The Golf for All report, commissioned by the PGA, reveals some surprising statistics about female participation. What can clubs learn from it?
This article is part of GCMA Insights – topical content for golf industry professionals, discussing the things that matter to those who work in golf clubs.
We all know golf clubs, and membership in particular, are massively male dominated. At the last count, around 85 per cent of members in England were men.
But if you bring other forms of golf away from the course into the equation, something very interesting happens.
Golf for All, a new report commissioned by the PGA in partnership with Ipsos, has shone a light on the varying demographics of on-course and off-course golfers – and they are figures every golf club should consider.
While the study reveals that 75 per cent of on-course golfers are male, the gender split of players off the course is almost 50-50: 47 per cent female and 53 per cent male to be precise.
Off-course golf is defined in the report as activities such as adventure golf, driving ranges, pitch and putt and simulators.
Their reach is incredible. Some 12.9 million people engage in adventure golf, with 4.8 million visiting driving ranges and 3.9 million enjoying pitch and putt golf.
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You can argue easily enough that those activities are more family friendly, are easier to access, and they’re a more accessible form of ‘entertainment’.
In the same way you might pop down to Hollywood Bowl for an evening but would never consider yourself a ‘bowler’, there will be plenty who enjoy 9-holes at Puttstars that would never ever class themselves as a golfer.
But it still begs the question of why three is such a gender disparity? Why are women and girls keen to access golf but more reluctant to take their passion for the sport onto the course?
Is there something about golf clubs that suits the membership, and whether it’s culture, or tradition, many are set up to cater for the demographic of those paying their fees.
That is understandable, but does it make it easy for players from off-course golf to make the jump?
In a column for Golf Business Quarterly, journalist and broadcaster Genelle Aldred wrote that the transition to a club for people who played off-course “seems problematic when the data shows it’s the more relaxed way of playing that appeals to those millions who are choosing non-traditional golf outside of clubs and courses”.
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She explained: “When spending money on any activity, relaxation and fun are big factors. I would only bring someone to my club if I was sure they either know the spoken and unspoken rules or they won’t mind me telling them.
“It’s not that golfers don’t want to welcome people, but sometimes the rules and attitudes towards newer players are far from patient or helpful. That’s why so many stay away.”
Genelle added there was also equality built into the non-traditional golf system. “Everyone is in the same spot – no tee box over here and one over there. You can wear what you like. No one says: ‘You play off what?! They didn’t allow that when I started’.”
Tradition and etiquette are important. They are among the myriad reasons people join clubs in the first place, but should clubs recognise the barrier in crossing this on-course off-course divide and make it easier for people?
Or should we accept that there can be varying different formats of the game that don’t necessarily have to link up in one single big chain?
If nothing else, the research does allow a club to look at what they provide and decide for themselves whether they are providing what their clientele want.
And, should they want to diversify, they can consider what it is that Topgolf, and places like it, do so well to attract women and girls to go and play.
The answer brings a new world of prospective customers.
To read the Golf for All report, visit the website.
This article is part of GCMA Insights – topical content for golf industry professionals, discussing the things that matter to those who work in golf clubs.
Get involved in the debate. To join the GCMA, click here, or to organise a call with a member of the GCMA team, just complete this form and we’ll be in touch!
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