July rounds of golf were up about 3% compared to a year ago, the fourth straight month of in-season gains in play nationwide.
Entering August, 2023 play is trending 5% ahead of the pace from 2022. Last year finished as one of the top four years for play on record even though rounds were “down” about 4% from 2021 — a year that saw more U.S. play than any in history.
July is one of the highest-volume months for play and rounds this year were up (or essentially flat) in seven of the eight geographic regions.
The most significant YOY gains were seen in the South Central (+8%), while the Pacific, Mountain and West North Central regions saw lifts of about 5%. The only region that failed to match last year’s July pace was New England, where heavy rains and statewide flooding in Vermont left some courses unplayable.
On a national level, the year-to-date boost in rounds has been driven by public play. Rounds at public access courses are up 5.5% through July compared to +2.9% at private golf facilities.
NGF provides facility-level rounds data to Golf Datatech in helping compile the free, monthly play reports on behalf of the golf industry. Click the image below to see the full report. 
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