UK & Irish Golf Market Records Month of Visitor Revenue

After a relatively wet summer, August delivered an exceptional month of visitor sales that was the third largest ever recorded in the UK and Ireland, only just short of the post-lockdown months of June and July 2020.

This was comfortably the biggest month of the year in casual green fee revenue, growing by 17% on July to a total of £25,697 at the average golf club that operates with business growth agency, The Revenue Club. The sample size of 200 clubs and £6.7m in visitor revenue showed an increase of 28% on last August, the largest month of growth in 2024 with demand for tee times the highest it has been in over four years.

This exceptional level of revenue for the UK and Irish market has taken the year-to-date growth to 13% with the average club registering £126,832 in visitor green fee sales for far in 2024. The drier weather coincided with the main holiday period to deliver ideal trading conditions for golf courses to benefit from remarkable levels of demand that illustrate the healthiness of the industry.

The trend of growth in online sales was the main catalyst of the increase as 69% of all visitor revenue came through online booking engines – a 39% uplift on August 2023. Phone and walk in bookings also grew, but at a lower level of 11%.

‘It is incredibly exciting to see this level of growth in the industry with golf clubs enjoying levels of visitor demand that we’ve not witnessed in over four years.’ Said Rob Corcoran, Director at The Revenue Club. ‘It illustrates the importance of visitor green fees as a vital ingredient of the business mix, and the potential that can be achieved with focussed marketing and dynamic pricing structures.’

Much of the uplift in revenue in 2024 has been attributed to a general rise in prices, but the YOY growth of the average green fee in August was smaller, increasing by only 4% to £27.53 per person. This led to a 3% rise in the average sale price to £59.09 per person

A key indicator of the increase in demand is the uplift in web traffic to golf course booking engines that was up to 1,974 users at the average club in August – the highest since summer 2020 and 11% more than the same month last year. Conversion of this traffic to bookings remained steady at 13% that showed golfers’ eagerness to play in the latter part of the summer season.

With such high levels of demand, there is an excellent opportunity for golf clubs to capitalise on the popularity of the sport in the autumn to deliver another excellent year of growth. As the days shorten, the continuation of this momentum will be subject to the weather conditions that were favourable last September and can produce excellent results late in the season for clubs that maintain focus on their visitor strategy.