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JUNIOR GOLF IN ENGLAND
THE FACTS AND FIGURES
Are golf clubs doing all they can to attract junior members? Are they doing enough to encourage a new generation of young golfers? Do youngsters in England realise there are vacancies at many golf clubs throughout the country?
These are some of the facts identified through a census carried out by the English Golf Union among its affiliated clubs as part of a Development Plan for Junior Golf in England. This follows the formation of the England Junior Golf Partnership involving the EGU, the English Ladies' Golf Association, the Golf foundation, PGA and Sport England.
In fact, there are plenty of junior vacancies at English golf clubs and if they were to be taken up it would boost the overall percentage throughout the country above the current lowly 8 per cent.
Furthermore, England has the lowest junior membership percentage of the four Home Countries and lags 11th in the European league table behind the likes of Sweden, Finland, France and Austria.
Clearly, with a few exceptions, not enough is being done among English golf clubs to encourage the promotion of junior golf at a time when the average age of English golfers is growing ever-higher year on year.
In the survey, named the Junior Golf Millennium Census, all 1890 clubs, private, proprietary, and municipal, affiliated to the EGU, were sent questionnaires and 1005, or 53 per cent, returned them with the relevant information.
The returns showed that nationally, juniors provided just 8 per cent of the overall golf club membership and of that figure, 89 per cent were boys and just 11 per cent girls. This would bear out the trend among clubs that it is harder to attract girls than boys to the game.
Overall there are 730,000 golfers affiliated to the The English Golf Union (EGU) and 130,000 female golfers to ELGA. That means if the 8 per cent figure is accurate, there are 68,800 junior golfers in membership of English clubs.
However, when looking at the picture throughout Europe Greece, with just five courses available, leads with 23 per cent juniors, while Sweden is second with 17 per cent, and Ireland third with 14 per cent. Finland, Austria, Scotland, France, Germany and Wales have between 10 and 13 per cent, while England and Italy have 8 per cent. Only Denmark shows a lower figure with 7 per cent.
Sweden, which many people feel produces an endless conveyor belt of young golfers, has 73,900 juniors in membership over just 393 courses compared to potentially 68,800 junior members in 1,882 affiliated golf clubs in England.
When it comes to potential membership, 824 clubs or 82 per cent of those who replied say they have vacancies for juniors, while 61 per cent say they want more juniors.
And contrary to popular belief, the average cost of entrance fees for juniors of £82 is not a deterrent. In fact, 72 per cent of the 970 clubs, which submitted information on juniors, do not charge a junior entrance fee. That raises the question, why do 82 per cent of clubs have vacancies?
All this information and many more findings from the census are revealed in a booklet being issued by the The English Golf Union (EGU) to all member clubs.
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