The economic impact of Arizona golf has not grown exponentially with the number of new courses or the state’s population over the past decade, according to a preliminary study compiled by Arizona State’s Polytechnic Campus that was released Wednesday.
The bottom line in the 18-month project being done for the Golf Industry Association of Arizona by ASU professor Dr. Troy G. Schmitz and his staff is that approximately 11.6 million rounds of golf were played in 2004 compared to 12 million in 1996.
Considering there are now 99 additional courses in Arizona -- 338 total golf courses -- and the population has roughly doubled during that span according to the U.S. Census Bureau -- 2.6 million to 5.3 million -- the game is not keeping pace.
However, it also must be noted that the 1996 survey took in all rounds public, private and complimentary, while the 2004 survey only took into account paid rounds. That means the those approximately 11.6 million rounds of golf reported for 2004 could grow by as much as 2.32 million rounds, said Schmitz, noting that the plus or minus on the skew was 10 to 20 percent. If the error was on the high side, that could up the total to as many as 14 million rounds.
The good news for the golf industry is that despite the flat line in number of rounds played, revenues are up from $452 million in 1996 to $806 million in 2004, a 78 percent increase. The bad news is, costs jumped during that period from $338 million to $696 million, a 106 percent increase.
The findings, which were presented during the GIA’s annual meeting at Moon Valley Country Club, are not final, Schmitz emphasized.
“I’m about 90 percent sure they’re right, as I’ve already checked them once,’’ he said. “We’ll have the final report (completed) at the end of January.’’
Among the other findings by Schmitz and his staff at ASU:
*Of those 11.6 million rounds, 68 percent were played by Arizona residents, 29 percent played by U.S. visitors, and 3 percent played by international visitors.
*Maricopa County accounted for $490 million of the $806 million in revenues.
*Maricopa County has 197 of the state’s 338 courses, or 59 percent.
*The highest average green fee in Arizona was for Pinal County, which paid an average of $35.28 compared to $31.97 in Maricopa County.
*The average green fee at an 18-hole facility in Arizona was $29.62 compared with $58.18 at 27-hole facilities and $58.48 at 36-hole facilities.
*There are 19,481people employed by the golf industry (55 percent full-time), with earnings of $342,155,736.
*The assessed value of the total assets of all 338 courses is $2.39 billion.
*Golf courses account for 41,000 total acres in Arizona, of which 30,000 acres are irrigated.
*Approximately 145,000 acre feet of water is used annually by the 338 golf courses.
Schmidt said that his study was based on 77 courses, or 22.8 percent of those who responded among the 338 surveys he sent out. By comparison, the 1996 study was based on a 30-percent response.
Shawn Connors, the president of the GIA, said the results were not all that surprising, noting that the industry has been “ flat’’ since 2001, when Sept. 11 sent numbers tumbling.
Connors cited another study being done by ASU over the past year (October, 2004-Sept. 2005) as proof that the industry still has not fully recovered.
In that 2004-05 survey, which also was released Wednesday, rounds were up by a meager 1.7 percent, while revenues increased 7.3 percent.
“I guess it’s a golfers dream, in that you’ve got more (golf course) facilities competing for their dollars, which holds down green fees,’’ Connors said.
Dale Samar, the general manager at Rancho Manana in Cave Creek who compiled the monthly results of the rounds over the past year for the GIA, had a different spin on the information.
“We’re definitely healthier than a year ago,’’ Samar said, noting that his survey is only for public courses and does not take into account private play. “The golf industry bottomed out last year, or the year before, and it’s certainly come up this year based on rounds and revenues.’’
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