Here’s three major trends from the last month in the UK golf industry

From a major new UK golf resort getting the green light to go ahead to seven golf clubs looking for new operators, March 2022 was an interesting month for the industry.

A major new golf resort is coming to Scotland

‘The Angus’, a £100 million golf resort, has been given planning approval by Angus Council, and will be one of the biggest golf projects the UK has ever seen.

It will include a signature Darren Clarke golf course, clubhouse and golf academy with driving range.

Described as “a resort that will surpass anything on offer in Scotland”, it is due to open to the public in 2024.

Demand for tee times in 2023 is already strong

This isn’t just an example that the current strength of golf will be here for at least another couple of years, it also shows that venues that attract foreign golfing tourists should now be seeing the boom many other golf clubs have experienced in the last two years.

Muirfield, host of the oldest golf club in the world, sold every summer tee time for 2023 in just two hours.

As one US blogger wrote: “I knew golf has been booming ever since the Covid-19 pandemic but I didn’t realise people were dying to play this badly! Especially in the UK where multiple lockdowns due to the pandemic halted all golf activities, and now people are doing whatever they can to get out on the course to make up for lost time.”

Some municipal clubs are looking for new operators

The pandemic may have led to a surge in golf participation but, for other reasons, some operators have significantly struggled over the last two years.
This is particularly clear among municipal golf clubs.

For example, Brackenwood Golf Club and Hoylake Municipal have had their funding removed due to a budgeting crisis within Wirral Council.

The hope now is that a new operator will be found before the venues significantly deteriorate.

Meanwhile, five golf courses in Yorkshire, Beauchief, Tapton Park, Tinsley Park, Birley Wood and Sinfin, have been told they will be handed back to their council, which intends to appoint a new operator to run them, in 2024, following their operator also suffering financial issues.

This could be a fruitful time for golf club operators that are interested in taking on new projects.