New research of nearly 200 golf clubs has found that the average club in the UK and Ireland generated £163,952 in casual green fee income in 2023 – eight percent higher than the previous record year of 2022.
The Revenue Club states this was made up of 65 percent online bookings and 35 percent from phone bookings and walk-in sales.
It adds that the growth was driven by the opening up of additional course capacity, partly caused by a slight drop in member play in the early part of 2023.
Demand for green fees was very strong even in the summer months, which were dominated by poor weather, it reports.
The average green fee reached its highest annual level of £26.80 per person and there was a slight drop in the average group size to 2.16.
The average club also had 15,438 users shopping on their online tee sheets in 2023, which is seven percent up on the previous year.
Rob Corcoran, director at The Revenue Club, said: “The outlook for 2024 is very encouraging as green fee revenue growth has progressed steadily through the year with increases of 17 and 33 percent in November and December respectively, despite the poor weather. Supported by the uplift in demand and the gradual rise in prices, proactive operators can look forward to a fifth consecutive year of growth in this area of their business.
“Continued focus on online sales and rapidly developing digital marketing channels will once again be the key to realising this potential by adapting to the playing and working patterns of UK and Irish golfers.”
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