Business growth agency The Revenue Club has released its 2025 report on green fee sales that details a groundbreaking year for the industry.
The sunniest year on record for the UK and Ireland brought with it exceptional levels of demand for green fees and eclipsed all other years of green fee revenue by a significant margin. The average club took £189,240 in green fees, which amounts to a 17% (£28,000) uplift on 2024.
The settled conditions that established themselves over the British Isles from early February led to excellent levels of sales from an early point in the season. With golfers developing regular playing habits much sooner than expected, the market was well ahead by the start of the summer. The sport was given an additional boost by the extra media interest around the success of Rory McIlroy at The Masters in April, and the long playing season was then extended by the European team’s stunning Ryder Cup victory in New York September.
These highly beneficial circumstances have helped to develop the sale of online green fees further, with a 25% increase in revenue via this channel over the course of the year, making up £109k or 67% of all casual sales. In the same period, offline sales have remained relatively static with an increase of only 4%, so online tee sheets and software systems have been vital in achieving this uplift where they have been used effectively.
A key component in the achievement of this growth has been the ability of golf courses to continue pushing green fees prices up due to high demand, good playing conditions, and the general acceptance of rising prices elsewhere. As a result, the average green fee has risen by 5% to the highest level that it has been across the market historically.
The high demand has been illustrated by the extremely strong levels of web traffic experienced on online booking engines. Growing by 14% YOY, the average golf club had 17,697 users visit their online tee sheets in 2026, another record high, which reinforces the assessment that golfers were playing more frequently and/or that the visitor market has grown.
The almost perfect trading conditions for golf courses in 2025 mean that similar levels of growth in 2026 may be difficult to achieve. Encouragingly, the rise in demand and prices show that the sport is in excellent health, and golf clubs that are operating to their full potential with their online tee sheets and marketing channels will be in the best position to take advantage of a growing pool of golfers. However, the regularity of their play could be more sporadic depending on the weather and seasonal changes, so the ability to be flexible and adjust to demand will be critical as the next golf season approaches.
View the full report here: www.therevenueclub.co.uk/a-record-breaking-year-in-2025/
