Opening day for the 2021 season for Sand Valley Golf Resort (April 29) was a busy one, with golfers gleefully trekking the tumbling prehistoric sand dunes, sprawling fairways and wonderfully contoured greens of the central Wisconsin getaway. Outdoor seating areas are bigger than ever, thanks to the Sand Valley food truck and an outdoor tent that was introduced last year and is now the cornerstone of an enhanced group patio.
Covid-19 protocols are still in place, with enhanced sanitation procedures, resort staff required to wear masks, and food & beverage offerings that include carryout and in-room delivery service for guests as well as customized in-room dining experiences. But the golf itself looks and feels very much the same as ever, with eager golfers traveling to the heart of Wisconsin from all corners of the country to play its three visually stunning courses: the original Sand Valley, the wildly-fun Mammoth Dunes and the par-3 treat called The Sandbox.
Golf thrived despite the pandemic in 2020, as it’s a safe, outdoor activity played by all ages that’s conducive to physical distancing by its very nature. However, those levels of increased play weren’t seen at many golf destinations given the limitations on travel. The National Golf Foundation estimates that golfers made at least 50% fewer trips in 2020 than the previous year, the vast majority of those by car. But with the gradual return of air travel this year, golf travel is showing signs of a boom of its own as golfers look to scratch their wanderlust itch.
“Many of the groups who chose to postpone trips last year rescheduled for this season, and they are coming,” Sand Valley General Manager Michael Carbiener said on the resort’s official opening day. “Every metric that we use to gauge our business is showing record levels in 2021. This includes room nights, golf rounds and length of stays. Current bookings are exceeding all levels of business that we’ve seen in the past.”
NGF surveys indicated that Core golfers (who play 8-or-more rounds annually) expect to take just under two golf trips, on average, this year and are venturing 40% farther than a year ago if they did hit the road.
Meanwhile, almost two-thirds of golf resort operators told NGF researchers that their pre-bookings for the rest of this year are higher than in other recent, non-pandemic years. And warm weather destinations, like the secluded Streamsong Resort in central Florida, have already been the beneficiary of golfers’ pent-up demand.
“The first quarter was one of the best in Streamsong’s nine-year history, and the remainder of 2021 is continuing in that direction,” said Kevin Kennedy, the new General Manager at a property that boasts nationally-acclaimed courses designed by Tom Doak, Gil Hanse and the team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw.
“The golf industry has experienced a spike in participation not seen since the height of Tiger Woods’ fame in the late ‘90s and early 2000s,” added Kennedy. “With that comes the desire to travel with friends to visit highly-ranked, bucket list destinations — like Streamsong.”
About three hours east of Sand Valley, along the shores of Lake Michigan, another well-known Wisconsin golf resort has been seeing surging interest like never before.
“There are days where our call and online booking volume is almost double what we’ve seen in the past. It’s wild,” said Mike O’Reilly, Director of Golf Operations for Kohler Golf and its five courses, including Whistling Straits, the host site of this year’s Ryder Cup.
Group and corporate bookings at golf resorts understandably have been a bit slower to return than leisure travel, but a number of operators indicate that third and fourth quarter business in 2021 will be boosted by trips and meetings that were moved from 2020. NGF’s resort survey found that only 40% said large-group and corporate bookings are currently up.
“We are seeing groups start to materialize in the fall of 2021 and rebound bookings occurring in popular domestic resort destinations like Hawaii, Las Vegas and the like,” said Kris Strauss, a Senior Vice President at Troon, the world’s largest golf management company. Troon operates a wealth of properties, from the Kapalua and Princeville Makai golf resorts in the Hawaii islands to Gamble Sands in eastern Washington and Troon North, Ak-Chin Southern Dunes and Quintero in Arizona.
“Going into the year, the lack of Canadian travel had us concerned for markets like Arizona and Florida,” Strauss added, alluding to the restrictions on the avid golfers north of the U.S. border. “But demand and interest for those markets were such that other regional travelers filled in whatever void Canadian travel left.
At Bandon Dunes, General Manager Don Crowe said he’s seen strong and consistent group travel business since the fall of 2020, adding that their reservation team continues to work hard to reschedule trips from early last year when the coronavirus forced the Oregon coast resort to temporarily close for the first time in its history.
“We’re experiencing incredible demand and seeing record-breaking occupancy rates and golf rounds throughout 2021, even with the addition of 24 new guest rooms that will be available this summer,” Crowe said. “We expect this demand to continue into 2022 based on early booking trends and high call volume.”
Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina started seeing heightened engagement in fall of 2020, benefiting from its central location on the east coast within driving distance of a host of major metropolitan markets. It also helps that Pinehurst, known as the cradle of American golf, has nine exceptional golf courses, including its iconic No. 2 course.
“The demand we saw in the fall of 2020 was incredible and we’re expecting it to surpass that,” said Pinehurst President Tom Pashley. “We’re experiencing this resurgence unlike anything I’ve experienced in the 25 years I’ve been here.”
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