Page 7 - BusinessWest April 3, 2023

“We’re in good shape ... we’re in as a good a shape as we’ve been in a very long time.”
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 acceler- ated, 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 measur-
ing 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 pan- demic, 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.”
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.
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.
“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
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