The State And Future Of Arizona's Golf Industry

The Arizona Republic's Russ Wiles uses the Waste Management Open as a reason to consider the state of Arizona's $3.9 billion golf industry. The story is lengthy and contains some very good info if you're in the industry (thanks reader John for the link).

The questions and answers posed by Wiles are many of the same you've heard by now: things aren't too bad right now and even encouraging where facilities have made some adjustments, but the industry certainly isn't growing and the all-important M's don't want to participate in something taking four-five hours.

Nearly two-thirds of active players are 40 or older.

Participation among minors "has been declining for several years, as younger generations opt to play other sports or engage in other activities," said IBISWorld.

Also, it takes a lot of time to play golf well — not just in spending what can easily be five-plus hours for a round of 18 holes, but in the years of practice it takes to become reasonably skilled.

"As an industry, we need to find ways to have a one- or two-hour experience," said Gurnow. That's in addition to other ways the industry might appeal to newcomers.

This was interesting and a huge issue on the jobs front if the only answer is another TopGolf (not that there's anything wrong with TopGolf!).

Labor tops the list on the expense side, including for clubhouse/golf-shop staff and course-maintenance workers. Water and other utility costs were next,then course-maintenance supplies/services, general-administrative expenses and food/beverage outlays.

The highest number of Arizona golf-course jobs are in course maintenance — estimated at 5,000 positions in the 2014 report, followed by food/beverage workers (2,300), golf-shop personnel (1,780) and administrative staff (1,040).