National Golf Foundation

What National Golf Foundation does

The National Golf Foundation (NGF) is a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit trade association founded in 1936, headquartered in Jupiter, Florida, with approximately 30–35 employees. It functions as the U.S. golf industry's central research and market intelligence body, maintaining the industry's most comprehensive facility database (29,000+ golf courses and businesses, 71,000+ individual contacts, verified daily) and a 2.5 million-golfer marketing database. Its product portfolio includes the annual Graffis Report (the flagship state-of-industry publication), Golf Participation, Facilities, and Rounds Played reports, interactive Course Facts and Golfer Facts maps, directories (golf courses, businesses, ranges), and specialized tools including GolfMAP (market analysis platform) and GolfersVoice (a customer-insights tool delivered via partnership with Players 1st that integrates with major tee-sheet/POS systems such as ChronoGolf/Lightspeed, ForeUp, Golf Genius, Trackman, NexGolf, IBS, Sports Next, and Quick 18).

NGF monetizes through four primary streams: (1) tiered annual memberships — Graffis Report ($395/yr), VIP ($650/yr), and Executive ($7,500/yr) — providing access to publications, directories, interactive maps, the annual Symposium, and concierge services; (2) custom research and analytics engagements; (3) NGF Consulting, Inc., a wholly-owned for-profit subsidiary formed in 1989 that provides facility viability assessments and strategic advisory to golf course owners, operators, lenders, and municipal governments (425+ municipalities advised since inception); and (4) NGF 360 precision marketing services leveraging proprietary golfer and B2B prospect databases for email, programmatic, social, and paid search campaigns. The Welcome2Golf 501(c)(3) education initiative, supported by corporate sponsors, generates sponsorship revenue and operates 14 centers for adult onboarding. Greg Nathan succeeded long-tenured CEO Joe Beditz in 2024, with Beditz moving to Executive Chairman.

Name

National Golf Foundation

Legal name

National Golf Foundation, Inc.

Website

https://ngf.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1936

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The National Golf Foundation is a 90-year-old 501(c)(6) trade association that provides independent market intelligence, research, and data products to the U.S. golf industry through tiered memberships, consulting, and marketing services, serving course owners, operators, equipment manufacturers, associations, and municipalities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Jupiter

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Membership Subscriptions: Three-tier annual membership model providing access to research reports, publications, directories, and member-only content. Graffis Report tier ($395/yr) provides basic access; VIP tier ($650/yr) adds full publications and directories; Executive tier ($7,500/yr) includes licensing to databases, Symposium access, and exclusive concierge services.
2. Custom Research & Analytics: Market research services for golf companies seeking answers to critical business questions. NGF blends science and art to discover opportunities and reduce risk, working with clients from early-stage startups to major corporations. Revenue supports NGF's 501(c)(6) mission.
3. Facility Consulting Services: Golf facility consulting practice providing advisory services to golf course owners, operators, prospective buyers, lenders and other clients. Services include viability assessments, market intelligence, and GolfMAP platform access. NGF Consulting has served municipal clients since 1989.
4. Precision Marketing Services: NGF is the leading golf marketing services provider, leveraging proprietary golfer databases and B2B prospect lists. Offers email marketing, database marketing, and newer programmatic, social and paid search capabilities. Revenue supports broader mission.
5. Welcome2Golf Sponsorships: Charitable education initiative to grow the game, supported by corporate sponsors including equipment manufacturers, golf operators, media companies, and lifestyle brands. Sponsors receive recognition and partnership benefits.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

National Golf Foundation delivers independent and objective market intelligence, research reports, and consulting services for the U.S. golf industry. It operates the industry's most comprehensive facility database (29,000+ golf courses and businesses, 71,000+ contacts) and a 2.5 million-record golfer database, sold via tiered memberships, custom research engagements, facility consulting, and precision marketing services through its 501(c)(6) trade association and NGF Consulting subsidiary.

Product overview

The National Golf Foundation (NGF) offers a research and business intelligence platform centered around its annual Graffis Report and comprehensive golf industry databases. The portfolio includes membership tiers (Graffis Report at $395/year, VIP at $650/year, and Executive at $7,500/year) providing access to publications, interactive maps (Course Facts, Golfer Facts), directories, and data products. Core services include Custom Research & Analytics, NGF 360 Marketing Services (precision marketing), GolfMAP market analysis platform, NGF Facility Consulting, and GolfersVoice customer insights tool with tee sheet/POS integrations. The organization also operates Welcome2Golf (W2G), a charitable education initiative with 14 centers, and publishes recognition programs like the Top 100 Businesses in Golf. The product architecture is a platform-plus-modules model where the Graffis Report serves as the foundational annual publication, with VIP/Executive memberships unlocking access to interactive tools, directories, consulting services, and marketing solutions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Graffis Report Annual state-of-the-industry report covering golf participation, engagement, rounds played, facility supply and development, equipment and retail trends, and overall reach of golf. Available to members across all three tiers and serves as NGF's flagship publication.
• Golf Participation in the U.S. Report Annual report on golf participation in the U.S., covering on-course and off-course players, demographics, and trends across core and latent golfer segments.
• Golf Facilities in the U.S. Report Annual overview of facility supply in the U.S., including course counts, openings, closures, and geographic breakdowns.
• Rounds Played Report

Quantifiable outcome

• Golf participation reached 48.1 million in 2025, a record high, with 2% increase over 2024 and 41% jump over 2019
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Players 1stcoreTechnology or IntegrationNGF partnered with Players 1st to create GolfersVoice, a customer insights tool used by thousands of course operators in the U.S. GolfersVoice integrates with popular tee sheets and POS systems to help course operators make informed decisions that grow revenues.
• Golf DatatechcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership for monthly rounds played data. Reports are produced through this partnership and available for free on NGF's website, providing national and state level data as a broad measure of the game's momentum.
• Welcome2Golf Sponsors (True Temper, Troon, Toro, Billy Casper Golf, Golf Pride, PGA Colorado Section, NBC Golf, Callaway, Arcis Golf, Adidas, Acushnet, GolfTec, PGA TOUR Super Store, Ping, TaylorMade, Topgolf, Century Golf Partners, American Golf)supportingGTM or Marketing PartnerWelcome2Golf is NGF's 501(c)(3) charitable education initiative supported by major equipment manufacturers, golf operators, media companies, and lifestyle brands. Sponsors receive recognition and partnership benefits while supporting the growth of the game.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• PGA of America: PGA of America is the largest association of golf professionals and operates industry education, advocacy, and consumer programs. It is a broader incumbent that publishes its own participation and industry data and overlaps with NGF's audience of golf-course operators and associations.
• The R&A: The R&A is golf's international governing body and produces global participation research. It is a broader incumbent in golf research and works alongside NGF on international participation reporting, complementing rather than directly competing with NGF's U.S. intelligence remit.
• USGA (United States Golf Association): USGA is the game's national governing body and produces significant research, course-rating, and participation data alongside NGF. It is a broader incumbent in golf governance and research, with overlapping but more regulatory and rules-focused scope than NGF's commercial intelligence remit.

Emerging players

• Club Benchmarking: Club Benchmarking is an emerging player that provides data, analytics, and peer benchmarking to private clubs, directly overlapping with NGF Consulting's viability-assessment and management benchmarking offerings for the same private club audience.

Direct peers

• Golf Datatech: Golf Datatech is NGF's long-standing data partner and produces monthly U.S. rounds-played and golf retail research. It is a direct peer in golf-specific market research and also a co-producer of NGF's monthly Rounds Played Report, making it the most operationally comparable research firm in the golf space.
• Players 1st: Players 1st is the customer-experience analytics platform that NGF partners with to deliver GolfersVoice. It serves the same golf-course-operator buyers with benchmarking and tee-sheet/POS-integrated insights, making it a direct peer in golf-specific customer intelligence alongside its partner role.
• National Club Association (NCA): NCA is a trade association for private clubs and their boards, focused on advocacy, education, and benchmarking. It is a peer to NGF in the club-facility membership/services model and overlaps with NGF's private-country-club members.
• Club Managers Association of America (CMAA): CMAA is a membership organization supporting managers of private, country, and athletic clubs, including golf. Its tiered membership, certifications, research outputs, and chapter-driven community model mirror NGF's structure for a closely overlapping end-customer base.
• International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO): IAGTO is the global trade association for golf-tourism suppliers, with a tiered membership model and operator-focused research. It is a direct peer in golf-industry trade association structure and overlaps with NGF's Golf Tourism Solutions client base.
• Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA, formerly SGMA): SFIA is the U.S. trade association for the sporting goods and fitness industry, operating the same membership-plus-research-plus-advocacy model NGF uses for golf. It tracks industry participation, sales, and trends via proprietary research and member tiers, making it the closest structural analog to NGF across adjacent sports.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/NGF_GOLFBIZINFO
• Facebookfacebook.com/NationalGolfFoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/104338

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about National Golf Foundation