Time for another update. Anything new I hear you cry – well not on the face of it but here are a few tasty morsels.

According to Golf Datatech – the authority on golf retail numbers – the market year to date July 2016 is up – 2.9%. However this is not across the board and not in all channels.

Off course is fighting back and seems to have benefited from some smart retailing and poor weather earlier in the year. Up 10.6% in value YTD with much of the growth coming through apparel sales.

Has the Pro suffered?

Fighting hard for their piece of the pie the On course has had a bit of a torrid time. Various factors have lead to a reduction in rounds played year to date – leading to less footfall in store. Looking at ball volumes on course (a good activity indicator), balls sales were down 10% year to date – in line with reported rounds played numbers. As a result the on course is down 2.4% year to date in overall value. Its decline is worse in Apparel – suffering at the hands of the off course.

Overall numbers show a decline in club units – down 4.2% on course and 7.5% off course. However a hike in asp has driven off course value up 5.1%, with the on course being flat(ish).

As has been the case for a long time – ASP’s are up up up in all main equipment categories. Putters up a mighty 25% off course. On course has also seen a rise with irons and woods both gaining around 5% in pricing.

So is the off course now bigger?

Interestingly when all this info is put together the on course still has the lions share of the market with 56% of total sales year to date. This is down on last year where it had claimed 59% and as the season draws to a close I expect the gap to narrow. The off course love Christmas!

Whats next?

With temperature and sunshine just above average in August there was plenty of opportunity to play golf. The Olympics caught the nations attention which will have confined a few to the sofa but fingers crossed rounds were up on the current trend. Hopefully people got out on to the course and took their wallets with them!

More to follow in a couple of weeks when the next stats are out.