Ian Mallon: Three key factors driving Irish golf’s ‘exceptional’ recovery
![Ian Mallon: Three key factors driving Irish golf’s ‘exceptional’ recovery Ian Mallon: Three key factors driving Irish golf’s ‘exceptional’ recovery](/cms_media/module_img/7423/3711760_1_articlesmall_xxxkclub_20power_x.jpg)
GOLF IRELAND: Seamus Power during a practice round at The K Club. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile.
IN THE two years since Irish golf reopened for business, the period was viewed as an artificial landing point, with an expectation that such a meteoric recovery would level off around now.
The year ahead would be a period of readjustment as international visitor numbers return to more realistic levels, having satisfied an initial frenzy of activity from the US market in particular.
But with demand continuing to surge, fuelled by a strong dollar and some extraordinary marketing of the business across North America, there is no end in sight for Ireland’s golfing boom.
At home participation numbers continue to grow, with membership registrations recorded by Golf Ireland increasing, while the retail sector has never known such demand, as a picture of an ongoing incline trends upwards.
As we await end-of-year results from across the sector, The Pitch – with the help of industry experts – has compiled an analysis of the industry using the three most vital indicators to track this growth.
For the golf business here to thrive, it depends on three key factors - Domestic Participation (Membership and Green Fees), Inbound Investment (Tourism) and Retail (Equipment and Accessories).
Using these values the picture revealed is even stronger than some of the more optimistic forecasts have predicted, and are a world away from the feared negative impacts of what a slowdown, after the initial rush, might look like.
Let’s look at some of the most relevant numbers to demonstrate how the game continues to defy expectation into 2024 and onwards towards another Open Championship in 2025 and Ryder Cup in 2027.
In the domestic market, Golf Ireland has revealed to us that the number of registered players has grown by 8% on last year, or 21% since 2018.
Fears that the growth of the game during the pandemic – where membership numbers increased by 12% – was temporary, have proven unfounded, with a high of 219,937 registered members now playing the sport.
We don’t know what this large segment’s investment in the game is, but if we roughly approximate that an average golf membership (juvenile and senior combined) works out at around €450 per player, you’re looking at revenue of €100m.
This doesn’t account for golf societies - which we previously assessed as being worth €60m - or individual green fees for clubs, nor the vast amount of casual players who are not affiliated to clubs but play regularly.
An even more significant number comes from the tourism sector, a segment valued at €300m in 2019, and may have been as much as €500m during the Celtic Tiger boom.
The Ireland Golf Tour Operators Association (IGTOA) will meet in October to review the year, but already the 23-agency operation is reporting a period of significant increased demand from inbound golfers.
What will be interesting to assess is the percentage breakdown of players which was last recorded in 2019 of 47% North American, 30% European and 19% UK, with the remainder from Asia.
While not an exact science, the US and Canadian golf tourist will more generally want to play links golf, while the UK and Europeans will equally be drawn to the country’s top parkland golf courses – either way the numbers could well beat 2019’s 220,000.
The influx of visitors, particularly from the US, has led to an “exceptionally strong year” according to IGTOA Executive Director Barry Maye, who reports that 2024 is already looking like another busy period.
“We’re seeing that that pent-up demand to visit and play here was fully appreciated once the barriers were lifted after Covid, and that has not waned since then,” he explained.
“That demand is still exceptionally strong, particularly from North America where there is a huge desire to play the famous links and trophy courses.
“Our operators are reporting that (a lot of these courses) are pretty much booked out for next year.”
With tee times filling up a year in advance, the challenge for operators has been to find alternatives in a country which has one per cent of the world’s golf courses and 30% of the planet’s links clubs.
An even more visible indicator of how the game continues to grow comes in the increasingly valuable retail sector, where demand for golfing goods is increasing to unprecedented levels.
McGuirk's Golf opens its 20th store this summer - in Letterkenny, Co Donegal – marking a healthy upturn in the market, not just for new clubs and equipment, but for clothing and accessories.
Regional Manager with the group, Dave Carr, explained that the sector has been “exceptional” this year – The Pitch assesses that golf retail is worth around €120m in turnover in the 26 counties alone.
“I’ve been in the business for 30 years – when we started off with just Howth - and the sector is performing very well,” he explains.
“The demand is high for clubs – and not just clubs but for fittings – nobody goes into a shop anymore and just buys a set and then leaves, they all want to be fitted.
“We’ve also noticed a huge increase in younger golfers coming in, and while the older market is still there and is extremely strong, the profile of the customer is changing.”
Golf club sales only make up approximately 30% of the retail business in Ireland, with accessories, shoes and clothing holding the majority of the value.
And in a year of unprecedented growth across the entire sector, in retail the big seller was rain gear, where even the dark clouds can’t defy an industry which continues to explode.