Whilst the total number of UK adults who have played golf in the past 12 months has increased by some 5% to a total of 3,950,000, there has been a sharp decrease in ‘Avid Golfers’ (those who play once a week or more) and ‘Regular Golfers’ (who play once a month or more) have remained static.
This suggests that Avids have reduced their play frequency and become Regular players – and that a significant proportion of Regular players have downgraded to the occasional category. Within these numbers it seems women are playing more frequently and that the decline is among the male population.
This survey from Sports Marketing Surveys, which has run for each of the past ten years, shows for the first time that only some 30% of golfers are members of a golf club – whilst the majority, nearly 3,000,000, pay a green fee for each time they play ( “pay & play”). These non members account for 30,000,000 rounds of golf or 37% of all rounds played.
An interesting growth area is among those who only play at driving ranges – these now total nearly 175,000 – an increase of 250% since 2000.
Definitions:
All Golfers: play at least one round on a full length course in the previous month
Regular Golfers: play more than one and less than four rounds per month
Avid Golfers: play four times per month or more
Sports Marketing Surveys www.sportsmarketingsurveys.com