England rises, Scotland falls in latest golf participation report
England gains more than 29,500 golf club members in a year.
The number of registered golfers in England rose by 29,520 from 2015 to 2016, according to KPMG's annual report.
The report - Golf Participation Report for Europe 2017 – examined current demand and supply trends in the golf industry across Europe.
England saw a percentage increase of 4.44% between 2015 and 2016, with registered golfers rising from 665,103 to 694,623.
Scotland, however, saw the biggest dip of all European countries with a fall of 6,711 golfers (-3.37%).
In comparison to other European countries, only Czech Republic lost more than 2,000 golfers.
Scotland, which has 578 courses in total with an average of 333 registered golfers per course, also lost 19 courses during the same period – the most of any European country.
Pleasingly, the overall picture for golf in Europe remains positive with numbers increasing by a total of 82,584, equating to a 2% rise across the board.
Take a look at the numbers behind the report...
Other key highlights from the report is the distribution of registered golfers in Europe – 67% male, 25% female and 8% junior. This differs in Scotland with a make-up of 80% male, 12% female and 8% junior.
“Our research demonstrates that the number of registered golfers showed a slight increase, by 2% (+82,584 players), while the supply of golf courses declined by 28 courses (24 openings and 52 closures),” said KPMG global head of sports, Andrea Sartoti.
“46% of European countries surveyed experienced a growth in participation rates, 35% showed stability and in 19% of the countries surveyed demand declined.”
