According to PGA PerformanceTrak, November 2013 rounds were down 11.0 percent and days open were down 9.3 percent compared to November 2012, based on paired data. November 2013 had the lowest average for rounds played and number of days open over the past eight years. Despite this, more rounds per day open were played in November 2013 than November of 2010 or 2011.
YTD 2013 rounds played were down 4.6 percent. YTD 2013 days open for play were also the lowest in the history of PerformanceTrak (2005). As a case in point, there were 16.7 fewer days open than YTD 2012, our best year for weather and golf since PerformanceTrak's inception. With approximately 94 percent of the nation's annual rounds having been played through November, we do not expect to see much of a shift in performance for year-end 2013.
In addition to November's drop in year over year play, three of the four key revenue figures for the month were down. The one exception was merchandise revenue which was up 1.7 percent over 2012. Despite the drop in rounds played for the year, facility operators reported growth in three of the four YTD revenue metrics including Merchandise (+2.5 percent), F&B (+2.2 percent) and Total Facility Revenue (modest +0.3 percent).
