A Six Month Check In: The Golf Industry

Every Monday, I write a newsletter breaking down the business in golf. Welcome to the new Perfect Putt members who have joined us since our last newsletter. Join 10,000+ intelligent and curious golfers by subscribing below.

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Hey Golfers —

The six-month check-in is one of my favorite newsletters to research and write.

The timing of this newsletter couldn’t be better. Over the last few weeks, several industry-related data points have been released.

How did the first half of the year shake out for the golf industry? If I had to put it on a scale of 1 to 10 — I’d rate it a 7.

Here is what we are going to breakdown.

• Total golf rounds played

• Apparel and equipment data

• Acushnet financial results

• Callaway financial results

Golf rounds are the gold standard metric in green grass golf. And golf rounds continue to show a strong interest in playing golf. 

Rounds are up 2% year to date through June. For context — rounds were up 5.5% this time last year.

Golf rounds ending up 2% for the first six months is a good number when considering the amount of rain some regions had in June. Three of the eight regions had an increase of over 50% in precipitation for the month.

• East North Central — 67%

• West North Central — 52%

• Pacific — 51%

Golf rounds have outperformed pre-pandemic levels in 46 of the last 49 months.

The 2% number certainly didn’t blow it out of the water. But it is respectable growth coming off historic highs in the last few years.

Golf apparel has had a challenging year — down 9.3% through June. But there is some context with that number. According to Golf Datatech, the same period in 2023 had the highest first six months of apparel sales ever recorded.

Golf equipment was nearly flat in 2024 compared to 2023 — down 0.2%. Golf’s two public companies, Acushnet and Callaway, reflect those numbers.

The National Golf Foundation put together this fantastic chart. It highlights the growth in golf club and golf ball shipments, which increased 34% from 2019 to 2021. 

We are seeing a similar pace in 2024 as in 2023 — 3% higher on the year.

Moving to public companies Acushnet and Callaway. I am most curious about the demand for their products when both companies report financial results.

Let’s get to it.

Acushnet is up 1.1% in total sales for the year. But the U.S. is much stronger than that number — up 7.2% for the first six months.

Acushnet sales in Japan and Korea have been relatively soft for the year.

• Japan — down 15.3%

• Korea — down 9.4%

To be fair to each region, there have been currency exchange headwinds. Constant currency has both of those regions at much less of a decline.

Where has Acushnet done well this year?

Golf balls. Titleist golf balls were the strongest category for Acushnet — up 6% for the first six months. Acushnet has increased revenue in three of its four categories for the year. Footjoy golf wear was down 3.8%.

Callaway’s year-to-date sales are down 1.9%. As always with Callaway, we need to peel back the onion to see what those numbers mean.

The easiest place to start is to look at Callaway’s segment revenues.

Topgolf sales are the only positive growth number for the year — up 4.9%. But that isn’t the whole story for Topgolf. Same-venue sales continue to decline for Topgolf — down 8% on the quarter.

I’ve had a few questions regarding same-venue sales. Same-venue sales exclude results from new locations, Meaning Topgolf’s sales growth of 4.9% is bolstered by its new venues coming online. 

Topgolf has had a challenging last four quarters, with an accelerated decline in same-venue sales. The story is worth a full piece, and I’ll write it in the coming weeks. 

The larger concern for Topgolf is that same venue sales are flat compared to 2019. And 3+ bay bookings (corporate events) are down 5% compared to 2019.

The bottom line is that Topgolf's 4.9% growth number is more or less a vanity number. General demand for Topgolf has declined in the last year.

Callaway golf equipment is down 3.5% this year. They mentioned that number is down due to exchange rates and freight costs. It is not necessarily a huge concern, but it underperformed Acushnet and Golf Datatech’s equipment number by -0.2%. 

Golf rounds remain good. Golf entertainment may be taking a breather. Equipment is hanging in there. Golf has held on to its growth from Covid and continues to grow, just not at the numbers we experienced in the last few years. And I think that is healthy.

Have a great Monday. We will talk to you next week!

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