Golf memberships take a NOSEDIVE in Great Britain and Ireland

England lost 10,688 registered golfers between 2017 and 2018, according to the annual KPMG Golf Participation Report for Europe.

The latest report also revealed how registered players in Scotland, Wales and Ireland also dropped significantly. 

In total, the new KPMG report released this week has disclosed how Europe lost just shy of 25,000 registered golfers between 2017 and 2018.

Where England is concerned, despite adding 16 registered courses to take its total to 1,888, the country's registered number of golfers has dwindled from 655,839 to 645,151. 

However, England still has the largest number of registered golfers anywhere in Europe. 

Scotland has also been badly hit in the latest report, with a 4% decline in registered players between 2017 and 2018 - 187,802 registered players down to 180,281. 

Wales also saw a 4% drop (44,551 to 42,743), with Ireland (which also includes Northern Ireland's figures) falling 0.58% (183,461 to 182,398).

But despite the declines in Great Britain and Ireland, KPMG's annual report did declare how the European golf market has remained stable in 2018, with no substantial changes in the overall supply and demand figures.

Overall participation in Europe has reportedly remained stable since 2015.

"When taking a closer look at Europe’s golf markets, 54.5% of local golf associations indicated that the level of participation in their country in 2018 had either stabilised or increased," said KPMG's statement. 

KPMG's research shows the number of registered golfers in Europe decreased by 0.6% (-24,396) but that the number of affiliated golf courses in Europe remained stable (-3).

Gender distribution of registered golfers in Europe remained constant, with 68% males, 25% females and 7% juniors.

KPMG analysed the relevant data compiled directly from the respective golf associations across 46 countries on the continent.

The key highlights of KPMG's annual report are available in PDF format upon registration and free of charge on the company's website.