Rounds played dropped by nearly 8 percent in November, compared with the same month in 2013, virtually ensuring yet another lackluster performance in the golf industry.November rounds dropped 7.7 percent, including 8.5 percent at daily fee facilities and 5.4 percent at private clubs, compared with the same period in the prior year, according to Golf Datatech's National Golf Rounds Played Report.
Play was down in 46 of 49 states participating in the survey, which does not include Alaska. The only states that saw a year-over-year increase in play were in the desert southwest: Nevada, where play was up 6 percent, Arizona (3 percent) and New Mexico (0.5 percent).
The biggest losses occurred in Indiana (45 percent); Minnesota (44 percent); Wisconsin (42 percent); Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota (33 percent); Kentucky (30 percent); Maine, New Hampshire, Nebraska and Vermont (27 percent); Missouri (26 percent); Colorado and Illinois (23 percent); Connecticut (22 percent); Michigan (20 percent); Ohio (19 percent); Utah (17 percent); Massachusetts, Oklahoma and Rhode Island (15 percent); Arkansas (14 percent); Virginia (13 percent); New York (11 percent); Tennessee (10 percent).
The report includes self-reported data from 3,490 daily fee and private facilities nationwide (except Alaska) on rounds played in November 2014 and November 2013.
Weather might have played a role in November's downfall. In Indianapolis, the average daily high throughout the month was about 44 degrees, 8 degrees below the historic average for that time of year, according to the National Weather Service. In Westchester County, New York, the average daily high in November was 38, which is the norm. However, that is well behind the balmy conditions felt there last November, when the average daily high was 50 degrees.
With November's losses, year-to-date rounds played are 1.8 percent behind the first 11 months of 2013.