Through the COVID-19 pandemic, and continuing today, the golf industry has been a growing contributor to the state’s burgeoning outdoor economy. An economic impact survey, being done now by the New Hampshire Golf Association (NHGA), expects to bear that out.
“Golf in this state is really important. It’s really an important driver of the economy and driver of tourism up here to the state,” said Matt Schmidt, executive director of the NHGA. “We just want to make sure that people understand that a little bit deeper, and we can put some dollars and cents to that.”
Schmidt described the survey as “all encompassing” in that it seeks to get a full view of the state’s golf industry from not only golf courses but driving ranges and retail outlets as well during 2022.
“We sent them out to all of our clubs in the states — give or take about 90 facilities. These are golf courses of all shapes and sizes — nine-hole golf courses, private golf courses, public golf courses,” said Schmidt.
“We also sent the survey to other golf-related sectors of the industry, so retail outlets, driving ranges, places like that. We want to find out what the economic impact has been on their businesses,” he added. “A place like Golf and Ski Warehouse has a boom in the business with golf equipment and apparel and all those sorts of things. That’s an important part of it, too. It’s not just capturing everything just from our green grass facilities, but any of the other industries that are related to the game. We want to make sure that we’re getting their data as well.”
The survey is being done in coordination with the National Golf Foundation, a Jupiter, Florida-based organization that provides golf-business research and consulting services. It’s done similar surveys in Massachusetts and Indiana recently.
The last such survey done in New Hampshire was more than a decade ago, according to Schmidt, who became the association’s executive director in 2013.
“We didn’t really do anything with it. It just sort of sat in the drawer, sat in people’s folders online, and we didn’t really know what to do with it at the time,” he said.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic turned the world on its ear — some for the worse, some for the better.
A COVID surge
“COVID and post-COVID were a boon for the industry,” he said. “We really felt as an organization that the time was right to tell the story, or retell the story, of the golf industry.”
It’s a national trend. The National Golf Foundation says, across the country, 2022 rounds finished up at 13% versus the five-year, pre-pandemic average from 2015-19.
The world seemed to go into full lockdown with the outbreak of COVID late in 2019. One of the first permitted public activities in that spring of 2020 was golf.
“It was viewed as an outdoor activity that could be done responsibly with other people. You didn’t have to completely isolate yourself to do it. And it was a healthy activity. You are outside and fresh air in the sunshine,” said Schmidt.
People came out in droves. And it hasn’t stopped.
“What we saw was bringing those sort of casual or, even in some cases, lapsed golfers back to the game. What we’ve seen in the last three or four years is that they have not left, and I think the appetite for access to golf has only arguably grown in that time period. We see golf courses that continue to be as busy as they’ve ever been,” he said.
Using data from the publicly run Pease Golf Course in Portsmouth as an example, the numbers bear this out.
The golf course at the Pease International Tradeport is a 27-hole facility overseen by a public entity, the Pease Development Authority (PDA). Its general manager, Scott DeVito, reports on golf course operations to the PDA board of directors.
In the years prior to COVID, the golf course reported season rounds of 55,000 or so.
That first golf season of eased lockdowns in 2020, DeVito reported that the number of rounds climbed to 61,500. In subsequent reports, DeVito said there were 66,500 rounds in 2021 and 72,000 rounds in 2022.
The golf operation’s budget reports for 2022 showed its revenue of $1.37 million from golf fees was 3% over budget and that revenue of $21,700 from golf lessons was 11.1% over budget. The PDA’s executive director, Paul Brean, in a year-end report to directors in 2020 congratulated the golf course for being 10% over in budget revenue overall, and 8% under budget in overall expenses.
Survey analysis
The survey wants to know all about golf operations, from the rounds played to hosting events besides golf to capital investments in equipment and new/renovation construction.
In addition to an economic impact, Schmidt said the survey seeks information about environmental impact. Golf courses and their grounds superintendents are stewards of acres of not only mowed fairways and greens but natural areas left untouched (except for the occasional mis-hit golf shot). Golf courses become an easy target for criticism when there’s a drought, according to Schmidt.
“I can tell you between the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, the USDA green section, and other allied groups, they have done more research than they ever have before about responsible water usage,” said Schmidt.
The survey digs into water usage and what percentage comes from surface water, ground water or reclaimed water. It asks about irrigation audits, and an energy audit, and asks about best practices for such environmental concerns as pollination, pesticides management, water quality, irrigation and more.
Skiing and hiking in the mountains and enjoying the lakes and the ocean get more attention when it comes to the state’s outdoor economy. But Schmidt believes golf has come to play just as important of a role.
“We just want to make sure that everybody who’s a decision-maker knows that this is an industry that’s just as important as any other when it comes to driving the economy in the state,” said Schmidt. “And it’s not just out-of-state dollars. It’s people in this state, choosing to spend their money in some of these small businesses, which they are, around the state, and that’s really important.”
The unstoppable New Hampshire economy of the post-COVID years is running into economic headwinds of higher unemployment and inflation, a nonpartisan economic research firm said in late August. No definitive evidence points to a recession, the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute said in an economic issues brief.
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