Join us for the Polish Center Annual Golf Classic on Monday, June 2 at Ludlow Country Club! This fun-filled scramble-format tournament includes free lunch and dinner, exciting raffle prizes, and a great day on the course—all to benefit the Polish Center of Discovery and Learning. Whether you’re a seasoned golfer or just in it for fun, all are welcome. Sponsored by the Polish National Credit Union, this event supports the preservation and promotion of Polish heritage. Can’t attend? You can still show your support by purchasing a $100 tee sign sponsorship through the Eventbrite link.
Round Numbers
John Thomas says the recently opened Max’s Swing Lounge is off to a solid start, attracting individuals of all ability levels, high-school teams, and corporate outings as well.
As he talked about golf in March and how many of the Bay State’s courses were able to open for business for large stretches of that month, Jesse Menachem first lamented that February was an almost total loss.
The fact that he even brought up February was a sign of recent times — for golf and the climate in New England. Indeed, area courses have enjoyed a prolonged run of golf-season-extending weather, with earlier starts, later finishes, and mostly decent weather through the season.
And this run of good weather has perhaps played a small role in the game becoming “more sticky” since enjoying a surge during COVID, when there was little else to do, and becoming “cool again,” said Menachem, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Golf Assoc. (MGA), who acknowledged that he gets paid to promote the game, but is genuinely optimistic about what he’s seen and what he projects for this season and beyond.
“We are again bullish about participation numbers and membership numbers,” he said, adding that all signs point to another solid year. “People are fitting golf into their daily lives and their daily routines in a different way than they did a few decades ago.”
Meanwhile, another aspect of golf’s surge has nothing to do with climate, other than being an antidote for bad weather. Yes, we’re talking about simulators, which continue to grow in popularity, with many private courses now adding such facilities to allow members to keep clubs in their hands 12 months a year — while also providing a boost to the food-and-beverage side of the house.
But there also more such facilities not tied to clubs, such as the recently opened Max’s Swing Lounge at Max’s Tavern at the Basketball Hall of Fame.
John Thomas, general manager of Max’s Tavern, part of the Max Restaurant Group, said the facility, which opened last November in an underutilized banquet room, provides users with opportunities for everything from basic practice to playing iconic courses like Pebble Beach and Cypress Point, and is off to a solid start.
“We’re seeing everyone from toddlers to retired people who are picking up golf for the first time,” he said, adding that the facility features nine bays using Trackman simulation technology. “We see people who play two or three times a week, we see pros, we see people just getting into the game, and people just out to have a good time.”
As for facilities that are dependent on the weather, many area courses were open by the end of March, and some were open before St. Patrick’s Day. That continues a trend that covers the past several years, and it’s a positive development in that it extends the revenue-generating season to weeks, or even months, when overhead is much lower than at other times of the year; Menachem calls this “bonus time.”
Jesse Menachem
“We are again bullish about participation numbers and membership numbers.”
The longer seasons comprise one of many bright spots for the golfing industry that still share space with a host of challenges — from the rising cost of just about everything to ongoing workforce struggles. All these issues, in both categories, are visible at clubs large, small, and even very small, such as Quaboag Country Club in Monson.
Celebrating its 125th anniversary this year, the semi-private club has nine holes, maintains a stable but older-than-normal membership of about 125, and has enjoyed growth in play since COVID, said General Manager Dale Swanson, a 71-year-old who described himself as a jack of all trades.
That’s his way of saying there’s a very small staff at the club, and he does whatever is necessary, including work in the kitchen, the 19th hole, getting carts ready for the season, and the pro shop.
As he does all that, he said a new greenskeeper — evidence that the course is in the best shape it’s been in for this time of year — general optimism about the state of the game, and a milestone anniversary have the club primed for what should a good year.
“We’re optimistic, and we’re already off to a good start,” Swanson said, adding that the course had a soft opening in late March with reduced greens fees. “COVID brought a lot of people into the game, and they’re sticking with it.”
For this issue, BusinessWest looks at the state of the golf business and the outlook for the year ahead.
Out of the Rough
As he talked with BusinessWest on March 29, a Saturday that was predicted to be a total washout, Ted Perez Jr., the head pro and co-owner of East Mountain Country Club, was in the pro shop checking in a few groups trying to steal a round before the weather rolled in.
“I think the forecast scared most of them away, but we had a few groups come out,” said Perez, whose course is known across this region — and well beyond — for being open pretty much whenever there is no snow on the ground.
Which means it’s been open almost year-round since the pandemic, said Perez, noting that February was, indeed, a total loss, making 2025 the first year since 2020 when East Mountain will not be open at least a part of all 12 months.
Still, this season officially started earlier than most, he said, noting that the course opened March 8, two or three weeks before most others, getting 2025 off to a decent start, again, at a time when there are minimal expenses to cut into the revenues.
Dale Swanson says Quaboag Country Club, like most courses in the area, has enjoyed early starts and, overall, growth in play since COVID.
“My father used to say that golf this early in the year is like finding money on the street,” said Perez, whose dad, Ted Perez Sr., designed and built the course in the early ’60s. “That’s because it costs you almost nothing to be open; you’re not mowing greens, you’re not changing cups, you’re not fertilizing … there’s zero expense other than gas for the carts.”
These early starts — and later finishes, at least the past few years — have certainly played a role in overall business growth at most area courses, said Perez and others we spoke with. But the bigger reason has been the surge in participation prompted by the pandemic, and strong evidence that many of those who took up the game then, or went back to it after leaving for any of several reasons, have stayed with it.
Whether golf is now ‘cool’ — the word Menachem chose — is a matter of debate, there’s no doubting that the game is more popular than it was 10 to 15 years ago, when its cost, lengthy time to play, and other factors were leaving empty lines on tee sheets and private clubs with dramatically lower membership numbers.
“Now, most private clubs have waiting lists for membership,” said Menachem, adding that there are other barometers for measuring the game’s comeback, from consistently higher numbers of rounds logged statewide to a slowing in the number of course closings; from an impressive list of courses open by mid- to late March to strong early signups for the major tournaments staged by the MGA each year, including the Massachusetts Amateur, which this year will played on a local course, GreatHorse in Hampden, and is already sold out.
Swanson agreed, noting that Quaboag has enjoyed limited but steady growth in overall play since the pandemic, a trend he expects will continue in 2025 with the gaining of new members as some courses, such as Leominster Country Club, have closed.
“I just signed up one that was at Leominster, and he said he’s going to bring some of his buddies with him,” said Swanson, adding that, while membership is up slightly, public play has increased as well.
Meanwhile, simulators provide additional opportunities for courses to extend the season and perhaps generate more food and beverage revenue.
“There’s all sorts of different options to outfit indoor space for simulators and keep clubs in people’s hands,” Menachem said, acknowledging that these facilities don’t do as well when the weather improves. Still, they have become a solid addition to the amenities offered by many clubs, and, overall, they have become an intriguing new aspect of the business, with perhaps the most visible example being TGL (Tomorrow’s Golf League), the tech-infused 3-on-3 golf league composed of PGA Tour golfers that drew solid audiences for matches broadcast on ESPN.
Those matches showed how far simulation technology has come and how it will be a big part of the game, said Thomas, noting that Scott Smith, president and CEO of the Max Restaurant Group, became inspired to create the swing lounge in Springfield after seeing a successful, 11-bay facility in Wallingford, Conn.
The chosen site is a banquet facility that had seen declining use since COVID, said Thomas, noting that retrofitting the location for golf simulation and a sports bar began in early 2024.
“When you walk in, it looks like a golf club,” he noted. “And we designed it to be more of a restaurant or golf club than a bar and swing lounge.”
He said the day he spoke with BusinessWest was typical, with Wilbraham & Monson Academy’s golf team coming in for practice that afternoon and a corporate function slated for the evening.
He acknowledged that, once the weather turns nicer and area courses are open, demand for simulators declines. Still, he noted, there is enough business — from corporate outings to players trying to stay sharp — to make this a successful year-round business.
Drive Time
Swanson said Quaboag has a few 125th-anniversary celebrations on tap for this year.
There’s a two-day tournament slated for Memorial Day weekend, and another competition set for August that will take participants back in time. Indeed, there were originally six holes when the course opened in 1900, he said, adding that six of the current nine will be chosen for a tournament that will feature the original yardages and some loaned persimmon clubs that will give players a taste of older equipment and keep them from driving the greens with their titanium and composite drivers.
There will likely be some participants in period outfits as well, he noted, adding that, while the club celebrates its past, it will press on with matters of the present and future, which look bright, but, like the game itself, come complete with a full set of challenges and issues that, like the weather, cannot be predicted.
Staying the Course
Ted Perez, long-time pro at East Mountain Country Club
When Ted Perez Jr. talks about the 2023 golf season, he uses the present tense — and even the past tense on occasion.
Indeed, Perez, the pro and co-owner of East Mountain Country Club in Westfield, said the season — for his course, anyway — began in January, as it sometimes does; this family-owned club is famous for being open whenever there is no snow on the ground.
But this January was different from just about any other that came before it, said Perez, who said the course was probably open for play all but a few days that month. And it was open most every day the first three weeks in February as well.
March wasn’t as kind, with the course closed several days by snow and play reduced to a trickle on many others, he said, but overall, it’s been a phenomenal start to 2023.
“I’ll call this a non-winter,” said Perez, whose father, Ted Perez Sr., built this course, located just a long par 5 from the runways at Barnes Municipal Airport, 60 years ago. “I wish every winter could have been like this one.”
Elaborating, he said winter golf of this kind is a real boon for the course because the revenue generated isn’t offset by the expenses encumbered most of the rest of the year, everything from cutting the grass to overseeding the fairways to paying the people to perform those tasks. “My father used to say, ‘it’s like finding money on the street.’”
As the 2023 season begins for most courses in the region — a few others were open for play through during stretches of the winter — they are hoping that their springs, summers, and falls are as good, relatively speaking, as Perez’s winter was.
“My father used to say, ‘it’s like finding money on the street.’”
Actually, they’ll settle, if that’s the right word, for what they’ve seen the past few years, a recognized surge in play that started during the summer of 2020, the height of the pandemic, when there was little else for people to do — they couldn’t even play tennis due to restrictions imposed by the state.
That surge continued into 2021 and then 2022, said Jesse Menachem, executive director and CEO of the Massachusetts Golf Assoc., noting that the numbers were down slightly in 2022 from 2021, but still better than the years leading up to the pandemic.
“We saw levels jump considerably in 2020 and into 2021,” he told BusinessWest. “In 2022, we were able to sustain levels and continue to grow. Overall, we’ve been able to retain the new golfers and the golfers who were brought back into the game by the pandemic. Our facilities, our operators, and our organizations are doing a great job of keeping the game sticky, keeping it relevant.”
The questions on everyone’s mind going into the new year are … will this surge continue?, and to what extent? As with the weather — always the biggest question mark heading into a new year — no one really knows the answers, but those we spoke with project another solid year for the local golf industry.
EJ Altobello, head pro at Springfield Country Club, is among those projecting the recent surge in the region’s golf industry will continue in 2023.
EJ Altobello, head pro at Springfield Country Club, a private club, said most all signs point to a continuation of current trends (his club now has a healthy waiting list for membership), and he points to Florida, where the first three months of the year have been on par (yes, that’s an industry term) with the past few seasons, as evidence.
“They’re off to a great start,” he noted. “Golf retail is off to a great start, golf rounds are off to a great start, and I think things will go the same way up here — there’s no reason to believe otherwise.”
Steve Elkins, chair of the board at Amherst Golf Club, a nine-hole track owned by Amherst College and managed by the board members, agreed. He said the past few years have been solid, and revenues have helped put the course on more solid ground than it has been in some time.
“We’re in good shape … we’re in as a good a shape as we’ve been in a very long time,” he said, adding quickly that courses have to be careful and smart with their spending to stay in solid shape financially.
On the downside, if it can be considered that, it is somewhat more difficult to get a tee time at some courses, said Menachem, and there are now waiting lists at many private clubs. So accessibility is certainly not what it was in the pre-pandemic years.
But for those in this unpredictable business, those are definitely good problems to have.
Green Lights
It’s called Good Friday, Bad Golf.
That’s the name of the first organized golf outing of the year at East Mountain Country Club, and, as that name suggests, it’s played every year on Good Friday, which means that some years, it isn’t played at all due to inclement weather, especially when Easter comes earlier rather than later.
This year, it’s set for April 7, and Perez is hoping his luck with the weather in 2023 holds, because there are 140 signed up for golf and the dinner to follow it. Meanwhile, April 7, or thereabouts, is when most courses in the area project to be open, if not a week or more earlier — a solid head start over most years.
“We saw levels jump considerably in 2020 and into 2021. In 2022, we were able to sustain levels and continue to grow. Overall, we’ve been able to retain the new golfers and the golfers who were brought back into the game by the pandemic.”
Jesse Menachem
And as they open, they’re expecting to see roughly what they’ve seen for nearly the past three seasons — more business than they were seeing in the years leading up to the pandemic. In most cases, much more.
Indeed, through the end of the 2010s, golf was in the doldrums, continuing a downward trajectory that started in the early 2000s. For many, and especially the younger generations, the game was too time-consuming and too expensive, and they were putting their time and money elsewhere.
Public courses struggled to get daily play, often despite attractive specials, and private clubs, many of which had been historically full and boasted waiting lists, had plenty of spots available and were marketing themselves far more aggressively than ever before to bring in new members — and much-needed revenue.
The downward spiral was punctuated by the closing of several courses in the area, including Hickory Ridge in Amherst, Pine Grove in Northampton, and Southwick Country Club. Despite this thinning of the herd, many area courses continued to struggle.
Then, the pandemic came.
Golf was still slow and still comparatively expensive, but suddenly, people didn’t seem to care, or care as much. People of all ages and other demographic categories were looking for things to do, ways to keep active as they were eating and drinking more, and opportunities to socialize — and golf could check all those boxes, to one extent or another.
Then-Gov. Charlie Baker lifted tight restrictions on golf in early May 2020, and for the rest of the year, clubs saw surges in play, memberships, and retail sales.
Elkins said Amherst Golf Club (AGC) received a huge boost from students, most of them from UMass, who were still living in the area but not attending classes in person. Looking for things to do with their time, maybe 30 bought attractively priced memberships at AGC, a semi-private course.
Amherst Golf Club, a 9-hole track with a long history, has seen an increase in memberships and overall play since the start of the pandemic.
“We got a huge COVID bounce from students who couldn’t attend classes in person,” he said. “It was a one- or two-year bump, and now it’s gone away.”
Still, membership remains solid — it’s currently at about 265, down from the peak but certainly up from the pre-COVID years — and daily play (there’s a $32, play-all-day rate) has been stable as well and certainly helped by the closing of Hickory Ridge (just a mile or so down the road) a few years ago.
Different Strokes
The surge in play — and spending at local clubs — continued, and even accelerated, in 2021, despite the loss of maybe two dozen days of play to seemingly non-stop rain.
The skies brightened in 2022 — when obsessive heat was the bigger problem — and those trends continued. Indeed, almost everyone we spoke with said 2022 was down slightly from the year before, but still quite solid and better than pre-pandemic.
“Last year wasn’t quite as good, but right in that same ballpark,” said Altobello, using total rounds and membership, which is at a 15-year high, and his main measuring sticks. He noted that the difference might have been as simple as more people returning the office last year, making it somewhat more difficult to “sneak out for an afternoon round,” as he put it.
Overall, though, the numbers were quite good, and they provided ample evidence that those who picked up the game during the pandemic, or picked it up again after putting it down, were, indeed, staying with it, said Altobello, adding that these increases were across the board, and especially encouraging when it comes to women and young people, two demographic groups that many feel hold the key to the long-term success of the industry.
“The indicators are that they are still here,” he said. “How long they stay … that’s to be determined. But as of right now, they’re still out there playing. We’re seeing more and more women in the game, more and more men in the game, and we’ve had a great increase in our youth programs as well.”
As play picked up over the past few years, there were some changes to the landscape, ones that reflect concerns about the cost of the game and the time it consumes, said those we spoke with. Indeed, the nine-hole outing, or ones that are even shorter, became far more common, and more accepted, than perhaps ever before.
“In many cases, people only have time for nine holes. That’s roughly two and a half hours on a full course, and that’s all the time many people have.”
“Ten or 15 years ago, that wasn’t even a thought,” Menachem said of a nine- or maybe six-hole round. “It was either 18 holes or nothing; now, nine holes is a far more realistic and accepted option for those with families, for those with shorter windows of time to play before work or after work. That is definitely a positive.”
Dave Twohig, the head pro at Amherst Golf Club for more than 40 years, agreed. “In many cases, people only have time for nine holes,” he said. “That’s roughly two and a half hours on a full course, and that’s all the time many people have.”
Amherst actually has two “loops,” as he called them, holes 1-5 and 6-9 — both wind up back at the clubhouse — that people can play if they have just an hour or so and want to get a little play in, and many do just that.
Round Numbers
Looking ahead, or at what’s right in front of them, in the case of East Mountain and other courses that have been open for play in Q1, those we spoke with said the outlook for 2023 is colored by optimism.
And the head start many courses were able to get will certainly help, said Menachem.
Indeed, he said that, for tracks like East Mountain and many others, especially in Eastern Mass. and on the Cape (maybe 20% of the state’s courses), the robust first quarter provides needed cash flow, as Perez noted, when there are few, if any, offsetting expenses.
“It’s like found money,” said Menachem. “You’re running on a thin operation, and you’re allowing access to the golf course in the condition that it’s in without much preparation on the maintenance front; it’s not too much of a heavy lift, and the revenue you’re able to derive should completely outweigh the expenses.”
Also, the early, solid start provides a buffer against possible headwinds, such as heavy rain and excessive heat, later in the year, he went on.
Meanwhile, almost all courses should be able to open earlier than what would be considered normal, said Menachem, who, as he spoke with BusinessWest a few weeks back, said 60 to 70 were already open.
Despite all the optimism that prevails within the industry, there are still challenges to be overcome.
Indeed, the ongoing workforce crisis is still making it more difficult to attract and retain help than it has been historically.
“Labor is still a huge issue, especially on the maintenance and operations side of the game,” Menachem said. “It’s not always been attractive to get up early and set up a golf course, and we want to make sure we can support the next generation of staff and make sure wages are competitive with other industries. Meanwhile, being a seasonal sport also has its challenges.”
Elkins agreed, noting that Amherst Golf Club has increased pay rates to remain competitive and hire and retain not only young people, but also some retirees looking to work and stay active.
Meanwhile, the higher cost of … well, just about everything poses stern challenges for clubs, most of which are operating on rather thin margins and without huge reserves to fall back on. In a word, clubs need to be careful, said Elkins, adding that this certainly the case at AGC.
“Making sure that we manage our cash is really important,” he noted. “Like a lot of courses, we’re in good shape, but we’re not going to spend a ton of money on something that’s not core to the course, because it’s risky. We want to make sure we have a good capital reserve and that we spend our money wisely.”
Perez agreed, noting that, despite his great start to 2023, he knows things can change quickly, and he’s learned to reserve judgment until he’s added up all the numbers in December.
“I don’t get too caught up in all the numbers until the end of the year,” he said. “I’ve been doing this a long time, and I know better than to get too excited in March. But it is good to have a non-winter like this one; it beats the alternative.”
Staying on a Roll
With the non-winter of 2023 now in the rear view, the region’s golf industry looks forward to the next three seasons.
They do with a spring in their step — figuratively but also quite literally, and optimism that the recent surge the game has enjoyed will continue.
Time will tell if they are right, but all signs indicate that area operators will be able to stay the course — in all kinds of ways.
Not Quite the Real Thing
Jay Nomakeo, seen here at a simulator he rents out at the Hadley Golf Center, says simulation is booming, and he is confident that current growth patterns will continue.
It might be early April, but Jay Nomakeo is already looking forward to November.
That’s because he’s making serious investments — and some inroads — in an emerging subsector of the broad golf business — simulation.
Nomakeo, a serial golf entrepreneur, if you will, is renting space at the Hadley Golf Center, a recreational facility that boasts everything from a driving range to batting cages to a maze, where he operates four simulators that are rented out to individuals, small groups, and even high school and college golf teams for everything from practicing to playing Pebble Beach — sort of.
The simulators provide a way for golfers to keep at their game during the winter months, and for facilities like the Hadley Golf Center, as well as area courses and golf shops, to earn needed revenue during the slow season.
Many area private and semi-private clubs now boast simulators, which provide additional revenue in some cases, but, more importantly, another way to provide value to members who have a number of choices when it comes to which club to join. Meanwhile, a golf-simulation facility called Top Golf has become part of the retail lineup at MGM Springfield, although the facility closed down during COVID and has yet to reopen.
It’s still an emerging business, but it’s catching on, said Nomakeo, noting that bookings were very solid this past winter, and time was often hard to secure, with the simulators in Hadley rented out to individuals, leagues, students, and faculty from nearby colleges, groups from area country clubs, and more.
“All winter long … we don’t lay anyone off because we generate enough revenue with the simulators to cover our payroll.”
“During the winter, it’s crazy,” he told BusinessWest, adding that most enthusiasts are playing courses, with Pebble Beach and St. Andrews the two favorites. “We sold out every weekend. There was one weekend where we were sold out, but I still got 21 calls during one day looking for times. Simulated golf has just exploded; I’ve seen reports showing that it’s growing 45% a year.”
Dave DiRico, owner of Dave DiRico’s Golf Shop in West Springfield, agreed.
“We have a mixed bag — we have guys who just want to practice, so we sell a practice session for the year, where they’ll come in for half-hours at a time; they’ll hit their whole bag of clubs and get their yardages,” he said. “And we have guys who come in who like to play 18 holes with their buddies. We have college teams that rent them all the time; some of their bigger schools have their own, but the smaller ones do not, so they come in and rent ours.
“They’re booked pretty solid — Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, you need a week to 10 days out to book them,” he went on. “But we noticed this winter that our simulators have been sold every day, every hour, almost every minute. All winter long … we don’t lay anyone off because we generate enough revenue with the simulators to cover our payroll.”
DiRico’s store has several simulators, used for practice, playing any of 18 different courses, and also for the fitting of clubs, an additional use that puts the simulators to work for more of the year, which makes his operation different from most others.
Dave DiRico says his simulators are used for everything from playing courses like Pebble Beach to getting fitted for new clubs.
This advantage is important, he said, because simulators, while an important addition to the game and the business, have their limitations, especially when it comes to the calendar.
Indeed, whenever they have the choice, golfers will prefer to practice and play outdoors, which means Nomakeo and others are heading into what is definitely their slow season.
“Some people will still use them during the warmer months, but, for the most part, once April 1 hits and you can see green grass on the golf course, people are going outdoors; they’re not staying indoors,” DiRico said. “The business dries up very quickly.”
“With the way we’re seeing these trends with new golfers coming in and others coming back to the game, we want to make sure we’re not boxing them out or potentially losing them again. Ten to 15 years ago, we saw some similar trends, when golf was at its peak and we were getting new golfers. Prices were going up, and we lost some of those fringe golfers.”
Still, despite these obvious limitations, Nomakeo and others are seeing solid opportunities and enough months of business to warrant additional investments.
Indeed, Nomakeo is partnering with others to bring four new simulators to the MCU Center, a multi-sport facility in Agawam located in a old department store. There are two there now, which will be sold, with new models to arrive by the start of the next simulation season.
“We’re hoping to open November 1,” he said, adding that he fully anticipates this emerging business within the golf sector to continue growing and enable this investment to pay for itself in just a few years. “Just a few years ago, golf was declining, but since COVID … I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s absolutely crazy, and simulation is growing at an even greater rate.”
— George O’Brien
Buy the Buy
Dave DiRico says many people who discovered or rediscovered golf in 2020 are coming back to buy new equipment in 2021.
Dave DiRico says his shop is usually busy in late March and early April as golfers gear up for a new season.
This year, the look and feel have been different, and for many reasons. Golf got an unexpected and much-deserved boost last year when it became one of the few organized sports people could take part in. And it’s received another boost from the fact that Americans have been saving money as perhaps never before, and many of them have also been receiving stimulus checks from the government.
Add it all up, and March and April have been even busier than normal, said DiRico, owner of Dave DiRico’s Golf & Racquet, adding that, for now, he doesn’t see many signs of slowing down.
“We’re seeing it at all levels, all age groups, starting with the seniors,” he said. “They didn’t travel as much over the past year. They haven’t gone out to dinner; they didn’t go on their spring golf trip to Florida. And we’re seeing more of those people buying clubs — and that’s generally not our soft spot.”
That soft spot would be younger professionals and junior golfers, he went on, adding that these people are buying clubs, too, often with the help of the government.
Meanwhile, large numbers of people took up the game last year, or found it again after drifting away from it for whatever reason. Many of these people bought used equipment last year — so much that inventories dwindled significantly — and this year, they’re coming back for new clubs.
“Most of them are deciding to continue to play — they enjoyed it,” DiRico said. “And they’re trading in their used equipment for new stuff — because they intend to stay with it.”
The surge in play and its impact on the retail side of the game is reflected in the numbers. In the third quarter of 2020, for example, retail sales of golf equipment exceeded $1 billion for the first time ever for that period, according to Golf Datatech, an industry research firm. Meanwhile, Callaway Golf Co., which manufactures golf balls in Chicopee, reported a 20% surge in sales in the fourth quarter of 2020.
The problem some players are encountering, though, is limited inventories of new equipment. Indeed, the golf manufacturers, like those who make cars and countless other products, are experiencing supply-chain issues and difficulties getting the materials they need. This has led to sometimes lengthy waits for ordered clubs to be delivered.
“There’s such an increased demand with new golfers across the country that they’re all running out of equipment,” he explained. “They can only manufacture so much, and the demand is far more then they projected. Some companies can’t get shafts, others can’t get grips — you can’t make a golf club unless you have all the components.
“We have a few companies that are great — they’ve managed to stay ahead of this, and they’re doing very well,” he went on. “But then, we have some other companies … you have to wait 15 weeks to get a set of irons.”
Doing some quick math, DiRico said this will translate into delivery sometime in June, far longer than golfers anxious to get their hands on new irons or a new driver want to wait.
But, overall, this would have to be considered a good problem to have — if such things actually exist in business.
Only a few years ago, the golf industry was in a sharp decline, with membership down at most clubs, tee times readily available at public facilities, and racks full of new equipment for which there wasn’t strong demand. Things have changed in a hurry, and DiRico and others hope most of these trends — not the current supply-and-demand issues, certainly — have some permanence to them.
—George O’Brien
We are excited to announce that BusinessWest, in partnership with Living Local, has launched a new podcast series, BusinessTalk. Each episode will feature in-depth interviews and discussions with local industry leaders, providing thoughtful perspectives on the Western Massachuetts economy and the many business ventures that keep it running during these challenging times.
Episode 59: April 5, 2021
George O’Brien talks with Dave DiRico, owner of Dave DiRico’s Golf & Racquet
BusinessWest Editor George O’Brien talks with Dave DiRico, owner of Dave DiRico’s Golf & Racquet. The two have a lively discussion about everything from the state of the golf business in the wake of the pandemic — the sport has actually received a big boost from COVID — to how the federal government’s various economic stimulus programs are helping small businesses — like his — by giving people more buying power. It’s must listening, so join us on BusinessTalk, a podcast presented by BusinessWest in partnership with Living Local.
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