About 40% of UK adults play golf

A new study has found that more than a third of all adults in the UK and Ireland participate in golf in some way.

The PGA project, ‘Golf for All’, finds that 22.4 million adults in the UK and Ireland ‘engage with golf in any capacity’, equating to 40 percent of all adults.

Of these, 4.9 million people play golf on a course while more than three times that number, 16.3 million people, play other forms of golf such as adventure golf, pitch and putt, on a driving range or via a simulator.

Commenting on the research findings, Robert Maxfield, chief executive of The PGA, said: “This research has already been an enlightening exercise for us at The PGA. It has confirmed our expectation that golf has changed irrevocably, and that there is huge scope for the golf industry to be more inclusive of different forms of the game and the people who play them.

“The report itself gives us detailed insight and is a ground-breaking look into just how far the game has come, and how big the opportunity is to tap into a huge population of people who are already engaged in golf that we haven’t had sight of in the past. It gives the industry the chance to diversify the sport’s fan base and user base, and that is hugely exciting.”