The National Golf Foundation recently completed its annual update the NGF database of U.S. off-course specialty golf retail stores. The database includes chain stores such as Golfsmith and Edwin Watts Golf as well as stand-alone Mom-and-Pops. NGF provides the database to companies who market to retail stores. Information includes store name, address and contact information.

Consolidation in the off-course retail business has occurred to a greater extent than it has for golf facilities. In off-course retail, about 35% of stores are part of large chains (with five or more stores). There are also a number of smaller multi-store operations with less than five stores. By comparison, about 11% of golf facilities are owned or operated by multi-course management companies.

In the database are 2,067 retail stores comprising 9,744,133 sq. ft. of golf retail space. That space would cover 169 football fields (including end zones). Stores range in size from 300 to 85,000 square feet. The largest store in the database, at 85,000 sq. ft., is Martin’s PGA TOUR Superstore in North Myrtle Beach, S.C. Elsewhere around the nation, about one in five shops are below 1,500 sq. ft. and a fifth are 6,000 sq. ft. or greater (see chart). The median square footage is 3,000, meaning half are below and half above that figure.

States with the most retail square footage are also the ones with the most golfers – California, with 1.1 million sq. ft.; Florida with 1.0 million sq. ft.; and Texas with 766,000 sq. ft. Likewise, markets with the most demand have the most supply: Los Angeles DMA (611,000 sq. ft.); New York DMA (395,000 sq. ft.); and Chicago DMA (369,000 sq. ft.).

For more information about NGF’s off-course retail database or other marketing databases, call Kevin McLendon at (888) ASK-4NGF or e-mail kmclendon@ngf.org.