In the past five years, golf has gained 5.5 million players, and the number of people actively playing the sport is approaching 67 million, according to research by the British organization R&A and Sports Marketing Surveys.

“Golf is booming, and we’ve seen significant growth in participation in many parts of the world, especially in the past couple of years, where it has been safe to grow outdoors despite the COVID-19 pandemic,” R&A’s Phil Anderton said in the publications. .

Sports marketing surveys collected data from national federations around the world, as well as representative surveys and expert estimates to calculate the global number of golfers. The regions with the highest growth in players are: Asia (from 20.9 million in 2016 to 23.3 million currently), Europe (7.9 million to 10.6 million) and North America (29.9 million to 30.6 million).

On the other hand, the findings of the European Participation in Golf 2021 Report – a report focused on the Old Continent – indicate that the upward trend began before the pandemic, and then accelerated during it, as the sport provided an opportunity to be active while maintaining social distance and was an opportunity to move safely in The open air.

The largest number of fans of this type of activity comes from Great Britain (more than 4.5 million in England, half a million players in Scotland), followed by Germany, France and Sweden. Iceland is a phenomenon with an estimated population of 65,000 golfers versus 366,000. Population means that up to 17% of the island’s residents play golf.

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Golf has also gained popularity in Poland. In 2021, the Polish Golf Association issued 6,375 handicap cards (considered the equivalent of sports licenses), while 10 years ago this number was 3008. Last season, 1.657 green cards were issued, confirming the completion of the basic game course.

And as the head of the National Union, Marek Michalovsky, emphasized, the numbers would be even higher.

He noted that “those who are just beginning their adventure with golf have not competed in tournaments, so they usually do not buy the hcp card or membership in the chosen club. Only in the following seasons will the numbers reflect this continued prosperity” – .

He added that in the summer of last year, especially in the fields near Warsaw, it was difficult to find vacancies.

“Whoever has not previously booked the so-called tee time has not actually had the opportunity to get a free hour on the weekend. You can also see a lot of people who are ready to play on the driving ranges or in the simulators in the winter”- he recalls.

Currently, 69 putters are registered with PZG. Estimated total number of green sports fans at 20,000 (PAP)

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