Rounds-played numbers make modest gains

For the first time since last summer, there was good news to report in the number of rounds played in the United States in November.

Ending four consecutive months of decreases, the number of rounds-played in November was up 1.7 percent when compared to November 2010 according to the latest National Golf Rounds Played Report issued by the National Golf Foundation, Golf Datatech and Weather Trends International. That increase wasn't enough to halt a year-long slide in rounds-played numbers, however — for the year, rounds played are off 3.5 percent vs. 2010.

Double-digit increases in both the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions were the main reasons for the overall increase in November. Taking advantage of warmer-than-usual temperatures, the number of rounds played were up 28.2 percent in New England and 14.5 perent in the Mid-Atlantic vs. November 2010. The biggest local spikes were in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, where rounds played were up a whopping 39.1 percent in November.

Rounds-played were down slightly in four of the eight regions tracked in the report, led by the East North Central region which was down 5.8 precent when compared to November 2010.