The golf retail market in the U.S. continued to shine approaching the end of Q3. Its sales growth contrasts with the broader general merchandise landscape and sporting goods in particular – a market which has cooled following its boom during the pandemic and is showing declines in 2025.

Golf specialty retail is having a strong year, with dollar sales up +7% through August, compared to the same period last year. Interestingly, this growth is shared across both on-course and off-course channels, illustrating that the rising tide is lifting all boats.

This positive performance is further supported when we look at the sales figures from the rest of the market, which includes sporting goods, warehouse clubs, e-commerce, and mass merchant retailers. This side of the golf business is following a similar trend, with equipment sales up +4.5%.

These results point to a golf industry that is currently in good retail shape. Other stats also support the health of the sport and its continued participation; although rounds played declined earlier in the year, they are now up +1% year-to-date, with August delivering a standout +8% increase compared to 2024.

The fact that all retail channels are experiencing growth illustrates the resilience of the sport even when faced with all the economic headwinds and uncertainty whirling around us. This resilience is partly driven by golf’s affluent consumer base, who typically prefers the specialty channels. But continued success in the mass and sporting goods channel speaks to golf’s wider appeal – as each side of the business typically serves a very different golf customer, each of whom are, importantly, keen to spend.   

One indicator that has shared some correlation with golf’s retail success is the stock market. Many golfers will be looking at their investment portfolios and seeing significant growth over the past year. Perhaps this factor has given them more confidence to spend on their favorite pastime.

With strong performance across all retail channels and encouraging participation metrics, golf retail appears well-positioned to maintain momentum into Q4 and hopefully beyond.