Homepage

Golf Season Expected to be Busy Once Again Golf Season Expected to be Busy Once Again

By Ryan Bothmann

RYAN BOTHMANN: Golf season has nearly returned in Central New York. With the pandemic creating few opportunities to do things last year, golf boomed with its ability to get people outside in a
socially distanced environment.

STEVE ALOI: So for us being a small club, we were up five thousand rounds. Obviously, that’s not a lot compared to other places across the United States, especially those that are opened year round, we’re a season obviously club, but when you’re only doing fifteen thousand rounds a year and then you’re up 5000 that’s quite a jump.

RYAN BOTHMANN: Last season, nearly five-hundred-two million rounds of golf were played across the country. This was a nearly fourteen percent increase from two-thousand-nineteen, despite many courses temporarily shutting down in the spring last season due to Covid. A record three-million players played the game for the first time. The popularity surge seen in the sport last year is expected to be maintained this season.

STEVE ALOI: You know, people came back to golf. There’s a lot of people that tried golf that got away from golf, but this gave them an opportunity cause they had nothing going on at home to come out and play golf again. They realized that it is enjoyable and they came back. So, yes, it did inject a lot of new play into the game, for sure.

RYAN BOTHMANN: Even with the cold weather, many courses have carts lined up just in case anyone wants to start the season early. It has not just been adults though, there has even been a rise in the junior game.

STEVE ALOI: I’m sure a lot of them that are mainstays in other sports that played baseball quite a bit, basketball, whatever, I’m sure that they’re going to go back, but at least this has given them a taste of what golf is all about.

RYAN BOTHMANN: Although these fairways remain empty for now, in just weeks they will once again be packed with players. Aloi believes the past year has shown that golf is a sport for everyone.

STEVE ALOI: The stigma of just being a high end sport, those for the well off has kind of diminished a little bit, and so yeah we’re looking forward to it. We’re looking forward to the families coming out and a lot more kids, and a lot more moms playing.

RYAN BOTHMANN: In Syracuse, Ryan Bothmann, NCC News.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – The 2020 golf season saw a record number of players, not just in Central New York, but also nationwide. Golf gave the opportunity for people to get outside in a safe environment last year, during a time where options of things to do were limited due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Although restrictions regarding the pandemic are beginning to ease up around the country compared to last year, the belief around the golf industry is that the success from last season drew a lot of new interest in the game that is expected to be maintained.

According to the National Golf Foundation, which tracks the number of rounds played across the United States each year, 502 million rounds of golf were played in the United States last season. This was a 14% increase from the 2019 season.

Steve Aloi, head golf professional at Bellevue Country Club, attributed people being at home more during the pandemic for the number of rounds being up, but also believed people discovered how much they enjoyed the game again.

“You know, people came back to golf,” Aloi said. “There’s a lot of people that tried golf that got away from golf, but this gave them an opportunity cause they had nothing going on at home to come out and play golf again. They realized that it is enjoyable and they came back.”

While many golfers just had more time on their hands due to the pandemic and were able to get out and play more consistently, the game also saw a growth in the number of new players. The National Golf Foundation also reported a record 3 million people played golf for the first time in 2020.

The popularity surge was not just seen among adults though. Junior golf programs around the country thrived last season. With many of the junior players not able to play their typical team sports that were mostly cancelled last season, golf gave a lot of junior players the opportunity to still get outside and participate in a sport last year.

Aloi believes a lot of these players will return to their former sports, but that this gave them an opportunity to see what golf was all about.

“I’m sure a lot of them that are mainstays in other sports that played baseball quite a bit, basketball, whatever, I’m sure that they’re going to go back, but at least this has given them a taste of what golf is all about,” Aloi said.

With the weather warming up and the golf season just around the corner, Aloi and others around the golf industry believe that while the 2020 numbers will not be replicated again, that the popularity of golf will remain now that more people have been exposed to the game.

“The stigma of just being a high end sport, those for the well off, has kind of diminished a little bit,” Aloi said. “We’re looking forward to the families coming out.”

Related Articles