Here’s the top three things I learnt about the golf industry in March 2018
Giving his monthly review of how the golf industry has evolved, The Golf Business editor Alistair Dunsmuir looks at the state of the game in Scotland and how the new rules of golf will affect the industry
Scottish Golf needs to spend more money on communicating
The governing body of amateur golf in Scotland narrowly lost the vote on a proposal to increase the annual affiliation fee paid by members from £11.25 to £15, plunging it further into financial difficulty, despite overheads being reduced by £700,000 in the last two and a half years.
While the money would have been used to invest in growing the game, the comments from one golf club spokesman suggest the vote could have been won if the body invested in another area: “Communication. That’s the fundamental issue. They have got to communicate to people at the grass roots and explain what they are trying to do,” he said.
The new Rules of Golf will be good for participation
That’s the general view from golf club officials who talked to us online about the changes to the rules, and the new handicapping system, which come into play in 2019 and 2020 respectively.
One golf club owner said: “For the rules, ‘add two shots and drop a ball near where it was lost’ is a big step forward. For handicaps – there is now a much better system on the horizon. This is pretty much how handicaps were done pre-1983, and it was fun and popular. It will change the whole golfing scene, improving memberships and competition participation.”
It’s time doctors prescribed golf
Heart Research UK is now urging people to play golf; while another survey of golfers finds that the game is saving health authorities millions of pounds every year.
Golf is saving health authorities millions of pounds every year
In the recent past researchers at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute found being an active member of a golf club could add three and a half years to an elderly person’s life and that golfers live, on average, five years longer than non-golfers, the Local Government Association said that doctors should offer overweight patients ‘green space’ prescriptions to get them exercising outdoors and Macmillan Cancer Support said one round of golf could be as good for you as a week’s worth of exercise.
If the golf industry could come together to lobby the health industry to prescribe golf, the future becomes blindingly bright.
insight of three important developments in the golf industry in March.