Golf has long been thought of as a man's game. Visit any golf course on any given day and chances are you'll find a lot more men than women on the course. Women’s golf is growing rapidly, much faster than men’s golf, but 77% of all golfers in the U.S. today are male and just 23% are female. And believe it or not, to this day, there are still all-male golf courses. And those men are far more likely to be older...a lot of them probably baby boomers. Younger golfers complain that golf is too slow and too expensive., which may explain why the average age of golfers in the U.S. is 54. But that may be changing as the golfing population starts to age beyond the point in which they can enjoy golf. It seems as if the golf industry has finally recognized the shift and is responding to it.

According to GolfWeek, golf courses are investing in non-traditional lifestyle amenities in an effort to attract more families and gain more memberships. Numbers of avid, hardcore golfers are dwindling. While these players spend the most money, there simply aren't enough of them to keep golf clubs open. This is reflected in the number of private club closings versus openings each year. The National Golf Foundation (NGF) once declared, “Build a course a day to keep up with demand”. Today, we have the opposite problem. There are too many golf courses and too few golfers, which drives greens’ fees downs and leads to courses closing.  205 golf courses closed in 2017, About 200 more courses closed in 2018, and 2019 is projecting to be almost as bad. The closures are a result of “a continued correction in supply and demand ... after an unsustainable 20-year period of growth in which the U.S. golf market added more than 4,000 new facilities and increased overall supply by 44 percent,” according to the NGF.

In order to attract more golfers overall, clubs are going after the more casual players or the non-players who still want to join the club because of the amenities. Clubs found that players want a place where families can congregate, with things like upgraded bar areas with TVs, indoor/outdoor seating, and less formal dining rooms. Ranges are transforming to gathering areas where players are entertained while practicing their swing. New additions to clubs are focused on widening the appeal for the entire family.

All of these changes are reflecting the shift in the sport from a traditional men's game to a game that more couples are playing together, especially as they age, and a game that more families are embracing at the multigenerational level. Clubs are smart for adapting, but will they get pushback from those avid golfers who enjoy the more traditional aspects of the game and clubhouse?