2019 Golf Australia Participation Report reveals increase in participation

The 2019 Golf Australia Participation Report, compiled annually by Golf Business Advisory Services, has revealed a 0.05% increase, the first of its kind since 1998.

Golf Australia Chairman Andrew Newbold acknowledged the “fantastic result”, just one of several promising numbers in the report and adds “we continue to see a rise in social club membership, but we couldn’t be more pleased that clubs in Queensland (0.9% rise) and South Australia (0.8% rise) really helped drive us to a membership number we haven’t seen this century.

“Obviously there’s a churn factor we’d love to address for those who are no longer members, but we were very enthused to see almost 30,000 new members around the country.

“Importantly for club health broadly, more than half (52%) of those new members were aged under 50, a figure that compares well to the 28% in that category overall.”

Among other key positives, there has been a 33% surge in the number of 9-hole competition rounds through “Play 9”, a combined initiative of Golf Australia and the R&A.

There was also a 2.7% increase in junior club membership, the first increase in junior membership for more than 10 years.

Golf Australia’s Golf Development general manager David Gallichio advised “the increase in junior club membership is also very positive and it is pleasing to see GA’s investment in the MyGolf program bearing fruit at grass-roots level.”

Another pleasing result also came with a timely reminder to those in the golf industry.

Competition rounds spiked by 2% to 10.534 million and the overall participation rate rose 2.5%.

But Gallichio said these results were tempered by a 14% drop in the number of total golf participants noting “this reflects a broader trend seen in the majority of organised sport around the country.

“But it’s important data to consider when we’re helping clubs shape their offerings, particularly around attracting women to golf.

“Female golf participation market share has increased three points to 21% in the past three years, which is a start, but not nearly enough to meet our goals and what’s best for the long-term health of the sport.

“These factors really stress the importance of understanding the needs of our potential and future customers in retaining them within the sport, and also demonstrate that our Vision 2025 plans are starting to bear fruit.”

A copy of the document can be found at: 2019 Golf Australia Participation Report