For those of us who live here, we don’t always appreciate how big a sport golf is in England. Yes, football is the national game. And cricket is huge too.
But hitting a small ball around a big field? Turns out that’s pretty popular with the masses as well. The 785,000 players who have joined golf clubs or have iGolf memberships – a pretty impressive figure in itself – are dwarfed by the 4.2 million adult golfers.
That makes England one of the world’s biggest on-course adult golfer markets worldwide, according to The R&A.
But have you ever wondered just how vast the golfing landscape is in the country? How many golf clubs are there? How does that split between counties? Who has the most golf club members?
If you’ve ever spent any time at all grappling with these existential questions then cogitate no more. Here are the answers…
How many golf clubs are there in England?
The R&A’s most recent Global Participation Report says there are 2,423 golf courses in England. Of these, 1,735 are affiliated with the governing body England Golf.
That works out at an average of 49.8 golf clubs per county.
Which county has the most members?
Of course, some counties are bigger than others. And in the case of Yorkshire, much bigger. God’s own county has the most golf club members and it’s not even close. With 70,926 in 2024, it’s a comfortable War of the Roses win. Lancashire, in second, have 49,990.
They are narrowly ahead of Surrey 47,779 with a big gap to Berks, Bucks & Oxon (38,998) and Cheshire (38,933) in fourth and fifth.
The Isle of Man is the region of England – even though it’s a Crown Dependency it’s affiliated to England Golf – with the fewest golf club members. Even so, you might consider 2,285 to be an impressive return for a stretch of land just 32 miles long and 14 miles wide.
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Cambridgeshire (9,617), Northamptonshire (9,702) and Cumbria (9,741) are the counties otherwise propping up this league table.
Golf Club Members
| 1 | Yorkshire | 70926 |
| 2 | Lancashire | 49990 |
| 3 | Surrey | 47779 |
| 4 | Berks, Bucks & Oxon | 38998 |
| 5 | Cheshire | 38933 |
| 6 | Kent | 33477 |
| 7 | Hampshire, Isle of Wight & Channel Islands | 32998 |
| 8 | Essex | 29311 |
| 9 | Sussex | 27345 |
| 10 | Hertfordshire | 26819 |
| 11 | Gloucestershire | 20441 |
| 12 | Durham | 20181 |
| 13 | Staffordshire | 19684 |
| 14 | Lincolnshire | 18973 |
| 15 | Warwickshire | 18887 |
| 16 | Devon | 17958 |
| 17 | Northumberland | 15881 |
| 18 | Suffolk | 15593 |
| 19 | Dorset | 14896 |
| 20 | Nottinghamshire | 14103 |
| 21 | Somerset | 14085 |
| 22 | Worcestershire | 14052 |
| 23 | Norfolk | 13548 |
| 24 | Leicestershire & Rutland | 13057 |
| 25 | Cornwall | 12489 |
| 26 | Wiltshire | 12338 |
| 27 | Middlesex | 12147 |
| 28 | Derbyshire | 10535 |
| 29 | Shropshire & Herefordshire | 10283 |
| 30 | Bedfordshire | 10265 |
| 31 | Cumbria | 9741 |
| 32 | Northamptonshire | 9702 |
| 33 | Cambridgeshire | 9617 |
| 34 | Isle of Man | 2825 |
How many golf clubs are there in each county?
Those numbers obviously play out similarly when you consider the number of affiliated golf clubs in each county. While there are only eight in the Isle of Man – you should definitely check out Castletown if you take the trip – there are 181 in Yorkshire at the top of the tree and 141 in Lancashire.
Golf clubs per county
| 1 | Yorkshire | 181 |
| 2 | Lancashire | 141 |
| 3 | Berks, Bucks & Oxon | 103 |
| 4 | Surrey | 102 |
| 5 | Cheshire | 97 |
| 6 | Kent | 82 |
| 7 | Hampshire & Channel Islands | 76 |
| 8 | Essex | 72 |
| 9 | Hertfordshire | 60 |
| 10 | Sussex | 59 |
| 11 | Staffordshire | 47 |
| 12 | Lincolnshire | 45 |
| 13 | Warwickshire | 44 |
| 14 | Durham | 43 |
| 15 | Devon | 42 |
| 16 | Northumberland | 39 |
| 17 | Gloucestershire | 38 |
| 18 | Dorset | 34 |
| 19 | Nottinghamshire | 33 |
| 20 | Worcestershire | 33 |
| 21 | Middlesex | 32 |
| 22 | Norfolk | 31 |
| 23 | Cornwall | 30 |
| 24 | Cumbria | 29 |
| 25 | Derbyshire | 29 |
| 26 | Somerset | 29 |
| 27 | Suffolk | 29 |
| 28 | Shropshire & Herefordshire | 28 |
| 29 | Leicestershire & Rutland | 26 |
| 30 | Wiltshire | 24 |
| 31 | Northamptonshire | 23 |
| 32 | Bedfordshire | 22 |
| 33 | Cambridgeshire | 19 |
| 34 | Isle of Man | 8 |
Now have your say
How many golf clubs are there in England: What do you think of these golf club figures? Were you surprised by the numbers? Let us know by leaving a comment on X.
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