Golf in Scotland had an extraordinary year in 2021. The number of registered golfers grew by 7.17%:
- 179,832 registered golfers in 2020,
- 192,724 registered golfers in 2021.
The total number of golfers was 595,000 golfers. What is less flattering is the share of female (12%) and junior (9%) golfers. To understand my sadness, the European average of registered female golfers is 26%.
The share of junior golfers is slightly above the European average: 8%.
I hope I don’t need to convince you about the importance of inclusivity and accessibility. Not to mention that we need to get to know people’s needs and abilities. You don’t have to make everyone a tour player. Also, not everyone is flexible enough to have a proper golf swing.
As golf trainer technology (e.g. Trackman, Flightscope, Toptracer, etc.) usage is becoming the new normal it will give PGA Pros more opportunities to personalize their lessons to the goals, needs, and capabilities of the golfers.
For these reasons, I highlighted the love.golf program (sponsored by Syngenta) a couple of years ago.
This is why is so interesting the latest joint project of Carnoustie Golf Links and Abertay University. They have just launched a research partnership to make golf more accessible to all.
The partnership, which builds on previous collaborative research work between the two organizations, will be based at a new Carnoustie Golf Links Research Hub at the historic course.
It will focus on increasing participation in under-represented groups, health, and wellbeing, developing new methods to enhance golf performance, and assessing the impact of major events.
It would be worth combining such efforts with the golf clubs’ sustainability investments.
The first study to be generated since the formation of the partnership, the Global Golf Census, was also officially unveiled at the Links during The R&A’s Boys’ and Girls’ Amateur Championships.
Professor David Lavallee of Abertay University’s School of Applied Sciences and Chair of the Research Hub steering group said:
“We are launching The Global Golf Census, which will be the first and largest reaching international study assessing how people who participate in golf are supported in areas including wellbeing, mental welfare and inclusion.
The most important element in golf is the people involved, whether they are amateur or professional golfers, golf teaching professionals, caddies, greenkeepers or others involved in the game in another capacity.
The Global Golf Census will monitor and report data across the entire sport to help grow the game in sustainable ways.
The Carnoustie Golf Links Research Hub will provide a base to advance knowledge of the sport through research and innovation of the highest quality, with an emphasis on generating data that can help grow the game and have a meaningful impact on the people involved in golf, both now and in the future.