Golf Inc. - October 2008 - (Page 13)

Iceland 61 15,865 European golf: where the courses, players and numbers represent registered golfers in Norway each country 124 380,000 Scotland 548 254,435 Ireland 417 287,000 Denmark England 160 1,961 140,507 Wales 950,204 Netherlands 158 150 70,000 109,300 Germany 677 527,427 France 549 Switzerland 378,275 79 50,608 Slovenia 10 6,121 KEY Finland 120 116,473 Sweden 451 539,637 Estonia 6 1,387 Belgium 78 48,351 Luxembourg 6 78,000 Austria 152 95,833 Latvia 3 Lithuania 700 3 Czech Republic 300 68 Poland 28,730 25 1,977 Slovakia 6 3,016 Portugal 76 13,858 Spain 304 298,614 Country Number of courses Number of players PARTICIPATION RATE Traditional markets Emerging markets Hungary 6 Romania 1,211 2 Croatia 474 Serbia 2 1 550 Bulgaria 300 3 Italy 125 199 84,117 Greece 6 1,339 Turkey 11 7,789 Cyprus 4 1,400 ■ 5.0%-7.0% ■ 1.2%-2.6% ■ 0.1%-0.8% ■ Less than 0.1% Source: KPMG Golf Benchmark Survey 2007 ommended looking at golfers on a country-by-country basis. Despite the homogenizing impact of the European Union, demographics, market conditions and spending power can differ dramatically. To identify trends, Sartori recommended looking at golfers country by country. Despite the homogenizing impact of the European Union, demographics and spending power can differ dramatically. “One of the challenges we have in Europe, as opposed to the United States, is we lack a uniform approach to measuring the number of players and courses,” Sartori said. The European Golf Association (EGA). the main body in Europe that collects information on the number of golfers per country, includes only members of golf clubs in its statistics. The number of non-affiliated golfers do not show up in any totals and are difficult to estimate. A changing market Here is a sample of what European Golf Association statistics reveal: ■ Germany, France and Italy have averaged 3-5 percent annual growth in the number of players. ■ Spain has had some huge increases in the past 10 years. There were 121,000 golfers registered in 1998, but now there are more than 318,000. Much of the growth in Spain is from UK residents or other expatriates who have retired there or who have second homes there, but are registered as golfers in Spain. ■ Great Britain still has the most golfers — about 911,000 in 2008 — but doesn’t seem to be growing. Ireland has had modest increases recently, but Scotland has been drifting slowly down for several years. What seems to have spurred some of the growth areas is interest in European Tour stars and Ryder Cup triumphs. October 2008 www.GolfIncMagazine.com 13 Sergio Garcia and Angel Cabrera have been good for Spain. Disposable income has been on the rise, and cheap, convenient airline flights are available to golfing destinations. But all that may be changing. Bruce Glasco, senior vice president of Troon Golf for Europe and other areas, sees the Spanish golf market as slowing. “At first it was due to a drop-off in the real estate market, but now higher prices on flights make it harder for UK residents to travel to play golf,” Glasco said. Another potential trouble spot is Sweden, where European Golf Association statistics indicate that players have dropped from 594,000 in 2004 to 532,000 today. In the Eastern European countries, the number of golfers has swelled as more clubs are built. Over the past 10 years, the number of Hungarian golfers has almost doubled, http://www.GolfIncMagazine.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Golf Inc. - October 2008

Golf Inc. - October 2008 Contents From the Editors: Smaller is Less Costly Survey Reveal Golf's Economic Impact in EMA Private Club Managers Earn Bigger Salaries Dyes Mourn Loss of Family Member Changing Demographics Impact European Golf Scene RDC Golf Group Finds Affordable Golf Niche Links at Summerly Offers Unique Twist Cost Crunch Most Powerful People in Golf Contractors Focus on Renovations, International�Projects Troon, IMG Reach Into Booming Middle East Market Americas Recap: New Player Design in Mexico Europe-Africa Recap: Moroccan Lakeside Development Asia-Australia Recap: 3 Billion Dollar Resort in Vietnam The Last Word: There's No Substitute for Good Friends on a Golf Course

Golf Inc. - October 2008

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