Everyone knows that inclement weather has an adverse effect on the amount of golf rounds played. It's pretty simple, actually; it's hard to play golf in the snow or rain, or freezing cold temperatures, or hail or lightning, during a tornado or in the eye of a hurricane. What seems to be up in the air is how much favorable weather actually drives golfers to the course.
It will be a few weeks before the rounds played report for November comes out, but when it does come out, that report might shed some light on the relationship between favorable weather and an increase in rounds played, if indeed there is one at all.
According to Pellucid Corp., the Chicago-based golf analytics firm run by Jim Koppenhaver that makes its hay crunching all the golf data so you don't have, the number of golf playable hours in November increased by 49 percent, compared with the same month in 2014. Golf playable hours in Pellucid's measurement of the total number of daylight hours compared with factors that influence play such as precipitation, humidity, daylight variances, etc. In other words, the amount of time in a day over the course of a month when someone could comfortably play golf if so inclined. And a 50-percent increase in the amount of time available to partake in any activity is significant.
In the meantime, the relationship between the amount of golf playable hours and actual number of rounds played were pretty similar in October, with both figures being roughly flat compared to the same month last year.
Rounds played, according to the Golf Datatech Monthly Rounds Played Report, rose just 0.6 percent compared with October 2014. That left year-to-date rounds played up just 0.7 percent for the first 10 months of the year. Public access courses (up 1.4 percent) faired better in October than private clubs, which saw a drop in rounds played of 2.5 percent. For the year, rounds are up by 1.3 percent at public access facilities and down by 1.7 percent at private clubs, according to the report.
Golf playable hours through November are up by 3 percent compared to the first 11 months of 2014.
Regardless of what news the November Rounds Played Report brings, it's unlikely the last two months of the year will be able to much to move the needle to 3 percent on rounds played, leaving participation throughout 2015 like most other years in recent memory flat and uninspiring.
There was some good news in October, with double-digit increases occurring in eight states, including Ohio, where play was up 22 percent, Michigan (18 percent), Missouri (16 percent), Washington (14 percent), Indiana (12 percent), Oregon and Kansas (11 percent), and Kentucky (10 percent).
The biggest losses in October were in South Carolina, which experienced catastrophic flooding, and play was down by 20 percent, which almost seems like a moral victory. Other double-digit losses occurred in Texas (down 12 percent) and North Carolina (down 10 percent).
Everyone knows that inclement weather has an adverse effect on the amount of golf rounds played. It's pretty simple, actually; it's hard to play golf in the snow or rain, or freezing cold temperatures, or hail or lightning, during a tornado or in the eye of a hurricane. What seems to be up in the air is how much favorable weather actually drives golfers to the course.
It will be a few weeks before the rounds played report for November comes out, but when it does come out, that report might shed some light on the relationship between favorable weather and an increase in rounds played, if indeed there is one at all.
According to Pellucid Corp., the Chicago-based golf analytics firm run by Jim Koppenhaver that makes its hay crunching all the golf data so you don't have, the number of golf playable hours in November increased by 49 percent, compared with the same month in 2014. Golf playable hours in Pellucid's measurement of the total number of daylight hours compared with factors that influence play such as precipitation, humidity, daylight variances, etc. In other words, the amount of time in a day over the course of a month when someone could comfortably play golf if so inclined. And a 50-percent increase in the amount of time available to partake in any activity is significant.
In the meantime, the relationship between the amount of golf playable hours and actual number of rounds played were pretty similar in October, with both figures being roughly flat compared to the same month last year.
Rounds played, according to the Golf Datatech Monthly Rounds Played report, rose just 0.6 percent compared with October 2014. That left year-to-date rounds played up just 0.7 percent for the first 10 months of the year. Public access courses (up 1.4 percent) faired better in October than private clubs, which saw a drop in rounds played of 2.5 percent. For the year, rounds are up by 1.3 percent at public access facilities and down by 1.7 percent at private clubs, according to the report.
Golf playable hours through November are up by 3 percent compared to the first 11 months of 2014.
Regardless of what news the November Rounds Played Report brings, it's unlikely the last two months of the year will be able to much to move the needle to 3 percent on rounds played, leaving participation throughout 2015 like most other years in recent memory flat and uninspiring.
There was some good news in October, with double-digit increases occurring in eight states, including Ohio, where play was up 22 percent, Michigan (18 percent), Missouri (16 percent), Washington (14 percent), Indiana (12 percent), Oregon and Kansas (11 percent), and Kentucky (10 percent).
The biggest losses in October were in South Carolina, which experienced catastrophic flooding, and play was down by 20 percent, which almost seems like a moral victory. Other double-digit losses occurred in Texas (down 12 percent) and North Carolina (down 10 percent).