From Greg Nathan, NGF President & CEO
With gratitude to our colleagues throughout the golf business,
More people are playing golf in more ways than any time in recorded history. How’s that for a way to kick off a year-end message from the National Golf Foundation?
Hall of Fame journalist and NGF co-founder, Herb Graffis, said “It is the recreational golfer from whom all blessings flow.” As you convene with friends and family around the Holidays, I hope you are feeling blessed.
We’re so fortunate to make our living in this great game, and, on behalf of the NGF family, I’m starting a new tradition… a year-end letter to around 60K of our closest friends with a few observations and a golf stocking that’s overflowing with gratitude. These past eight years (golf’s rise began in 2017, not COVID 2020) have revealed and reinforced what people love about golf – that our game is a platform for social connection, exercise, nature, wellness, challenge, self-improvement and competition.
One could say that golf is perfectly aligned with the analog fulfilment people need or are seeking in their lives.
The vital signs of our industry suggest this generational activity the industry is experiencing is, in fact, sustainable. Nothing grows to the sky, but the dynamics of the golf economy are strong, and the business of golf is in a position to be more resilient to external pressures than last time we were on such a heater (1997-2004). Consider that four of the past five years have been all-time records for rounds played in America, numbers achieved with roughly 2,000 fewer facilities (almost 3,000 fewer golf courses) than there were a couple decades ago.
For those surprised by the magnitude of the 20-year supply correction, don’t fret, the U.S. remains the world’s best supplied market and our nearly 14K facilities and 16K courses still make up 42% of all the courses on the planet. Golf’s reach (those who play, watch, read or follow golf) is more than 136 million, or approximately 2 out of every 5 Americans. Hyperbole be damned, golf was seemingly everywhere in 2025. It could be called ubiquitous and, dare I say, “cool!”
Never before have we had more women (8.1M) or people of color (7.7M) playing golf, and the number of juniors (ages 6-17) has gone up nearly 60% since 2019. We have 38 million people playing golf away from the golf course (entertainment + screen golf + practice ranges), compared with fewer than 6 million folks mashing balls on driving ranges 25 years ago. With golf’s supply and demand in this state of balance, tee sheets are moving closer to capacity and greens fees are up. Unlike the past, I wouldn’t expect meaningful golf course building in major U.S. markets to dilute the robust demand. This means golf courses should remain financially healthy (NGF’s friends in the golf course business confirm this) and in a better position to invest in quality people, maintenance equipment and turf products, irrigation, golf cars, course and building renovations and infrastructure.
The NGF believes in the perpetual pursuit of a smarter, more energized golf business.
At its core, golf is a hospitality business, and we’re encouraged to see operators who are embracing this philosophy. Golf courses are the game’s “front door” and we still have an opportunity, even responsibility, to make the game more welcoming to those not comfortable in the golf course environment. Customer experience is so much bigger than the condition of the greens and the quality of the hot dog at the turn.
We have to face the unvarnished truth that despite the generationally positive state of the industry, traditional golf is still scary/intimidating to those who aren’t already in the franchise. There were over six million people playing green grass golf in 2025 (of the 29.1M total) who didn’t play in 2024… and yet we grew the number of on-course players by just 1 million. That indicates millions of what NGF calls “failed trials.”
Let’s not allow the spoils of our hard work and good fortune to make us complacent about identifying and nurturing those who require and deserve a more welcoming and fun golf course environment.
We’re healthy, but let’s keep the pressure on ourselves to share all the great things about our game (tell people how it’s made your life better!) and never stop acting in ways that create new committed golfers from non-golfers. The NGF remains bullish on the impacts of continued industry innovation and investment, and we’ll relentlessly push the ways we study and report on the business of golf. We are so grateful for our dialogue with you, the people that deliver our game and Santa’s bagful of golf products to nearly 30 million people in the U.S. (48 million, including off-course)… and NGF can’t provide our unique perspective and insights without the feedback and member support of big and small companies, courses and organizations.
Thank you for the work you do to make golf great. NGF is here to contribute to your success in 2026, our 90th year fully dedicated to every business and person making a living (and a difference) in the game.