Ishwar Achanta writes for golfingindian.com

Golf Around The World By Ishwar Achanta

AROUND THE WORLD OF GOLF   Possibly a little known but highly important report recently released, was by The R&A, titled “Golf Around the World 2015”. As a …

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AROUND THE WORLD OF GOLF

 

Possibly a little known but highly important report recently released, was by The R&A, titled “Golf Around the World 2015”. As a keen follower of this game, it made for some very interesting reading.

 

The preface states, “this unprecedented report reveals the truly global nature of the sport of golf and explores its potential for growth. In addition to establishing the first “official” count of the world’s golf courses, it will now be possible to accurately track golf’s growth around the world and identify areas of potential development.”

 

COUNTRIES WITH 100+ GOLF FACILITIES

Apparently, the development in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean is gaining momentum but on the supply side, traditional golfing countries rule the roost. Most countries have only one golf course, several have more than 100 and even fewer are home to 500 or more.

 

The western hemisphere boasts of the major supply. North and South America are home to 55% of the world supply (45% of the world’s facilities are in the U.S). Europe has the second largest supply with 22% of the world total, followed by Asia with 14% and Oceania with 6%.

 

Clearly, golf’s supply is clearly strongest in the most developed nations, but don’t write off the rest of the world!

 

GLOBAL GOLF SCORE CARD 

While golf is spreading around the globe, the worldwide supply remains highly concentrated among the top 20 golfing nations.

 

As of 2014, 34,011 golf facilities (24116 public and 9895 private) with 590864 golf holes have been identified in 206 countries. 79 % of this supply is located in the top 10 golfing countries, including Australia, Canada, England, Japan and the United States. An interesting outcome, busting the elitist myth, is that the sport remains largely accessible, 71% are open to the public.

 

IN THE PIPELINE

There are 696 new golf course projects being developed worldwide, which will increase world supply by a mere 2 %. While this continues to be highly concentrated among traditional golfing nations, new courses are opening in exotic locales.

 

With 80% of these projects located in Asia (65), Europe (159) and North America (200), the sport is reaching parts of the world where golf has not been largely present before such as Africa (65), Oceania (35) & South America (30). Belarus and Azerbaijan debuted in 2013, Georgia in June 2014 with Macedonia, Sao Tome, Principe, Bolivia, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Oman, Qatar and UAE adding to existing supply.

 

THE ASIAN INFLUENCE

Asia covers 31% of the total land on earth and 53 out of its 55 countries contribute to 14% of the world’s golf supply and eight countries account for 90% of the region’s supply.

 

Japan alone accounts for 50% with 2383 facilities. Surprisingly, Russia, despite having the largest landmass in the region, has only 20 facilities.

 

China, one of the fastest growing golf countries in the world, has 473 facilities following a 2004 government imposed ban on golf course construction. In South Korea, though a popular sport, the supply of affordable public courses is insufficient to meet demand.

 

Asia is home to the most new golf projects in the world with 207 courses under development with 27 countries having at least one new project under development. Interestingly, Japan has nothing new to offer!

 

The majority of the growth is in China, with 56 courses under development with 46 projects on hold. India ranks second with 32 courses under development, followed by Vietnam with 18. Golf projects are also underway in the Middle Eastern part of the region, including Israel, Jordan, Oman, Iran and Lebanon.

 

Wherever, whatever the globalization of the game continues and Asia, particularly India, remains a strong focus area. This development fits in nicely with the IGU’s plans to grow the game to the half million mark!

 

Ishwar Achanta

 

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