Tobacco Use and Golf Courses in the United States

Tobacco use remains a public health crisis today as the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Even though cigarette use has declined over the last decade (38.7%), other combustible use such as cigars (large cigars, cigarillos, little cigars) dramatically increased. One area of promotion that has received little attention is relationships between cigar use and sports, particularly golf. Golf is an incredibly attractive outdoor sport to adults as well as young people. Golf tournaments are attended by millions of tourists annually, and golf events on television are seen by hundreds of millions of spectators. Golf also has historical relationships with cigar use that have sustained high rates of cigar use despite the knowledge of the death and disease consumption of cigars entail. The purpose of this survey is to better understand tobacco policies of golf courses around the United States and how likely they are to change.