Most of us don’t need extra incentives to tee it up. Our regular rounds of golf are as predictable as the sunrise – heck, what other activity would compel us to get out of bed before dawn?
But the latest statistics make it clear that a lot of people had a simple response this year when they were told they couldn’t go to restaurants, they couldn’t go to the movies and they couldn’t go shopping:
“I know! I’ll play golf!”
The pandemic didn’t preclude heading outdoors on a beautiful day and spending four socially distanced hours traversing green grass amid resplendent trees and lakes.
Those of us who revere this solitude probably don’t understand why it took an activity-limiting pandemic to make others look to our great game for some peace amid the turmoil of 2020, but we still welcome their company. Hop on board, folks, it’s a smooth ride.
Golf Datatech reported recently that the number of rounds played in August increased by 20.6% in August 2020 compared to the same month last year. Do you realize how astounding that is? That’s 10 million more rounds across the U.S. after increases of 17 million rounds in June and July.
But it gets better. Arizona, which set a temperature record this year for days of at least 110 degrees, saw no abatement in the heat in August but still enjoyed an increase of 31% – and still lagged behind Texas (39%) and Florida (37%). Every single state had an increase of at least 2%.
And then it gets even better yet. Equipment sales and online searches for golf balls were way up, too, which means a lot of people aren’t planning to put the clubs away for the winter anytime soon.
Out here on the Best Coast, we know how lucky we are. We never have to put the sticks away. We play year-round. They can keep things shut down, for all we care – just give us a little sunshine, and you can find us on the golf course.
But we can take it one step further.
We can keep playing, but we also can keep improving.
We can get that new putter we’ve been promising ourselves.
We can take that lesson we’ve been needing for so long.
We can get to the driving range on days we’re not playing 18.
Best of all, we can utilize Pacific Coast Golf Guide’s awesome deals to play a course we’ve always wanted to play or just try out a new track.
So what are you waiting for? If a pandemic couldn’t stop you, what can?
They’ve sanitized the pro shop and carts, removed ball-washers and any other objects that could spread the virus, and made the flagsticks touch-free. (Amazing how fast we got used to that.)
The golf course is a great place to be, as it always is. Set your alarm clock and don’t miss out.
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