Golf in Sweden
Courses
Players 2013
Participation Rate 2013
Growth Rate 2013
Overview
With one of the shortest playable seasons in the golf industry the Swedish golf market continues to prove their strength in terms of participation, rounds played and player development. As a nation of of just over 9.5 million people they currently have the highest golf participation rate of 4.96%. With these impressive figures we decided to take a look under the hood of the Swedish Golf Industry to find out their secret.
One of the Keys to the success of the Swedish Golf Market has been their focus on junior golf development and family golf. Whilst this is by no means a revolutionary approach the Swedish continue to stand out from the crowd . Another impressive figure to emerge from Sweden’s participation statistics is the 26% share of the golfing population that is represented by females. Their success in the female market again starts at grass roots level encouraging junior girls with friendships through golf and junior boys with a competitive approach – the numbers speak for themselves.
One of the great factors to the large percentage of junior golfers in the system is the club structures. There is a unique system to Sweden where juniors can be members at clubs, with the club having no obligations to accept them as members when they become adults. It creates a system where more juniors have access to more places to play.
Swedish Golf Industry Snapshot
Rounds
Rounds Development
According to the Swedish Golf Federation an increase of 8% on the total of booked rounds has taken place in the last 5 years. What is interesting to see from these numbers is that the development of green fee rounds is positive, whereas the development of member rounds has had an irregular growth and a decreasing trend in the last 5 years. Green fee rounds have increased by 33% and member rounds have decreased by 0.42%, not a large decrease but the number is less than the member rounds played in 2009. When talking about growth percentage, the one from green fee rounds has reached 13% in 2013 and member rounds reached 2%. It is important to mention that during the last 5 years the growth % of green fee rounds has always been superior from the member rounds.
Overview Player Participation
Overview
Sweden’s golf participation rate is one of the highest from all of the countries the EGCOA has researched into. The participation rate in 2013 has reached a total of 4.96%, which is 4% more than the European average participation rate. However, throughout the last years participation rates have decreased on a yearly average of approximately 0.12% and since 2003 the participation rate has unveiled a continuous decreasing trend, whereas the European participation rate has maintained steadily throughout the last decade. This decrease on participation could be explainable by the 6% increase on the Swedish population and the decrease of 15% in the number of players/members throughout the last decade. Sweden might have one of the highest participation rates in Europe but if this trend maintains at this rhythm, it is most probable that Sweden won’t be among the countries with the highest participation in the next 10 years.
Overview Player Development
Overwiew
By looking at the development of players in Sweden it is visible that throughout the years that Sweden have lost a large quantity of players/members. There has not been a year in the last 10 years where the number of players has increased more than the amount of the previous year. Throughout the last years there has been a total decrease of 15%, this means that 80.496 people have either stopped playing golf or stopped with their memberships at the golf federation. In 2013 the number of players reached 473.797. Alike the player development the growth rate % has also decreased throughout the years. Since 2004 the growth rate % has decreased on a yearly average of 0.29%, reaching -1.80% in 2013. By comparing the Swedish player growth rate with European player growth rate in 2013 it is visible that the Swedish growth is below the European average growth of players by 1.20%. During the last five years the Swedish growth rate % has shown a little improvement, even though the number of players is still decreasing. This means that the number of players is decreasing with less intensity.
Player Growth Development
As can be seen on the graph the decreasing trend in the three categories is visible. It can be highlighted from the graph that the growth of Junior players has taken a deeper dive than the Male and Female markets in Sweden. Throughout the last decade there has been a decrease of 43.422 junior players, which is a change of -47% since 2004. The number of junior players started to decrease on a continuous tendency since 2003, nevertheless, the growth rate have showed some improvements in the last years. The growth rate % of Junior players has decreased on a yearly average of -0.27%, reaching -4.59% in 2013, which is 2% less than the European average growth rate in 2013. The Male market in Sweden has decreased but its growth rate % has remained steadier than the junior and female markets in the last couple of years. Throughout the last decade a total of 14.915 players, so 5% since 2004 have stopped playing golf or cancelled their memberships with the federation. The growth rate of male players was 2.15% below the European average growth rate of male players. On the female side a decrease of 15% in the last decade is visible, losing 22.159 female players since 2004. Alike the male growth development, it can be seen that in the last couple of years the growth of female players has started to get steadier. In 2013 the growth % of female was 2.80% below the European female growth % average.
Gender Distribution
The golfing population in Sweden consists of 64% males, 26 female and 10% junior players.
Age Development & Age distribution
The age groups that have caused the decline during the last three years are the majority. The only 2 age groups that have shown an increase in the last 3 years are the age group from 21 to 30 years old and the age group 70 years old and older. The age group that have shown most decline in numbers is the one from 31 to 40 years old and the one with most increase is the age group of 70 and older.
Golf Course Development
Golf Club Development 2008-2013
According to the Swedish golf federation the number of golf clubs have decreased by 4% since 2008, reaching 474 golf clubs in 2013, 18 golf clubs less than in 2008. This closures could be the result of the decrease on demand, therefore, golf clubs have been forced to close in the last years.
References
- Rounds
- Player Development
- Age Development
- Golf Club Development
Associations & Federations
- Swedish Golf Federation
- European Golf Association (EGA)/ Swedish Golf Federation
- Swedish Golf Federation
- European Golf Association/ Swedish Golf Federation