Michigan Golf Journal August 2019

23 August 2019 www.michigangolfjournal.com Because league golfers pay in advance, they play. Courses lose few rounds to afternoon rain, heat or mosquitos. League golfers want to play. It’s about the golf but it’s also about the camaraderie; there is not a more social sport. You walk or ride together, stand at the tee together. Order from the beverage cart together and gather at the end of the round to talk about that round and plan for the next. And what makes league golf so appealing for the golf course owners and operators is that most leagues play Monday through Thursday after 3:00, leaving the remainder of time, including high demand weekends, open for business. When the fight to save daylight savings time reared its ugly head again this year, we turned to our statistics on golf leagues to indicate the importance of “keeping the lights on”. The Michigan state legislators were amazed at the economic impact shortening the golf day by even one hour would have on the golf industry. With an average of 13 leagues with 36 golfers each, that’s over a quarter million golfers every week, most of whom would lose out on their opportunity to play if the day were shortened. Fortunately, golf won this round. When a new golf economic impact study was released in late April by the We Are Golf foundation, it laid to rest any lingering c oncerns about the economic r esiliency of the golf industry. A s leaders from virtually e very sector of the business v isited Congress and federal a gencies for National Golf D ay this spring, the report by T EConomy, announced a 22% g rowth in annual economic output related to golf from 2011-16 to $84.1 Billion. Bottom line: leagues are a leading factor in the economic boon, especially here in Michigan. They are huge contributors to keeping golf available to all. Kate Moore is the former Executive Director of the Michigan Golf Course Association.