Pellucid reports that November’s national weather showed another meaningful decline in Golf Playable Hours (GPH), down 7% compared to the same period last year. The unfavorable weather month dragged the November Year-to-Date (YtD) results down slightly compared to the same period in 2007 (still statistically neutral). The decline for the month snuffed out the hopes of many northern courses to finish a tough year in rounds and revenue with a late surge.
Pellucid President Jim Koppenhaver comments on the current results saying, “I’ve got to eat my words on October which I predicted would be a rounds decline month of 3-6% based on the weather. Given the macro economic conditions and the anemic health of the golf industry within that, the fact that rounds are still very close to ’07 levels is encouraging. November will be another data point to see if rounds buck the negative weather trend or whether we follow the weather down another notch.
“Beneath the US averages, there are some interesting stories playing out comparing rounds to weather at local levels,” Koppenhaver says. “On the positive side, Texas is having a very strong year for rounds (+8%) with no help from the weather (down 2-3%). On the negative side, destination locations Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach are off 16% and 7% in rounds respectively against flat weather results YtD.”
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