Spending: How To Improve Your Golf Game (Lessons Not Included)

TO say that Tim Smith, 43, a mortgage broker from Fayetteville, Ga., near Atlanta, is an avid golfer would be an understatement.

Tim Smith tees off as his son, Tyler, and wife, Melanie, watch at the Whitewater Creek Country Club in Fayetteville, Ga. Families are giving a boost to the golf industry.

Reporters and editors from The Timess Sunday Business section offer perspective on the week in business and beyond.

A new Callaway driver, left, and one from Nike. An estimated 1.75 million drivers are sold annually in the United States.

Mr. Smith, who golfs at least once a week, spends $1,500 a year on golf equipment and clothing for himself and his wife, Melanie, who is also a golfer. An additional $500 to $700 a month goes toward club membership dues, green fees and golf cart rentals. He also spends $3,000 a year on entry fees for his 16-year-old son, Tyler, who plays in junior regional golf tournaments.

Having the right clubs in his bag is very important to Mr. Smith, but he only buys new ones if he is certain that they will improve his game. I tend to be a little less trendy, he said. I have got some brand loyalty in my bag, which is Titleist.

Helped by families like the Smiths, club makers and assorted equipment providers expect sales to reach nearly $4 billion this year, up slightly from last year.

On the whole, the golf industry in the United States generates $62.2 billion a year in sales, which covers everything from tourism to course operation, according to Joe Steranka, chief executive of the PGA of America.

Over all, the PGA is estimating only very small growth in some parts of the industry. Last year was the first in six decades that the number of course closings (146) exceeded new openings (119), the PGA said.

In addition, the number of rounds played on an 18-hole golf course, on average, dropped to 31,000 a year in 2006 from 33,000 the year before.

A bright spot for the industry remains the Tiger factor. Tiger Woods has had a multimillion-dollar economic impact every year for our golf industry, Mr. Steranka said.

Because of the continued excitement about Tiger Woods, more children — some as young as 3 — are hitting golf balls. Many more golf courses are making time for family golf, said Nancy Berkley, an industry consultant based in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. It is a very strong trend.

Companies like U.S. Kids Golf in Norcross, Ga., are capitalizing on the trend, starting children with a bag of five specially designed clubs for less than $130.

Innovations in club manufacturing, meanwhile, are generating new business among adults. This year, the Callaway Golf Company and Nike introduced new drivers with square-shaped heads that the companies contend can help golfers hit the ball straighter and farther. The Nike SasQuatch Sumo2 will retail for about $325 while Callaway will start selling its FT-i driver this week for around $600.

About 1.75 million drivers are sold annually in the United States at an average price of $400, according to estimates from Nike. Amateur players tend to buy a new driver every year and a new set of irons every five years, the PGA says.

Consumers are interested in a golf club that can hit the ball farther and straighter, and we are putting the focus on the majority of our efforts into that, said Bill Knees, senior vice president of marketing. Callaway, based in Carlsbad, Calif., had revenue of $992 million last year.

Even golf balls are getting a makeover. This month, the Caesar Golf Company in Los Angeles will start selling smooth golf balls at $60 for a half-dozen — veering away from the traditional dimples. A lack of dimples will help eliminate hooks and slices, says Vin Lee, chief executive of Caesar. The best-selling golf balls from Callaway and Titleist all have dimples, and prices range from $27 to $70 a dozen.

Jason Epstein, the golf professional at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Fla., both gives lessons and sells clubs. He contends that golfers are needlessly spending a ton of money on new equipment when they really need more lessons. (He charges $50 or so for a half-hour.)

But Charles Finch, 63, a retired Delta Air Lines pilot from Greensboro, Ga., who spends $1,500 to $2,000 a year on new clubs, golf shirts and shoes, says that buying new equipment can improve his game. When you invest in a driver, you have to know it is going to perform better, he said.

Mr. Finch also pays $300 a session for high-tech scrutiny of his golf swing at the TaylorMade Performance Lab at the Reynolds Plantation resort in Greensboro. He says that this kind of analysis, which includes a three-dimensional image of his swing, is important before buying a new club.

Bob Mauragas, vice president for golf operations at the Greensboro resort, said the computerized analysis enabled golfers to be better matched with the right clubs.

The average person wants to play better, but they are not going to practice more, he said. All this new technology is going to lead to enhancement.

GOLFERS are also spending more as they travel to check out exotic and challenging courses.

David M. Baum, publisher of Golf Odyssey, a newsletter that reviews domestic and overseas resorts, said the golf tourism business was thriving because more couples with more disposable income were playing.

The cost of playing golf varies widely. Players can spend $450 for 18 holes at the Pebble Beach Golf Links in California, or just $20, for example, for an afternoon at the Dubsdread Golf Course in Orlando, Fla.

And for golfers who do not want to drag along their clubs on overnight trips, Lou Oberman, president of Short Game Travel Clubs Inc. of Del Mar, Calif., has packaged a grip and three screw-on wedges, a putter and practice balls into a canvas briefcase. It sells for $249.

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