From the Clubhouse: Are people who play Adventure Golf really golfers?
Golf is not what you thought it was. So says a newly commissioned PGA report that includes some pretty surprising stats about our sport. The From the Clubhouse team are here to dissect every number
What is a golfer? Is it just a golf club member? Or can someone who has only ever struck a shot on an Adventure Golf course call themselves a player?
Golf for All, a huge research project commissioned by the PGA and carried out by IPSOS, claims that “golf is not what you thought it was”.
It reveals that 22.4 million people (some 40 per cent of adults in the UK and Ireland) are interested in the game, with 16.3 million playing any golf and 4.9 million playing on-course.
With Adventure Golf the most popular form of the game, and enjoyed by 12.6 million people, Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll dive into some of the report’s major findings, consider what makes a golfer, and ask how to bridge the gap between off course and on course golf activity.
Elsewhere, Tom’s been on a visit to ‘that there London’ and watched the pro-am at the BMW PGA Championship, He discusses with Steve Carroll the merit of golf celebrity watching. Hint: Steve is not a fan.
And after Steve dug once more into the history archives and revealed how hitting into another group was viewed by our golfing ancestors, Tom reveals two of the most incredible etiquette breaches.
They are stories you won’t want to miss.
The From the Clubhouse podcast is produced in association with TaylorMade Golf.
Click the link below to listen to the From the Clubhouse Podcast
What do you think? How do you define a golfer, and what are the worst etiquette breaches you have ever seen on a golf course? Let us know by leaving a comment on X, formerly known as twitter.
Picture: Golf It!
Steve Carroll
A journalist for 25 years, Steve has been immersed in club golf for almost as long. A former club captain, he has passed the Level 3 Rules of Golf exam with distinction having attended the R&A's prestigious Tournament Administrators and Referees Seminar.
Steve has officiated at a host of high-profile tournaments, including Open Regional Qualifying, PGA Fourball Championship, English Men's Senior Amateur, and the North of England Amateur Championship. In 2023, he made his international debut as part of the team that refereed England vs Switzerland U16 girls.
A part of NCG's Top 100s panel, Steve has a particular love of links golf and is frantically trying to restore his single-figure handicap. He currently floats at around 11.
Steve plays at Close House, in Newcastle, and York GC, where he is a member of the club's matches and competitions committee and referees the annual 36-hole scratch York Rose Bowl.
Having studied history at Newcastle University, he became a journalist having passed his NTCJ exams at Darlington College of Technology.
What's in Steve's bag: TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver, 3-wood, and hybrids; TaylorMade Stealth 2 irons; TaylorMade Hi-Toe, Ping ChipR, Sik Putter.
