A Global Outlook In Golf

Every Monday, I write a newsletter breaking down the business in golf. Welcome to the 53 new Perfect Putt members who have joined us since the last newsletter. Join 9,563 intelligent and curious golfers by subscribing below.

Read Time: 6 minutes.

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Hey Golfers —

Around 80% of Perfect Putt readers live in the United States. Since I live in the U.S. and a good majority of the readers also live in the U.S. — I tend to focus on American golf-related pieces.

I often receive messages and emails from readers asking for pieces to dig deeper into other parts of the world.

It still baffles me that more than ten people read this newsletter — let alone in 84 countries.

But I read a recent piece in the Wall Street Journal detailing Jinhyeok Jeong, TaylorMade’s owner, that sent me down a rabbit hole. It was fascinating.

Over 100 million people participate in some form of golf worldwide. For every 100 people in the world — 1.2 participate in golf. While golf is not the most popular sport from a participation standpoint — it isn’t insignificant. Most studies have golf as a top ten participation sport worldwide.

The United States has 26.6 million on-course golfers. Here is a look at the top ten on-course markets — excluding the U.S.

• Japan — 8.1 million

• Canada — 5.6 million

• Korea — 5.4 million

• England — 3.4 million

• Germany — 2.1 million

• Australia — 1.9 million

• France — 1.5 million

• Sweden — 1.1 million

• Ireland — 1 million

• China — 1 million

Canada and Ireland have the highest participation rates, at 14%. This means that for every 100 people living in each country, 14 play golf. Both countries have nearly double the on-course participation rate of the United States. 

Here is a look at how many golf courses each of the top ten countries has.

• Japan — 3,090

• Canada — 2,530

• England — 2,357

• Australia — 1,568

• Germany — 1,053

• Korea — 844

• France — 815

• Sweden — 661

• China — 605

• Ireland — 358

Korea is one of the most interesting golf markets. Florida has 1,262 golf courses, but it has less than half the total population of Korea. Michigan even has more golf courses than Korea, but it has a fifth of Korea's total population.

Korea has 844 golf courses and 5.4 million on-course golfers, or 6,339 golfers for every golf course. For context, the U.S. has 15,963 golf courses, or 1,666 golfers, for every golf course.

Imagine the supply issues the golf industry has faced in the United States and multiply it by four.

The supply issues Korea faces are among the main causes of night golf and screen golf in the country. While I believe in both, I always caution people who want to replicate those products in other parts of the world.

Korea is a massive market for equipment and apparel. In 2023, Acushnet alone recognized over $300 million in revenue from Korea, which made up 13% of its total revenue.

According to the Wall Street Journal piece I referenced earlier, Korea is the world's largest market for golf apparel. 

Golf companies are flocking to Korea and finding distributors to represent their brands.

Australia continues to follow the growth trends the golf industry has enjoyed over the past few years.

Over two million Australians played golf on a golf course last year, bringing the participation rate to just under 10%. Australia's adult golf participation (off-course and on-course) was 3.5 million last year — 17.6% of the total population.

Junior golf memberships grew by 9%, and female memberships grew by 13% in Australia. Two important growth sectors to sustain the momentum of golf’s rise in the last few years.

Golf's health is generally good globally. Most regions are seeing participation rates increase in both on-course and off-course segments.

While the United States has the most golfers, it does not have the highest participation rate. Several countries are more golf-crazed than the United States.

The top three markets — Japan, Canada, and Korea — combine for 19.1 million on-course golfers, yet the PGA Tour visited Japan once and Canada once in 2023. And the DP World Tour visited Japan once and Korea once in 2023.

Professional golf certainly adds important elements to the game. There is little correlation between the success of pro golf and the success of recreational golf, which may be an upcoming piece in itself.

Have yourself a great Monday. Talk to you next week!

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