Europe’s 5,896 courses represent 47% of all courses not in North America. For an American company looking at going international Europe is half of everything out there. Also, European golf is growing fast. Courses in the mainland have increased 80% in just ten years and golfer numbers are growing at 5% annually


 
 

Table of Contents
Executive Summary
3
The Courses
4
Number of Courses by Country
4
Dot Map Showing Location of All Europe’s Courses
6
Population per 18 Holes (000’s) by Country
7
Size of Golf Facilities by Country
10
Recent Golf Course Development by Country
12
Overview of Courses under Construction & In Planning by Country
15
Green Fee Market
16
Average Green Fees (£) - by Country
16
Map of Average Green Fees by European Region
19
Pricing Changes by Country 1999 - 2002
20
Weekend Green Fees - % Increase on Midweek Fees
23
Joining Fees
26
Average Joining Fees (£) - by Country
26
Map of Average Joining Fees by European Region
28
Price Changes by Country 1999 - 2002
29
Annual Subscriptions
32
Average Subscriptions by Country
32
Map of Annual Subscriptions by European Region
34
Price Changes by Country 1999 - 2002
35
The Golfing Population
38
Number of Golfers by Country
38
Registered Golfers, Members and Green Fee Golfers by Country
39
Golf Participation Rates by Country
40
Club Membership Analysis – Members per 18 holes / Facility by Country
42
Club Membership Growth by Country
44
Women Golfers by Country
46
Junior Golfers by Country
48
Measuring the Increase of Golfers over the Past Ten Years by Country
50
Increase in Golfers 1992-2002 by County
51
Annual Increase in Registered Golfers (%) by Country
52
The Leading Architects
53
Number of European Projects Opened Since 1990 by Leading Architect
53
Increase in Revenues by Courses Employing a Leading Architect
54
An Architect’s Value – Course Revenue Performance by Individual Architect
55
Green Fee Pricing – Performance by Individual Architect
56
Membership Pricing – Performance by Individual Architect
57
European Trade in Golf-Related Goods
58
Imports and Exports by Country (US$)
58
Europe’s Largest Importers
59
Europe’s Largest Exporters
60
% Change in Net Imports/Exports by Country 1999-2002
61
Appendix 1: Present Value Formulae
63
Appendix 2: Analysis of Average Income per Course by Country
64
   
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Golf Supply Levels
•

Population per eighteen holes is a useful benchmark of supply levels. Europe averages 127,000 people per eighteen holes (pp18h). In comparison the US is better supplied with 18,383 pp18h.

 
•
Iceland, with nearly 550 holes and a population of just under 300,000 enjoys the best supply level in Europe with 9,426 pp18h. Britain overall has 23,000 pp18h. This is now ahead of the goal of 25,000 pp18h by the year 2000 which was set in 1989 by the R&A report “Demand for Golf”.
•
Of the Western European countries, Italy (363,000), Portugal (204,000) & Spain (170,000) are the most poorly supplied areas. Eastern Europe is by far the area where golf is lacking. Slovenia and the Czech Republic are the only areas that provide comparable figures with the West.
•
Supply levels vary greatly from country to country. This is because the popularity of golf varies enormously. Europe is not one golf market – it is a collection of different countries, all with their own unique golf market, added together.
•
The problem for new markets such as Eastern Europe is that the popularity of golf is unknown. For example, no-one currently plays golf in Bucharest, Romania because there are no courses there. There is no demand because there is no supply.
•

So would the construction of a new course in Bucharest create enough demand to make it a commercial success? The honest answer is that no-one really knows until it is tried.

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Population per 18 holes by European Region

 

  

 

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Midweek Green Fee Quartiles (£)

•

The map on the following page shows the variation in green fee prices over Europe. The most expensive areas appear to be Austria, Switzerland, northern Italy and the coasts of France, Spain and Portugal, Cheaper golf can be found all over Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Eire.

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