The sport of golf continues to remain one of America’s most popular participation sports and shows no signs of slowing down. The pandemic proved to be a big boost for golf as participation grew significantly while people looked for safe activities to do outdoors. But there is a challenger to golf’s dominance lurking in the background and that sport is pickleball. The participation growth in pickleball is surging in this country and it’s worth paying close attention to what’s happening with this young sport.
How Popular is Golf?
According to the National Golf Foundation (NGF), there were 25.1 million people that played golf in 2021 which is up from 24.8 million in 2020. The sport is also seeing a rise in younger participants with 6.1 million people playing golf between the ages of 18 – 34 years old. The sport is also seeing a rise in participation in female golfers with that number topping 6 million for the past two years, and 25% of all golfers that play regularly are women.
With that said, there are more than 16,000 golf courses in the U.S. at the moment which is more courses than Starbucks or McDonalds locations according to the same National Golf Foundation report. The report states that 75% of these facilities are courses that are open to the public.
However, one statistic worth noting is that since 2006, there has been an 11% reduction in the number of golf courses in the U.S.. During that time, more than 800 golf courses have closed with more courses having closed than opened in that time period. Prior to the pandemic, there weren’t enough golfers to keep every available golf course busy so some of this market correction needed to happen.
And in the most recent year where data is available, there were 130 golf course closures in 2021 as tracked by the National Golf Foundation. The numbers continue to show that while golf participation may still be strong, golfers appear to not be playing the sport as often, as other sports activities start to catch their attention.
Pickleball Experiencing Surging Growth in Popularity
The number of participants playing pickleball continues to grow at a record pace in the U.S. The Sports & Fitness Industry Association called pickleball America’s fastest growing sport in 2020 & 2021 with a 39.3% growth rate in 2021 the most recent year tracked.
The report estimated at the time that more than 4.8 million people were playing pickleball in America, with the likely number now being over 5 million in 2022.
New pickleball courts are opening almost every day in communities across America and this still isn’t keeping up with the demand for court time from participants. Parks & Recreation departments across America are struggling to find the budgets to build enough courts to satisfy their local demand from pickleball players, and real estate developers are canceling plans for new golf courses to provide enough pickleball courts for their residents.
Indeed, an Architectural Digest article noted that “Pickleball has replaced golf as the most coveted sports amenity in luxury residential developments”. An example of this is the experience noted by the Discovery Land company, a US based real estate developer and operator of private residential club communities and resorts.
The founder of the company Mike Meldman says “if you go to any one of our communities in the morning…..the pickleball courts are packed”. Mr Meldman believes the owners that purchase homes in his company’s multi-million dollar communities want country club style amenities and the one at the top of the list today are pickleball courts. Mr. Meldman says “there are just more pickleball players than tennis players”.
Pickleball vs Golf: “Pickleball will be bigger than Golf”
With the surge in popularity in pickleball we are now starting to see the sport make inroads with the golf community. Hank Haney is a former coach of Tiger Woods and is a well-respected member of the golf community. He has become obsessed with pickleball and is an avid promoter of the game to anyone that will listen. “Its so addictive” Mr. Haney says. “I just love it”.
Mr. Haney believes the sport of pickleball is just starting to catch steam. And several years ago he made a bold prediction. “In three to four years, pickleball will be bigger than golf, and it won’t even be close” Mr. Haney said.
Mr. Haney believes that much of the attraction to pickleball is that anyone can start playing and learn the game the first time playing. When compared to golf or tennis, those sports take hours of practice to learn how to play well and even then there is no guarantee that you can elevate your game to be a good player.
Many of Mr. Haney’s golf friends are gravitating to pickleball for a lot of the same reasons.
Why is Pickleball Gaining in Popularity So Quickly?
There are many reasons that pickleball is gaining in popularity and to understand why, we focus on a recent article published by the Medscape Medical News website about doctors starting to favor pickleball over golf.
The article talks about a number of reasons why doctors are starting to play pickleball vs golf, and chief among them is time. The average time to play 9 holes of golf can be 2 hours for a good player and close to three hours for a beginning player. With schedules tighter today, “getting away for a half day of golf isn’t possible for many doctors”.
Another reason for pickleballs appeal over golf is that the current generation has a greater focus on health and that means participating in activities that provide a good workout is more of a priority today for people. We know more about the benefits of health and fitness and pickleball is a great workout compared to riding around in a golf cart for two hours playing golf.
The Medscape article summarizes that “for doctors, part of pickleballs appeal is that it requires little to no scheduling in advance, it requires a short time commitment, it provides a good workout, and, perhaps equally important, it offers prime opportunities to socialize, network, and market oneself”.
Indeed, the social benefits of playing pickleball and the networking opportunities that are available to those playing the game are well known. When playing pickleball with a group of friends, there is almost as much social interaction time as there is time on the court playing an actual game.
Pickleball Requires Minimal Equipment to Get Started
When just starting to play golf the cost for many to participate in the sport can be prohibitive. One needs clubs and gear, shoes, golf balls, and greens fees don’t come cheap depending on where you play. The total cost just to get started playing golf can be a steep hill to climb and can be a deal breaker for many.
This compared to pickleball where all you need to get started is a pickleball paddle, a couple of pickleballs, lace up your tennis shoes over your athletic socks and you are ready to play. There are starter pickleball sets widely available for under $80 allowing virtually anyone to start playing the game.
Golf typically requires hours of practice to get better and years of playing to master the sport. Most athletically inclined pickleball beginners will be decent players after only a couple of games.
The low barriers to entry to start playing pickleball and the time required to become a good player are a large part of the reason for the sports attraction to so many. The participation numbers for the sport will only keep growing exponentially as more players start playing and inviting their friends to “join the pickleball party”.
What are you waiting for? I hope to see you soon out on a pickleball court having a great time with friends.