How Close is 2023 Play to Record-Setting 2021?

At the start of August, play for the first seven months of 2023 was about 5% ahead of the same time a year ago. It's a notable trajectory, as 2022 finished as one of the top four years for play on record. But how do this year's rounds, on a national level, stack up against 2021 -- a year that saw more rounds of golf played at U.S. courses than any other in history? July marked the fourth straight in-season month of YOY play gains. As the graphic below indicates, this puts 2023 about 1% ahead of the pace from 2021 at the same point in ...