Dismal weather across many northern and central states resulted in the year’s biggest monthly decline in rounds played in October, according to the National Rounds Played Report.
For the month, rounds fell 15.9 percent nationally, pushing the total for the first 10 months of the year down 1.0 percent compared to the same period in 2008.
Biggest drops in October rounds were reported in the West North Central (-38.3 percent), East North Central (-27.1 percent) and South Central (-20.6 percent). All of the other four reporting regions also recorded declines in play.
The weather problems were documented by the PGA of America’s PerformanceTrak report that days open for courses across the country was down 8.9 percent compared to October 2008.
Median course revenue per facility in October was down 13.0 percent, according to the PerformanceTrak numbers. For the year, median revenue per facility is 5.8 percent below the same period in 2008.
Here are per facility gross revenue numbers for U.S. courses:
Oct. 2009 Oct. 2008 Change
Median golf fee revenue $57,079 $66,219 -13.8%
Median merchandise revenue 10,225 11,539 -11.4%
Median food & beverage revenue 32,463 35,629 – 8.9%
YTD 2009 YTD 2008 Change
Median golf fee revenue $716,274 $757,117 -5.4%
Median merchandise revenue 113,889 129,573 -12.1%
Median food & beverage revenue 330,488 348,811 – 5.3%
Source: PGA PerformanceTrak