Golf participation can reach record levels in the coming years, according to Martin Slumbers, outgoing Chief Executive of The R&A.
Speaking at his final Open Championship press conference before standing down from the role, Slumbers said he was bullish for the sport’s future prospects.
He said: “I’ve expressed concern in recent years about financial sustainability in the men’s professional game. If we take a wider perspective on the game, golf is in many ways riding on the crest of a wave.
“The golf industry is benefitting from a surge in participation, and more and more people are experiencing golf in all its forms. More than 100 million people experience the game in one form or another around the world.
“The latest participation figures for 2023 showed that in the countries we’re responsible for, there were 62.3 million people playing golf, which is a rise of 1.1 million on the previous year.
“These are very encouraging figures, but we have to maintain this momentum. To do that, we must have a sustainable business model in the long term.
“If you look at golf as a pyramid, however strong the pyramid is at the top, it can only be sustained in the long term if the pyramid is equally strong at the base.
“We see that as our responsibility, and that is why we invest all of the proceeds from The Open back into the sport. We have to be careful to do that in such a way as to ensure that the recreational game is thriving and that the most talented players have a pathway to the top of the game so the professional game of tomorrow flourishes. We can’t do that if we neglect the base of the pyramid.
“The reason I’m raising this concern is that I care deeply about getting more people into golf around the world and helping them to move through the levels of the sport if they have the talent and the motivation.
“If we can achieve a sustainable business model and really engage in parts of the world where the growth opportunities are emerging, then there is a golden, perhaps once in a generation, opportunity to elevate our sport and make it a more popular participation sport than it has ever been. I’m convinced that that is achievable.”
Proceeds from The Open Championship are reinvested in growing golf around the world.