GOLF’S boom period is not just being felt in Sunraysia, but right across the country.
After chatting with Riverside Golf Club manager David Gardiner who, in Wednesday’s edition of the Daily, said since COVID hit memberships at the club had increased “about 15 per cent”, we thought it worthwhile to see if the Australia-wide results back that up.
It’s certainly the case with Golf Australia’s AusPlay statistics proving that participation in the sport over the past 18 months has increased by 21 per cent, and figures up to late 2020 showed a massive 6.3 per cent increase on memberships around the country.
According to GA general participation manager David Gallichio, this increase is seen across private clubs, public course, semi-private, driving ranges and even mini golf facilities. Membership for golf clubs in general had been dipping for almost 20 years until 2019 when it went up a fraction.
“It definitely is an Australia-wide trend,” Gallichio said.
“Over the last 18 to 20 months we’ve seen the largest course membership percentage increase on record… a bigger increase than even when Greg Norman was stalking the greens.
“A lot of clubs now have membership wait lists and players have to book to be able to get on the course which is a great result for clubs and facilities. Some clubs had been operating at about 40 per cent capacity before then.
“There hasn’t been a huge amount done by us, our focus has more been about observing trends and communication.”
Gallichio said GA is realistic that the boom has been as a result of COVID and golf being one of the few available sports during restrictions, rather than any particular measure or program being put in place.
“Anyone who says otherwise is probably being disingenuous,” he said.
“The focus from here will be a lot on retention. We and clubs now have to turn attention to how we keep these players involved.
“We’re lucky that golf in Australia, especially compared to overseas, is a sport for the people and is quite accessible.
“We’ll also analyse the types of access people have to golf and what the needs might be that can be met. In regional areas especially this will be pretty important.”
