Daylight Saving Time Remains Complicated for Golf Industry

The golf industry is unlikely to reach a consensus opinion on the U.S. potentially moving to permanent daylight saving time, despite the PGA Tour’s newly-revealed public support for the move.

American Golf Industry Coalition CEO Greg McLaughlin tells Front Office Sports in a statement that the organization “takes no position on H.R. 139, the Sunshine Protection Act, or on whether daylight saving time should be made permanent—reasonable people disagree, and we respect that range of views.”

The AGIC is a collective of major U.S.-based golf entities, including the PGA Tour, PGA of America, and USGA, as well as some equipment manufactures, nonprofits, and other companies. “Our federal agenda is usually managed through the American Golf Industry Coalition,” National Golf Course Owners Association CEO Jay Karen, a member of the AGIC’s executive leadership committee, tells FOS. “So, if we agree as an industry on various federal policies or laws, it’s usually filtered through the AGIC.”

NGCOA research, which Karen presented on Capitol Hill last year, shows that two-thirds of its members would support moving to permanent daylight saving time, and the organization estimates nationwide greens fees revenue would see a $1 billion increase in the first year of the move. More than 500 million rounds of golf were played at U.S. courses in 2025, according to the National Golf Foundation.

PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp’s recent letter to President Trump voicing the tour’s “strong support” for permanent daylight saving time marked the highest-profile golf organization yet to back the bill, which was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in July but has not yet been voted on by the Senate. 

When reached for comment by FOS, the USGA deferred to the AGIC, and the PGA of America confirmed it had not taken a position. Requests for comment made with the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and Club Management Association of America—which each have representatives on the AGIC exec committee—were not immediately returned.

Rolapp cited the benefit of recreational golfers being able to play golf later in the day during the fall and winter, as well as the ability for the PGA Tour to show live tournament broadcasts later in the day in better TV windows. But the golf-specific pros and cons of daylight saving time vary across locations and businesses. In the north, most courses close during the winter and wouldn’t see additional revenue from more daylight. Some resorts see benefits from days ending early, such as guests getting off the golf course and into their bars and restaurants.

One thing the majority of the golf industry is against, though, is a potential move to permanent standard time. 

“Reducing evening daylight would cut into the hours when most golfers play after work, shrinking tee times, rounds, and on-course spending—and would narrow one of the more accessible windows Americans have for outdoor exercise and its wellbeing benefits,” McLaughlin says.

Just 9% of NGCOA members support a move to permanent standard time. “Golf will be just fine if we keep the status quo,” Karen says. “But if Congress is intent on choosing a side, obviously daylight saving time is what we choose.”

Daylight saving time ends on Nov. 1 this year, and the Senate doesn’t return from its pre-election recess until Nov. 9, so action on the bill this year appears unlikely.