether the game will grow because of all this or whether it’s merely a temporary blip on the screen. Nonetheless, it has been a very busy summer at local golf courses throughout America.s
