There is good news, and there is better news for the golf industry through August.
The good new is rounds played in August were up in every state in Golf Datatech's Monthly Rounds Played Report.
The better news is that after a record-setting year for rounds played in 2024, the golf business appears headed for another year in the black as the season begins to wind down in much of the country.
According to the report by Golf Datatech, rounds played were up in every state for August, compared with the same month in 2024. The report measures rounds played in 49 states — sorry, Alaska — and Washington, D.C. Not one state, nor the nation's reported a drop-off in play for the month.
Leading the way were Delaware, Maryland, Minnesota, D.C., New Jersey and Texas, all reporting a 14 percent year-over-year increase in rounds played, compared with August 2024. Other states with double-digit increases were Nevada (13%), Iowa and Missouri (12%), Virginia and West Virginia (11%) and Michigan (10%).
With what historically are about 80 percent of nationwide rounds played in the books by the end of August, according to Jim Koppenhaver of Pellucid Corp., nationwide rounds played through August are up 1.4 percent, compared with the first eight months of last year. An increase in participation, even if it is a slight one, is a positive sign for an industry coming off a record 532 million rounds played in 2024.
Favorable weather conditions likely played a role in the game's coast-to-coast popularity in August.
According to Koppenhaver, there was a 4 percent increase in Golf Playable Hours in August. GPH is a metric compiled by Pellucid Corp. to measure the total number of daylight hours suitable for playing golf, taking into account weather factors like precipitation and temperature.