Most golfers would agree, it is hard to sit at your desk or cubicle in the afternoon when the sun is out, and the weather is great for some golf.
Recently, it seems that more and more golfers are now taking advantage of getting off work early and playing golf.
Another cause for this surge could be the rise in work-from-home days, as workers can be more generous with their free time as long as their work is still getting done.
“We call them the remote guys,” Steve Mills, General Manager of Skyway Golf Course in Jersey City said. “These were guys we used to see running to the golf course after work. Now they’re able to come out leisurely and get their golf done, instead of changing in the parking lot.”
According to a recent study conducted by Stanford University, golf courses are more crowded now during the week than pre-pandemic. In 2019, there were 12,700 golf trips on Mondays, 11,400 on Tuesdays, 10,800 on Wednesdays and 15,000 on Thursdays.
During the pandemic, golf was the official sport of social distance. Now, it’s settling in as the official sport of remote work.https://t.co/6gu88scri2
— Axios (@axios) April 30, 2023
In 2022, those numbers skyrocketed over double to 24,400, 25,800, 26,200, and 26,300, respectively. Eighty-three percent more golf rounds were played on weekdays in August 2022 than in August 2019.
Also, it seems the term “quiet Wednesdays” can be retired. 278% more golf trips were made at 4 p.m. on a Wednesday in August 2022 than in August 2019.
“We’ve turned into a student economy,” Researcher Nick Bloom said. “You’re in the library in the evenings, and in the afternoon you’re sleeping off your hangover.”
“This is an amazing potential reversal,” Bloom added. “You can have a huge increase in productivity using leisure resources throughout the week. It’s an odd, unexpected boost from post-pandemic working from home.”
In the survey, one California Tech said “I think my colleague was taking his Zoom call from the golf course. He was on mute and video off, but once when he was talking, I heard somebody talking about the fairway and strokes.”
