Here’s three stories from February that have got the golf industry talking

From installing EV charging points to the rise of off-course golf, February 2023 has been a month of highlighting modern golfing trends.

Playing golf is healthier than just walking

It is beyond doubt that the walking benefits of playing golf are good for your health, and particularly for older people, so much so that doctors in Fife have been prescribing it to patients lately.

However, a new study measuring cardiovascular health tested elderly people who played a round of golf, walked the same distance while undertaking another exercise and just walked the same distance.

Golf provided the biggest health benefits of the three activities – something that golf clubs could use in their marketing initiatives.

Electric vehicle charging points could be lucrative

Sales of plug-in vehicles are soaring at the moment and Royal Birkdale Golf Club is one of many clubs keen to benefit from this economic trend.

The host venue for 10 Open Championships is installing six electric vehicle chargers. To help provide the electricity for them, it has also installed 318 photovoltaic panels on the roofs of its clubhouse and greenkeeping hangars.

Club officials are even assessing the option of selling excess electricity to the UK’s National Grid.

Off-course golf is now bigger in the US than on-course

Defined as golf-entertainment venues, indoor simulators, standalone driving ranges and junior initiatives, off-course golf has become huge in the USA, just as it has in the UK and Ireland.

In fact, even though the number of on-course golfers in the US has risen sharply in the last three years to 25.6 million people, the number of off-course golfers has soared in recent years, and is now at 27.9 million.

Last year was the first ever that saw more off-course participation than on it.

While the health benefits of the game is a way to attract older people, a modern driving range might be what’s needed to lure the younger generation.