Golf courses across Great Britain continue to record impressive ‘Rounds Played’ numbers in 2026, with figures from the first six months of the year on track to outpace 2024, 2023, and 2022, according to the latest research from industry analysts Sporting Insights.
Against a record-breaking 2025, however, the half-year numbers are down 9%, with Q2 2026 dropping by 7% against the equivalent period last year.
Commenting on the figures, John Bushell, Managing Director of Sporting Insights, commented: “Despite the year-on-year drop, we believe these figures still represent an excellent performance. The three years between 2022-2024 were all, in the wider historical context, very strong years for golf, and a single digit decline against 2025 is not cause for alarm. The appetite for golf, all indicators suggest, remains strong across the country.”
He added: “The headline here remains the strong performance against most of the post-pandemic years, which were themselves strong against the period up to 2019. Fresh off the back of captivating, well-attended tournaments at The Open and the AIG Women’s Open, it’s not hard to see why golf continues to be regularly played at all levels and on all sorts of courses.
“The latest R&A participation research suggested long-term sustainable growth, with junior participation growing sharply and a shift towards greater gender balance among golfers in many countries, a shift that is coming from widening access rather than reducing male participation. And thanks to the quality of the golf experience at clubs, when people do play golf, generally they want to play more of it.
“England Golf recently found almost universal appetite among golfers to keep playing, and, even more interestingly, widespread desire to play more often. While time and cost will always limit frequency of play compared to outright desire, this is an important metric and one that bodes well for the sport.”
For more detailed data on the latest Rounds Played report, visit www.sportinginsights.com