New R&A stats show we’re still flocking to the golf course in massive numbers

Golfers are as keen as ever to get to the course as new figures show the Covid-19 pandemic participation boom remains in full flow.

Research led by The R&A, with England Golf, Scottish Golf, Golf Ireland and Wales Golf, has revealed the numbers of people playing the sport in Great Britain & Ireland remains considerably above pre-2020 levels.

New data shows that 5.6 million on-course adult golfers – the second-highest number since monitoring began over 30 years ago – were on full-length courses (9 or 18 holes) last year.
 
Participation rose by 265,000 to surpass the total of 5.3 million in 2021, and is now only slightly below the record of 5.7 million on-course adult golfers in 2020 – when the game enjoyed significant growth during the pandemic because it could be played safely outdoors.

Given that there were 3.7 million on-course adult golfers in 2019, the figures show there were over 50 per cent more in 2022 than before the pandemic struck.

And 20 per cent of those on a full-length course were female – compared to 15 per cent in 2019.

Phil Anderton, Chief Development Officer at The R&A, said, “It is very positive to see the number of on-course adult golfers grow in Great Britain and Ireland last year. The sport remains very popular on full-length courses as large numbers of lapsed or non-golfers who took up the sport during the pandemic continue to enjoy playing.

“The growth has been aided by the important work of golf bodies to drive participation initiatives and increase awareness of the benefits of the sport for physical and mental health, including our pilot health campaign in Wales last year.
 
“There remains significant interest in golf and while we recognise that there are economic challenges due to cost of living pressures, it is important for everyone involved to do their best to keep existing golfers in the sport.”
 
In Great Britain, the average rounds played were also 6 per cent up on 2021 and 2022 was almost a quarter up on 2019. Rounds played per month for the full 12 months was the highest in 2022 of the last ten years. 

Participation initiatives included ‘Golf is Good’, a global project by The R&A piloted in Wales last summer in partnership with Wales Golf. Featuring R&A global ambassador Gareth Bale, it used recent scientific research to promote the health and wellbeing benefits of playing the sport through cutting-edge animation.
 
The campaign produced positive results with 65% of current golfers who had seen golf and health advertising playing more golf than usual in 2022, compared to 48% of current golfers who had not seen the advertising. Furthermore, 73% of current on-course golfers were likely to play more golf because of the campaign.
 
The ‘Golf is Good’ campaign insight in Wales and the new GB&I participation and GB rounds played data was produced by Sporting Insights.

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