Two new participation reports produced by Sports Marketing Surveys (SMS) – “2020 Great Britain Golf Participation Report” and “2020 Ireland Golf Participation Report” – have shown an increase in participation by a combined 2.3 million on-course adult golfers in Great Britain and Ireland last year. The reports are based on new figures from The R&A, together with England Golf, Golf Ireland, Scottish Golf and Wales Golf. Like in the U.S., Sweden and elsewhere, the sport flourished in those two countries in 2020 despite the major challenges of Covid-19 and related restrictions. According to the two reports, a significant number of players enjoyed golf on full-length courses but also alternative forms of the sport, including the use of driving ranges, Par 3 golf and pitch and putt. Other key trends were an increase in the number of female golfers and a reduction in the average age of participants. In the U.K., the total number of adult golfers on a full-length course (9 or 18 holes) increased by 2.1 million players to 5.2 million, a record for this century. Of these golfers, 16 percent started or tried golf for the first time because of the pandemic. The average age of golfers fell by five years to 41. Among female golfers, 25 percent were new to the sport. In Ireland, the total number of adult golfers on a full-length course rose by 219,000 to 540,000. A third of Irish adult golfers who tried the sport for the first time were under 25.

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