Golf courses across Great Britain continue to record impressive rounds played numbers. Through the first half of 2026, rounds played (9- & 18-hole rounds) are on track to outpace 2024, 2023, and 2022.
Against a record-breaking 2025 however, the half-year numbers are down -9%, with Q2 2026 dropping -7% against the equivalent period.
Despite the year-on-year drop, Sporting Insights believes this still represents an excellent performance. 2022-2024 were all, in the wider historical context, very strong years for golf, and a single digit decline against 2025 is not cause for alarm. The appetite for golf, all indicators suggest, remains strong across the country.
“The headline here remains the strong performance against most of the post-pandemic years, which were themselves strong against the period up to 2019,” commented John Bushell, Managing Director of Sporting Insights. “Fresh off the back of captivating, well-attended tournaments at The Open and the AIG Women’s Open, it’s not hard to see why golf continues to be regularly played at all levels and on all sorts of courses. The latest R&A participation research suggested long-term sustainable growth, with junior participation growing sharply and a shift towards greater gender balance among golfers in many countries, a shift that is coming from widening access rather than reducing male participation. And thanks to the quality of the golf experience at clubs, when people do play golf, generally they want to play more of it. England Golf recently found almost universal appetite among golfers to keep playing, and, even more interestingly, widespread desire to play more often. While time and cost will always limit frequency of play compared to outright desire, this is an important metric and one that bodes well for the sport.”
To investigate month by month performance, rounds played by region (Scotland, North, Midlands, South), to compare 2026 to the previous five years in detail both nationally and by region; and to see the impact of weather (Met Office charts for the quarter) please contact Sporting Insights.
Annual subscription (four reports) is available for £1,600 + VAT or individual quarter reports can be purchased for £450 + VAT.
Since 2000, Sporting Insights has tracked rounds played at commercial golf courses across mainland Great Britain.
All records are comparable back to 2005.
For more information, contact John Bushell.
