The golf participation level among the population of the United States in 2008 fell to 10.2 percent, about the same level as in 1995, according to the National Golf Foundation.
In addition, the total number of golfers in 2008 dropped 3 percent to 28.6 million from the 2007 level, according to the NGF’s annual golf participation survey. Researchers defined golfers as a person age 6 or older who plays at least one round of golf in the year.
Golf participation in the U.S. peaked between 2000 and 2005, when the NGF estimated that 11.1 percent of the population played golf. In actual number of golfers, the high-water mark was 2005, when 30.0 million individuals played.
The largest decreases between 2008 and 2007 came in the number of core golfers (those who play eight or more rounds a year), which fell 4.5 percent and occasional golfers, down 1.5 percent.
On a brighter note, the study found that 1.7 million new golfers took up the sport and 2.3 million returned after not playing in 2007. Those were offset, however, by a loss of 4.9 million previous golfers who didn’t play in 2008.
Here’s a look at the NGF golf participation numbers (in millions of golfers) over the past 23 years:
Annual
rounds 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2008
Total golfers 1+ 19.5 27.4 24.7 28.8 30.0 28.6
Occasional 1-7 6.1 11.5 8.3 9.1 12.0 12.0
Core 8+ 13.4 16.0 16.4 19.7 18.0 16.6
Avid 25+ 6.9 8.3 8.4 10.2 9.1 8.3
Female 1+ 4.1 5.9 5.0 5.4 7.8 5.8