Agenda Packets - 1993/07/26 - Laserfiche WebLink

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N 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1� Industry Patterns: National, State, and Local National Patterns Among leisure sports and activities, golf over the past decade, and particularly the past five years has been a growth industry. In 1991, 351 new courses opened for play in the United States, another 583 were under construction, and 674 were in the planning stages. In May 1993, Golf Course News reported that 171 new courses were approved for construction in the past three months. Most of the new courses that have opened over the past several decades have been courses intended for public play — resort courses, privately owned public play courses, and municipal courses. These patterns of growth can be traced to a number of factors. Several decades ago, manufacturers of golf equipment broke away from selling their top -of -the -line golfing equipment exclusively through pro shops, and sold to golf discount houses as well. This brought the price of high quality golf clubs, shoes and balls within the reach of the large middle class and unleashed an increased demand for golf. These new golfers flocked to the public courses, the only venue affordable for them. In this group were increased numbers of women. The largest percentage of new golfers in recent years has been women. This is a result of increased leisure time, more income for women in the work place, and the coming of age of equal opportunities in sports for women. This wave has been accompanied by increases of seniors — both men and women — playing golf, as golf is recognized as a lifetime sports opportunity. The number of golfers, nationally, by golfer segment, is reported in the table below for 1987 to 1991. Number of Golfers in Millions by Golfer Segment: 1987 to 1991 Annual Growth Segment .11$2 1988 1989 12K 1991 Rate: 1987-91 Core 10.2 11.0 11.3 11.8 11.5 +2.9% Occasional 9.6 10.5 11.4 13.9 11.5 +4.6% Tuniors 1.4 1.5 1.5 2.1 1.8 +6.1% Total 21.2 23.0 24.2 27.8 24.8 +3.9% 4