Public Golf Courses

By definition, public golf courses are open to the public on a contract or fee basis, a pay-to-play format commonly called a greens fee. There were over 16,000 golf courses in the United States in the late 2000s. About 8,000 were public courses, which employed over 150,000 and generated revenues in excess of $4.2 billion. Generally, green fees at a public course are less expensive than private country clubs, which often offered additional amenities. However, many public courses rank among the top within their local area, region, state, and even nationally. In particular, the Professional Golf Association's U.S. Open has been held at four public courses: Torrey Pines South and Pebble Beach Golf Links, both in California; Pinehurst No. 2, in North Carolina; and Bethpage Black, in New York.

Golf experienced a boom during the second half of the 1990s, due in large part to the surging economy. Golf equipment typically costs several hundred dollars (most of which is an investment in golf clubs that can be used for several years), and the median fee for playing an 18-hole round of golf at public golf courses in the United States was $34 in 2006. Golfers spent $3.5 billion in 2008 on equipment. The group of golfers aged 18 and older who play at least eight times per year, which is estimated to be 12.5 million adults, are responsible for 91 percent of rounds played and 87 percent of golf-related spending. About 10.2 million of them are male and 2.3 million are female. Adults playing less than eight times per year are estimated to number 15.5 million. The rise to popularity and prominence of golfer Tiger Woods, who turned professional in 1996 and won his first professional major golf championship in April 1997, also contributed to the boom in golf in the 1990s. Michigan had the most public golf courses in 2008 with 603, followed by California with 526, Ohio with 482, and Florida with 436.

The boom in golf in the 1990s slowed at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The number of new public and private courses had swelled to over 300 annually from 1995 to 2000. After peaking at 398 in 2000, new courses fell to 284 in 2001 and 171 in 2003. In 2004, there were 150.5 course openings and 62.5 verified closures (in 18-hole equivalents), for a net gain of 88 courses, or a net increase of approximately 0.5 percent. A leveling off of golfers in the 2000s and the abundance of courses left course owners competing rather than enjoying overflows of players. In 1970, most estimates placed the number of golfers in the United States at approximately 11 million, and by 1980, that number increased to more than 15 million. During the 1990s, annual estimates ranged from 25 to nearly 28 million golfers. By contrast, fewer rounds of golf were played each year from 2000 to 2004. About 55 percent of the 25 to 28 million golfers at mid-decade played occasionally, or fewer than eight times per year.

During the 2000s, the golf industry reached reached record highs in terms of prize money for professional events, equipment sales, and rounds played. However, following the onset of the recession in 2008, the golfing industry stagnated somewhat. Rounds of golf either plateaued or declined, as did television viewing. The Sporting Goods Association's 2008 survey reported the number of golfers dropped by over 7 percent between 2003 and 2007. In 2008, the numbers rebounded slightly to 25.6 million Americans who played at least one round of golf during the year. Although enthusiasm for the sport of golf remain high, lack of players and a difficult credit environment led to course closures around the country. Particularly hard hit were the resort destinations, such as Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, as more consumers cut back and stayed closer to home for vacations. Public courses, which often run on narrow margins, also felt the pressure to keep their courses running.

According to a study commissioned by Golf Digest and BusinessWeek, although green fees for peak playing times had risen with the price of inflation, special rated times, such as weekday and twilight hours when the majority of golf is played, rose by 33 percent during the mid-2000s. Thus, the price increased rapidly in the face of stagnant demand. For their part, courses were faced with skyrocketing rising fuel and fertilizer costs. In the second half of the 2000s, the number of public courses fell 2.5 percent due primarily to economic pressures.