"Hate the long winter? So does the golf industry"

CNBC's Dominic Chu reports the potential economic impact of a long winter and talks to, among others, the National Golf Foundation's Joe Bedlitz who warned...

TaylorMade, a unit of German sports giant Adidas, opened urban driving range and golf centers this week in New York City, San Francisco, Toronto and London. The pop-up venues lasted only for a day and are designed to showcase new products and drum up interest in getting back into the swing of things once the weather improves.

"A long winter isn't good for the golf business, but [by itself] it can't hurt us too badly," National Golf Foundation President Joe Beditz told CNBC. "Now if the bad winter weather extends into bad spring weather—then we have something to worry about from an equipment sales perspective."

Another interesting perspective from the National Golf Foundation!

More expected was this take from an equipment manufacturer:

Golfers often make choices about spending for gear depending on how early they can actually get out and use the stuff. If winter lasts too long, or the spring gets too wet, some golfers could delay their purchases for the year or abandon their plans completely till the following year.

"When you extend the winter by a month, you reduce the sales almost by a month in the U.S.," said Benoit Vincent, TaylorMade's chief technical officer. "It's not exactly a ratio of 1-to-1, but in the toughest part of the country when it's the coldest, that's what you find."