Golf Courses & Country Clubs
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 9,100 golf courses and country clubs in the US can be broadly classified as public, private, or semi-private facilities. Golf courses typically offer only golf, and related golf services or products, while country clubs usually offer more extensive recreational activities, such as swimming and tennis. Country clubs also tend to be more private facilities, and usually offer more social services, such as a full service restaurant, formal dining room, and banquet/meeting facilities.
Environmental And Government Regulation
Golf courses and country clubs are heavily dependent on fungicides, insecticides and fertilizers to control insects, turf diseases, and to keep the various grasses green and in tip-top playing condition.
Ownership Of Multiple Courses
With so many golf courses across the nation struggling to survive, some opportunistic investors are finding success in acquiring and operating multiple courses in one geographical area as a way to pool resources, reduce maintenance costs, and market attractive combined playing options.
Industry size & Structure
An average golf course generates annual revenue of about $3.5 million and employs about 45 workers.
- Around 9,100 courses generate revenue of $31.5 billion and employ 407,000 people.
- The golf courses and country clubs industry is highly fragmented with the 50 largest firms representing just 18.5% of revenue.
- About 12% of courses closed between 2006 and 2023.
Industry Forecast
Golf Courses & Country Clubs Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Mar 18, 2025 - Golf Courses Supply Grows
- According to a new report from the National Golf Foundation (NGF), the US golf market has experienced a net gain since 2022, with six additional facilities and 17 new courses. The gains are a departure from the supply correction that the market has experienced for much of the past two decades following oversaturation. In total, the NGF shows that there were 15,962 courses at 13,952 facilities in the US in 2024. Since the pandemic, conditions for the golf industry have improved with record levels of play and increased on-course participation, leading to greater investment in golf courses. NGF data shows that the number of annual course closures has decreased for five straight years, with the 2024 number of closed courses reaching its lowest level since 2004. According to the report, the industry has matured into a more sustainable phase of measured growth from its previous boom-and-bust cycle.
- According to a report in CFO Dive, consumer confidence levels, an indicator of discretionary spending, have fallen due to consumer anxiety about tariff effects and economic uncertainty. The consumer sentiment index from the University of Michigan dropped 11% in March 2025, marking the third straight month of declines and hitting the lowest level since November 2022. In addition, the Conference Board index of consumer sentiment in February 2025 marked the biggest decline since August 2021 and the third straight month of declines. According to Stephanie Guichard, senior economist for global indicators at the Conference Board, “There was a sharp increase in the mentions of trade and tariffs, back to a level unseen since 2019. Most notably, comments on the current administration and its policies dominated the responses.”
- Prices for imported building materials, raw materials for irrigation, and fertilizer and related products used by golf courses may increase in light of President Donald Trump’s tariff plans. According to Global Golf Post, Trump’s plans for tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada are expected to affect the price of lumber. Higher lumber prices could have a severe impact on the construction of new golf course clubhouses and properties, as well as on capital improvements to existing facilities. Per the report, “The additional expense of a tariff on imported products will negatively impact the golf business, as either margins will become compressed from higher cost of goods, or some companies/brands will choose to raise prices, negatively impacting demand.”
- Golf course and country club operators will have to monitor minimum wage changes in 2025, as 21 states and 50 local jurisdictions increased their minimum wages, according to Chain Store Age. States with the highest minimum wage in the US are Washington ($16.66 per hour), California ($16.50), and New York ($16.50). Nearly 30 cities in California and seven towns in Washington will raise minimum wages in 2025, with Tukwila, Washington, offering the highest minimum hourly wage in the US at $21.10. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the minimum wage change will affect more than $9 million workers and raise pay by a combined $5.7 billion. Unchanged since 2009, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, and some 20 states, primarily located in the South and the Midwest, use the federal minimum as their wage floor.
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