National Golf Foundation

The National Golf Foundation (NGF) was founded in 1936 by journalists Herb Graffis and his brother Joe. NGF provides golf-business research and consulting services.[1] its original mission was to publish authoritative research useful to investors developing the game of golf. As of 2007 it had 6000 member companies.[2] The NGF is based in Jupiter, FL.  For the past 30 years, it has been led by President and CEO, Dr. Joseph Beditz, who reports to the board of directors. They still continue to be the Foundation's intentions: following the industry data and trends, and consulting for golf facility development and operations.

National Golf Foundation
SportGolf
Founded1936
by Herb Graffis and Joe Graffis
CEODr. Joseph Beditz
CountryUnited States
Official websitewww.ngf.org

History

The National Golf Foundation (NGF) is a 501(c)6 nonprofit trade association that was founded in 1936 by journalists Herb Graffis and his brother Joe. They wanted to provide a resource to promote the game of golf. Golf began a slow decline due to the stock market crash of 1929. Even with grown in the nation, golf still fell.

During the first years of the foundation, the Graffis brothers reached out for financial help. Six of the game's leading equipment manufacturers gave $17,000 to the NGF in support of what NGF wanted to accomplish.[3]

NGF began their mission with a book, (How to Build a Golf Course). The book brought to light golf course construction and the record of all of the nation's golf courses. These books helped achieve brand recognition within the golf community as a top research foundation. Next, the NGF worked with towns and local governments to develop the concept of public golf courses. These began popping up in the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1970s and 1980s the NGF began facilitating more competent golf instructors and classes. These methods were wonderful starting tools, like videos, to introduce the game of golf to new players.

The National Golf Foundation took a major role within the golfing business community in 1981. They brought together the first industry-wide “Forum for Golf” in Dallas, Texas. Players and businesses began to view the NGF as an overall company to assist in many golfing needs. They are able to help out in many different parts of the industry: retail, media, apparel, software technology, private and commercialized courses, financial local to national scale.

Today, the NGF is trusted by the most important businesses and organizations in golf as the foremost authority of accurate and objective measures of the game's vitality. Golf companies from every sector rely on the NGF's data, research, reports and insights to keep them informed on overall industry trends, with expertise delivered by the world's largest research staff dedicated to the golf business. Additionally, NGF Consulting, Inc., a for-profit subsidiary formed in 1989, provides one-on-one proprietary services to help clients become more successful in an ever-changing business environment.

Present

Today, NGF is a renounced company supported by some of the biggest companies throughout the golf community. They are trusted in providing the most accurate and objective measures of the game's vitality. Every year the NGF releases the Golf Industry Report. This is an annual research report that integrates all of the key data points to help assess golf's health and vitality.[4]

With a little more than one third of the United States population have played, watched or read about golf last year,[5] the Golf Industry Report is very important. The golf industry drove in huge numbers in the United States back in 2016, $84.1 billion in economic activity. This shows an increase of 22.1 percent from years prior.[6]

Famous Members [7]

References
  1. "World Golf Hall of Fame profile: Herb Graffis". World Golf Village. Archived from the original on 2009-08-27. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
  2. "Company overview". National Golf Foundation. Archived from the original on 2010-11-24. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
  3. "Our History". National Golf Foundation. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
  4. Matuszewski, Erik. "The State Of Golf For 2019 -- An Industry Roundtable". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-06-02.
  5. Matuszewski, Erik. "The State Of Golf For 2019 -- An Industry Roundtable". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-06-02.
  6. Herrington, Ryan. "National Golf Foundation sees signs of encouragement in latest annual Golf Industry Report". Golf Digest. Retrieved 2019-06-02.
  7. "Golf Business Members | National Golf Foundation". Retrieved 2019-06-02.
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