July 6, 2005

AMERICA’S BEST AND WORST CITIES FOR GOLF
IDENTIFIED IN EXCLUSIVE GOLF DIGEST RANKING

Analysis of America’s 330 Metro Areas Finds Alabama’s Auburn-Opelika the Most Golfer-Friendly; Golf-Dry Jersey City and NYC Bottom-Out on List—Again

NEW YORK, NY—While nearly every metro area has beautiful private golf courses for the privileged few to enjoy, when it comes to access to good, affordable public and municipal golf, where does your city stand?

In its third “Metro Golf” survey, which appears in the upcoming August issue (on newsstands July 12,) Golf Digest lists 330 metro areas and details the best—and worst—cities for golfers nationwide. The full ranking can be viewed now at www.golfdigest.com/cities.

Based on varying criteria outlined below, Alabama’s twin cities of Auburn and Opelika (a place more commonly known for its passion for college football than golf,) was selected as the top American metropolitan area for a golfer to live. Rounding out the top ten are: No. 2. Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA; No. 3. Punta Gorda, FL; No. 4. Youngstown-Warren, OH; No. 5. Bloomington-Normal, IL; No. 6. Iowa City; No. 7. Utica-Rome, NY; No. 8. Wilmington, NC; No. 9. Gadsden, AL; No. 10. Johnstown, PA.

According to the National Golf Foundation, over 80% of all U.S. golfers play more than half of their golf on public courses. Therefore, Golf Digest’s “Metro Golf” ranking focuses exclusively on public golf. The rankings comprise the 330 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) defined by the U.S. Census Bureau and include the central city, the entire county in which it is located, and in some instances, neighboring counties that are socially and economically integrated with the city (i.e. commuting zones). There are 330 MSAs in the United States with an estimated population of 50,000 or more, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Working with Longitudes Group, a Portland, Oregon-based research and marketing company that provides geo-demographic analysis of avid golfers, Golf Digest ranked the MSAs on the following criteria, using data from the U.S. Census, National Golf Foundation, Golf Digest’s Database of Golf in America and Best Places to Play guide:

Access to golf (45 percent). Number of public courses per capita, number of total courses per capita, number of public courses per population of avid players. The category also factors crowds and the proximity of courses to each MSA.

Weather (25 percent). Climatologists at the Longitude Group created the Golf Comfort Index, which factors not only temperature, humidity, wind and precipitation, but also the comfort levels of golfers based on biometeorologic research. The Golf Comfort Index determines the number of “playable days” in a year.

Quality of Golf/Value of Golf (30 percent). Average green fee and average star rating/value rating from Golf Digest readers in sixth edition of the Best Places to Play guide.

Golf Digest has conducted three “Metro Golf” rankings since 1998. This year, Auburn-Opelika owes its No.1 rank to multiple three star-plus courses in the area (including the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail’s Grand National, Auburn Links, Indian Pines and Saughatchee CC,) as well as the number of golf holes in the area per population of golfers (there are eight golf courses within 15 minutes of the center of town) and the high marks in the weather category (Auburn-Opelika’s average daily high temperatures drop slightly below 60 degrees only in December and January).

This year’s “Metro Golf” survey found that the best places to live and golf are increasingly shifting to small towns and suburbs in the South (11 of the top 20-ranked cities are located in the South,) while the Northeast—as well as large urban areas throughout the country—remain a wasteland for public course golfers (15 of the bottom 20-ranked cities lie above the Mason-Dixon line).

Jersey City, NJ, bottomed-out in the ranking, finishing dead last, as it did in the last “Metro Golf” ranking in 2002. Of the 330 ranked cities, it is the only metropolitan area without a single golf course. New York City also fared poorly, ranking No. 329 and second to last.

Contact:

Andrew Katcher, The Golf Digest Companies
212-286-3874, Andrew.katcher@golfdigest.com

Sara Killeen, Longitudes Group, LLC
sara@longitudesgroup.com