The popularity of golf around the world

When compared to other sports like football, tennis, and rugby, golf isn’t the most popular. Despite this, hundreds of thousands of people enjoy playing it all over the world, so we thought we’d take a look at golf’s popularity across several countries.

The United States

Golf is huge in the United States. In fact, the 2019 Golf Around The World study found that the United States is disproportionately the country with the most golf courses, totalling 16,752 courses at the end of 2018. Golf is hugely popular in the US, where there are major organisations such as the United States Golf Association and the Professional Golfers’ Association of America that organise and hold various professional golf competitions, including the US Men’s and Women’s Open, the Men’s and Women’s PGA Championships, and the PGA Tour, which professional players from around the world compete in.

Canada

Canada is the third country with the most golf courses, offering its residents just over 2,600 gorgeous natural landscape courses. Although there’s concern that golfing in Canada is expensive, that hasn’t stopped hundreds of people from enjoying the sport in the country. The country even has its own organisation, the PGA Of Canada, that holds famous events like the Men’s and Women’s Canadian PGA Championship, which has been running since the early 1910s.

The United Kingdom

Golf is a sport played all over the United Kingdom, particularly in England and Scotland, where there are over 2,000 golf courses and people regularly bet on games and events. Both countries have hosted big-name competitions, including the British Open. What’s more, Scotland, where modern-day golf originated, is home to the Old Course at St Andrews, which is believed to be the oldest golf course in the world. Unfortunately, anyone looking to play golf in the UK will have to get used to playing in difficult or unfriendly conditions.

Australia

Although most people wouldn’t believe so, golf is very popular in Australia, with reports suggesting that around 10% of the adult Australian population enjoy playing golf. The country has over 1,000 golf courses, with many of them found in a region of Melbourne known as the Sand Belt, and several golf associations that are overseen by Golf Australia. What’s more, there are several big-name tournaments, including the PGA Tour Of Australias, the Australian Open, the Australian Masters, and the Australian Amateur Championship.

Europe and Asia

Golfing is also popular across several European and Asian countries. In fact, the GAW 2019 study found that Japan was the second country with the most golf courses at the end of 2018, totalling at just over 3,000. Regarding the remainder of Asia, the Republic of Korea, China, and Thailand all enjoy the sport.

Over in Europe, golf remains popular mostly across Northern Europe, including France, Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands. Still, there are a few outliers like Spain and Italy where people enjoy the sport. Like with other countries, Asian and European countries host events, but usually nothing as big as the competitions in the United States and the United Kingdom.

As you can see, golf is popular all over the world. The United States remains the biggest country for golfing, but the game’s roots are set deep in the United Kingdom. Regardless of where you’re playing it, there are thousands of gorgeous golf courses and plenty of events to enjoy.