Golf’s leadership converges on Capitol Hill for First National Golf Day

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Some of golf’s most influential leaders and members of the game’s most prominent associations converged on the nation’s capitol to celebrate a bipartisan Congressional resolution which declared April 16, 2008 as National Golf Day.

The golf leaders discussed the game’s impact on society, in particular its role to the U.S. economy.

The golf industry is the sports and entertainment worlds’ largest contributor to our economy, generating $76 billion in direct economic impact according to a recent study, the 2005 Golf Economy Report, commissioned by World Golf Foundation’s GOLF 20/20 initiative completed earlier this year and released at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Fla.

To read the executive summary of the The 2005 Golf Economy Report, click here . 

In a press conference at the National Press Club to commemorate the first National Golf Day, the golf leaders also discussed the industry’s environmental stewardship and its multi-billion dollar annual contributions to charitable activities.

“We all know that golf is a great game,” said David Fay, Chairman of the World Golf Foundation. “It’s a great game to play, it’s a great game to watch. But one of the messages that we’ve come to Washington to deliver is that not only is it a great game, but it is a meaningful industry. It’s a meaningful business. And you can feel that in terms of economic impact, you can feel it in terms of the environmental impact and lastly, you can feel it in terms of human impact.”

Joining Mr. Fay at the press conference were Tim Finchem, Commissioner of the PGA TOUR; Joe Steranka, Chief Executive Officer of the PGA of America; Steve Mona, Chief Executive Officer of World Golf Foundation; Joe Louis Barrow, Jr., Chief Executive Officer of The First Tee; and Libba Galloway, Deputy Commissioner of the LPGA. Representatives of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, National Golf Course Owners Association, Club Managers Association of America, Golf Course Builders Association of America and American Society of Golf Course Architects were also in Washington in recognition of National Golf Day. Each organization is a supporting member of World Golf Foundation.

According to U.S. Census data, the $76 billion U.S. golf economy is larger than the motion picture and video industries and that golf facility operations generated $28 billion in revenue, exceeding revenues from all other professional and semi-professional spectator sports combined. The study, which also found that golf generates more than $3.5 billion annually for charities across the country.