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News Commentary Opinion
WE ARE GOLF - image fixing
By ED TRAVIS, Editor FrontPageGolf
By ED TRAVIS, Editor FrontPageGolf
To golfers Florida is a wonderful place to live or visit or watch their
favorite professionals tee it up and with more than 1,200 golf facilities the
state has the largest golf economy in the country. It is instructive to look
at the numbers of this $7.5 billion Florida golf economy as much for what
they tell us as what they do not. The numbers and a couple of related
points are particularly important for those who love golf to understand in
light of the disingenuous image of the game as a “rich man’s sport’
being pushed by politicians with other agendas.
During the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Fla. last month two items
on the agenda has particular significance. First the Florida Golf Impact
Task Force showed the golf industry as a major employer which
generates in the Sunshine State a significant amount of revenue for
hotels, restaurants and other tourist related businesses. Second, with
truly long range national significance was the announcement of WE ARE
GOLF by four golf organizations to improve golf’s image in the eyes of
national leaders.
In 2007, golf in Florida at $7.5 billion in revenues put it ahead of
amusement and theme parks ($4 billion), medical equipment and
supplies manufacturing ($4.4 billion) and only somewhat behind
agriculture ($7.8 billion) and hotels/motels ($11.2 billion). Also:
-Florida has 1.7 million in-state golfers who played 37.9 million rounds
-2 out of every 3 rounds in Florida are played at public-access facilities
-Florida golf provides 167,000 jobs with $4.7 billion in wages
-Golf generates $170 million annually in tourism
This makes Florida golf comparable to the combined revenues of all
other major spectator sports – auto and horse racing, football, basketball
and baseball in the state. Not to be overlooked of course is the charitable
giving component of golf.
favorite professionals tee it up and with more than 1,200 golf facilities the
state has the largest golf economy in the country. It is instructive to look
at the numbers of this $7.5 billion Florida golf economy as much for what
they tell us as what they do not. The numbers and a couple of related
points are particularly important for those who love golf to understand in
light of the disingenuous image of the game as a “rich man’s sport’
being pushed by politicians with other agendas.
During the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Fla. last month two items
on the agenda has particular significance. First the Florida Golf Impact
Task Force showed the golf industry as a major employer which
generates in the Sunshine State a significant amount of revenue for
hotels, restaurants and other tourist related businesses. Second, with
truly long range national significance was the announcement of WE ARE
GOLF by four golf organizations to improve golf’s image in the eyes of
national leaders.
In 2007, golf in Florida at $7.5 billion in revenues put it ahead of
amusement and theme parks ($4 billion), medical equipment and
supplies manufacturing ($4.4 billion) and only somewhat behind
agriculture ($7.8 billion) and hotels/motels ($11.2 billion). Also:
-Florida has 1.7 million in-state golfers who played 37.9 million rounds
-2 out of every 3 rounds in Florida are played at public-access facilities
-Florida golf provides 167,000 jobs with $4.7 billion in wages
-Golf generates $170 million annually in tourism
This makes Florida golf comparable to the combined revenues of all
other major spectator sports – auto and horse racing, football, basketball
and baseball in the state. Not to be overlooked of course is the charitable
giving component of golf.
The report showed estimates of $312 million were given to charities in
the study year 2007 through golf, i.e. local and professional tour events.
These figures show golf as a significant part of the economy both for
Florida and the nation.
Also announced at the Merchandise Show was a coalition of four of the
game's leading associations named WE ARE GOLF. It’s purpose is to
improve golf’s image in Washington. And it’s an image that needs help.
As John Paul Newport pointed out in the Wall Street Journal recently,
The golf industry first realized it had a political problem in 2005 when,
after Hurricane Katrina devastated the gulf coast, golf courses were
lumped with massage parlors and casinos as businesses explicitly
prohibited from receiving disaster-relief funds. Golf's power elite, led by
PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem, converged on Washington in
April 2008 for the first National Golf Day, to lobby for better treatment. But
when the stimulus bill passed, it included most of the same exclusions
for golf that the Katrina bill had.
WE ARE GOLF means business. It is backed by the Club Managers
Association of America, Golf Course Superintendents Association of
America, National Golf Course Owners Association, and The PGA of
America. Their figures show the golf industry provides 2 million jobs in
the U.S. with $61 billion in wages. In addition there are billions more of
economic impact in related industries such as tourism.
Golf’s image as a rich man’s sport is even belied by a statistic from the
PGA of America that public course golf accounts for roughly 70% of the
rounds played each year with a median greens fee of $28.
the study year 2007 through golf, i.e. local and professional tour events.
These figures show golf as a significant part of the economy both for
Florida and the nation.
Also announced at the Merchandise Show was a coalition of four of the
game's leading associations named WE ARE GOLF. It’s purpose is to
improve golf’s image in Washington. And it’s an image that needs help.
As John Paul Newport pointed out in the Wall Street Journal recently,
The golf industry first realized it had a political problem in 2005 when,
after Hurricane Katrina devastated the gulf coast, golf courses were
lumped with massage parlors and casinos as businesses explicitly
prohibited from receiving disaster-relief funds. Golf's power elite, led by
PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem, converged on Washington in
April 2008 for the first National Golf Day, to lobby for better treatment. But
when the stimulus bill passed, it included most of the same exclusions
for golf that the Katrina bill had.
WE ARE GOLF means business. It is backed by the Club Managers
Association of America, Golf Course Superintendents Association of
America, National Golf Course Owners Association, and The PGA of
America. Their figures show the golf industry provides 2 million jobs in
the U.S. with $61 billion in wages. In addition there are billions more of
economic impact in related industries such as tourism.
Golf’s image as a rich man’s sport is even belied by a statistic from the
PGA of America that public course golf accounts for roughly 70% of the
rounds played each year with a median greens fee of $28.