Golf Clubs
Americans spent $3.5 billion on golf clubs, balls and bags in 2011, according to SRI. Phil Mickelson won this year's British Open playing with Callaway golf clubs, among others, including the Callaway X Hot 3Deep Fairway Wood ($180) and Callaway Hex Chrome balls ($30 for a pack of 12). Callaway, of course, is endorsed by Mickelson. Extremely wealthy and status-conscious golfers could spring for the Five Stars, made by Honma, a Japanese club manufacturer that makes its 14-piece set of custom clubs from platinum and gold, for $32,000.
Golf Equipment: $3.5 billion
Golf Carts
How would you like a golf cart that skims across water and travels at up to 50 miles per hour, carrying four passengers and two golf bags? The space-age hovercraft golf cart makes its debut July 27 at the Windy Knoll Golf Club in Springfield, Ohio. Originally created as a promotional tool for champion Bubba Watson, course officials at Windy Knoll bought two of the carts at $58,000 each. During this year's British Open, Mercedes released a concept for its own futuristic cart. This one is operated with a joystick and has solar panels on the roof to charge the battery (and an iPhone docking station, of course). High-tech golf carts may be just what the golf cart business needs, after suffering a 29 percent decline in sales during the recession. In 2012, revenue started to rebound, with sales up 6.4 percent, to $625.2 million, according to market researcher IBISWorld.
Sales of Golf Carts: $625.2 million
Green Fees
The grass had better be greener at the Shadow Creek golf course in Nevada. The course, designed by Tom Fazio and built by Steve Wynn, known for high-end casinos such as the Bellagio in Las Vegas, has greens fees of about $500, according to Golf.com. That price, the highest in the nation, includes limousine transport to and from the course as well as your personal caddy. Such expenses, along with member dues, money spent on food and beverages and golf lessons, are big drivers of the golf economy. The country’s 15,751 golf courses, 1,000 stand-alone ranges, 1,366 miniature-golf facilities and 415 golf schools generated $30 billion in revenue in 2011, according to SRI.
Golf Operation Revenues: $30 billion
Tournaments
If you want to watch the Masters Tournament in person next year, start saving. This year, tickets topped out at $4,486 for all four days of the contest. A one-day pass, depending on the day, ran $1,215 to $1,786. The Super Bowl, by contrast, costs about $1,210, according to TiqIQ, a ticket seller. Once you're in, things are considerably cheaper. A pimento cheese sandwich ran $1.50, and a beer was $3. Major golf tournaments, run by associations such as the PGA of America, the PGA Tour, the United States Golf Association (USGA) and the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) generated $1.2 billion in 2011. That includes fees generated by selling broadcast rights to tournaments, corporate sponsorships of events, spectator ticket sales and merchandise, according to SRI.
Tournament Costs: $1.2 billion
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First published in Bloomberg
