Women’s Golf Day Announces Revised Date and Virtual Celebration

Screen Shot 2020-04-01 at 11.37.42 AMWEST PALM BEACH, Florida, May 1, 2020 – In light of the escalated response to the global Coronavirus pandemic, the Women’s Golf Day (WGD) leadership team is announcing a new approach to this year’s event scheduled worldwide on June 2, 2020.   This year, WGD is adapting the event to engage and empower women as part of a “virtual” WGD celebration.

 

The health and well-being of WGD partners and guests is paramount, so the in-person events that take place worldwide (as part of the world’s largest single day celebration of women’s golf) will move to Sept. 1, providing there is clearance from the WHO and governing bodies.  With this modification, WGD is providing two opportunities for engagement.

 

By setting a new date, which is provisionally September 1, Founder of WGD Elisa Gaudet hopes to offer the industry something positive to focus on at this challenging time. “The global community finds itself in an unprecedented situation and we need to respond appropriately,” shared Gaudet. “Women’s Golf Day is in a unique position because we have the flexibility to react quickly to the changing landscape while also giving the industry something positive to aim towards.  We will continue to monitor the situation closely, but we are hopeful that the September date is realistic.”

 

In the meantime, plans are in place to create a virtual celebration of WGD on the original date of June 2.  Just as in previous years, the day’s celebration will start as the sun rises in Australia and end as the sun sets in Hawaii.  Expect to see video content from famous faces and inspirational stories from around the world shared across the campaign’s social media platforms.  The 2020 campaign will be a catalyst to support a post-pandemic resurgence of the industry.  

 

To help more locations join the community in time for the Sept. date, WGD is offering “free” basic registration on the website www.womensgolfday.com with the code WGDUnites.  Any golf course/club can participate as well as retailers such as PGA Superstore, TopGolf locations and driving ranges– essentially anywhere you can swing a club.

 

Please visit WGD website www.womensgolfday.com, tag #WGDUNITES, for ongoing digital content and updates.

Women’s Golf Day Supporters:

World Golf Foundation, International Golf Federation, PGA of America, European Tour, WE ARE GOLF, European Tour properties, LET, LPGA, TPC properties, Golf Channel, Sky Sports, Golf Now, ClubCorp, Troon, Billy Casper, PGA TOUR Superstore, TopGolf, NGCOA, EGCOA, NGCOA Canada, LPGA Amateur Golf Association, Annika Foundation, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, The First Tee, Gallus Golf, Ahead, All Square, Chronogolf, SwingDish, Modest Golf Management, Women & Golf, Doctor’s Orders: Play Golf and The California Alliance for Golf.

About Women’s Golf Day:

Women’s Golf Day (WGD) is a single-day event scheduled the first Tuesday of every June to introduce new participants to golf and celebrating existing players by joining them together irrespective of race, religion, language, ethnicity, or location. WGD has become a global movement and celebrates folks learning golf skills that last a lifetime. WGD strives to Engage, Empower and Support through the event and platform. The one-day, four-hour event, has now taken place at more than 900 locations in 52 countries since its inception in 2016, and has introduced thousands of new golfers to the sport. 

4/1/2020 CAG Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

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WOMEN’S GOLF DAY 2018 A HUGE SUCCESS IN CALIFORNIA AND AROUND THE GLOBE

The 2018 Women’s Golf Day was a success, thanks to participating facilities around the globe.The event brought the number of participating countries up to 58 and the number of venues in excess of 900. With thousands of women and girls (and some men too) enjoying the day of golf and social networking opportunities coupled with tens of thousands of golf fans supporting the event across social media, WGD 2018 created a wave of enthusiasm that was impressive.

“It’s well-thought out initiatives like Women’s Golf Day, that brighten the future for growth in our sport,” shared Emmy Moore Minister, President of the California Alliance for Golf. “Within the U.S., California continues to be a leader with this growth of the game initiative, and due in great part to the California Alliance for Golf and its allied associations who see the importance and value of introducing women and girls into the game in a fun and inviting environment.”

Special thanks to the following California-based facilities who participated in WGD 2018: Ancil Hoffman GC, Buenaventura GC, Crow Canyon CC, Eagle Crest GC, Gilroy GC, Granite Bay GC, Haggin Oaks GC, LA County GC’s, Maggie’s Par 3, Olympic Club, Palm Desert R&CC, PGA SuperStores (in Irvine, Palo Alto and Palm Desert), Poppy Hills GC, Poppy Ridge GC, Skywest GC, Spring Valley GC, and TopGolf-Sacramento.

WGD_Maggies par 3 34489779_1720634968026552_8632117016297209856_n
Maggie’s Par 3 in Los Angeles
Latina Golfers Association
Latina Golfers Association
Poppy Hills celebrating WGD.
Poppy Hills

 

 

 

 

 

 

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National Golf Foundation Sees Signs of Encouragement in Latest Annual Participation Report

Following the recent report that the golf industry drove $84.1 billion in economic activity in the United States in 2016, an increase of 22.1 percent since 2011, the National Golf Foundation offered more modestly encouraging numbers about the health of the game with Tuesday’s release of its annual Golf Industry Report.

In 2017, 23.8 million people played golf on a course, roughly the same number as the previous year. Participation off-course, in the form of play at facilities such as Topgolf or at facilities with on-screen simulators, though, rose 7 percent, to 21.7 million. The total number of golfers who played on-course or exclusively off-course settled at 32.1 million, slightly more than in 2016.

Of the 23.8 million on-course players, the NGF defined 19.5 million (roughly 95 percent) as “committed” golfers, individuals who say golf is one of several ways they like to spend their recreational time. That number was down from 20.1 million in 2016, the first time since 2011 that the industry had seen year-over-year growth. These golfers account for approximately 95 perent of all rounds played.

Breaking down participation by age, young adults (ages 18 to 34) accounted for 6.2 milion of the on-course golfers (or 26 percent). That total remains the same from 2016, “contradicting claims that the sport continues to lose millennial golfers” according to the NGF.

Meanwhile, the number of newcomers to the game continued a four-year increase, rising to 2.6 million. These beginners are a more diverse lot than the overall golf population in that 35 percent are women (compared to 24 percent overall), 26 percent are non-caucasian (18 percent overall) and 70 percent are under age 35 (37 percent overall).

While the number of overall golfers saw a small increase, rounds played for 2017 fell to 456 million from 469 million in 2016, a 2.7 percent decline. According to the NGF, that decrease “is consistent within average weather-related fluctation of 2 to 3 percent.” However, it was a lower number than was reported in 2014 (458 million) and 2015 (466 million).

The industry continued to see a retraction in golf facilities, with 205.5 courses closing in 2017 while 15.5 courses opened, a 1.5 percent net decline to 14,794 facilites. Renovation, rather than new construction, is the largest current source of U.S. golf course development activiating with roughly 1,100 course renovations taking place since 2006.

As for golf’s overall reach, that number was calculated at 97.6 million, a 3.2 percent increase from 2016, thanks to a rise in the number of people who watch and or read about golf, but don’t play, to 65.5 million.

Find the full article here.

WE ARE GOLF Reports 22% Increase in U.S. Golf Economic Impact Ahead of National Golf Day

(ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla.) – WE ARE GOLF – a coalition of the game’s leading associations and industry partners – unveiled its new U.S. Golf Economy Report at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. prior to tomorrow’s 11th annual National Golf Day.

Highlighting the study – conducted by TEConomy Partners – is $84.1 billion in activity directly driven by golf in 2016, a 22% rise from $68.8B in the 2011 report. The industry supported $191.9B in total annual activity, including 1.89 million jobs and $58.7B in wages and benefits.

Golf’s annual contributions to America’s economy also include:

– $34.4B in revenue from golf courses, clubs, resorts, driving ranges and other facilities (2.9% compound annual growth rate since 2011)

– $25.7B in tourism spending (4.6% CAGR)

– $7.2B in new home construction in golf communities (18.5% CAGR)

– $6B in sales of golf equipment, apparel and supplies (1.4% CAGR)

– $2.4B in professional tournaments, associations and player endorsements (3.16% CAGR)

– $1.9B in investment in existing golf facilities (4.6% CAGR)

Demonstrating golfers’ and businesses’ commitments to charity, $3.94B was raised in 2016 through tournaments and other activities.

“The many positive trends show how golf is vital to the prosperity of America’s economic and social well-being,” says Steve Mona, CEO of the World Golf Foundation and administrator of WE ARE GOLF. “Increases in so many categories signify the health of golf has far-reaching influence across many sectors of the U.S. economy.”

The fourth report since 2000 to measure the game’s effect, research encompassed golf course operations, tourism, real estate, supplies, tournaments, associations, charitable events, capital investment and other commercial segments.

The report was announced in conjunction with National Golf Day, the industry’s pinnacle event of the year that brings leaders to Capitol Hill to meet with Members of Congress, the Executive Branch and federal agencies to discuss golf’s social, economic and environmental benefits to society.

To join the conversation, visit the WE ARE GOLF social media hub. Use #NationalGolfDay and @wearegolf on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to support the industry and answer “why is golf more than a game to you?”

Find the full article here.

About WE ARE GOLF
Created in 2010, WE ARE GOLF is an industry coalition that promotes the economic, charitable and environmental impact of golf, as well as the game’s health and wellness, affordability and accessibility, to Members of Congress, the Executive Branch and regulatory agencies. The goal of WE ARE GOLF is to ensure laws and regulations are fair and appropriate to an industry that in 2016 generated $84.1 billion in economic impact, 1.89 million jobs and $3.94 in charity fundraising.

More information: www.wearegolf.org.

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The Coachella Valley Must Act to Maintain Local Control of Water Policy

By: Craig Kessler, Special to The Desert Sun

Perception is reality in politics, never more so than when the subject is water.

If the Coachella Valley learned nothing else from the last statewide drought crisis it was this: The facts of the matter didn’t matter much when it came to how Sacramento treated the valley.

Those who live, work, farm and play golf in the valley understand that the desert’s water supply is secured by sources almost entirely separate from the State Water Project and unrelated to seasonal rains and snows. It is secured by an aquifer that is among the richest and deepest in the world, as well as federally guaranteed allocations from the Colorado River.

Unlike many of California’s other groundwater basins, particularly those in the Central Valley and along the Central Coast, the aquifer that sits beneath the Coachella Valley has been managed with long-term sustainability in mind for generations, and it is ahead of the Coachella Valley Water Management Plan’s self-imposed 2020 deadline for stasis.

Of course, none of this prevented the Coachella Valley from being lumped in with the urban water districts that really are dependent upon seasonal rains and the State Water Project when it came time to impose 36 percent cutbacks. And it’s not going to matter with respect to the features of the recent “emergency” that are in the process of being made permanent, nor is it going to matter when the next “emergency” is tolled by the State Water Resources Control Board.

Whether the subject is the details of the Groundwater Management Act, mandatory conservation protocols, or permissible landscape palettes, the order of California’s political day is centralization of authority in Sacramento. It’s not always direct authority. It’s more often the threat of substituting state control for local control when the state determines that the locality has failed to meet the state’s minimum standards as prescribed by separate regulation or legislation.

Thus, it is very much in the interest of everyone who lives, works, farms or plays golf in the valley to prevent that substitution. Complaining about the unfairness of it won’t prevent it. The desert’s fate is inextricably intertwined with the rest of the state, and the rest of the state is in a world of hurt.

As much as we would like to think that it’s the bone dry years that are the exception, the facts say otherwise. It’s the wet winter that’s the exception. So is what we used to call the normal winter.

One credible scientific study after another is revealing that the past 130 years have been among the wettest and most stable in California history. Those same studies are revealing that droughts of 10 and 20 years have been common in the last millennium, and a couple of them have lasted multiple generations.

In short, California has constructed an infrastructure to support 40 million souls and the sixth-largest economy in the world based upon rain and snow expectations that we are now discovering were anything but normative. The fact that this has nothing to do with the Coachella Valley is irrelevant. Coming to terms with that contradiction, unfair though it may be, is going to be key to keeping a measure of local control over water management here in the Coachella Valley.

Craig Kessler is government affairs director for the Southern California Golf Association and the chair of the CVWD Golf and Water Task Force. Email him at CKessler@scga.org.

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