Padel courts have been built at several golf clubs in recent years. But what is padel and why is it proving to be irresistible to so many golf venues?
The building of padel courts at golf clubs has been a major trend in the last few years.
Padel is a similar sport to tennis, played on an enclosed court in which a ball that’s similar to a tennis ball can be knocked against walls with stringless bats. The game originally started in Mexico and quickly swept through South America and then into Europe. Spain is reckoned to have over 20,000 padel courts, and an estimated six million active players – it is now the country’s second biggest participation sport after football. It is also said to be the fastest growing sport in many countries, including Sweden and Italy, and forecasters predict padel will become an Olympic sport by 2032.
A padel court is smaller than a tennis court (10m x 20m) and is surrounded by glass walls and a metallic fence (3m and 4m high).
There are now more than 400 courts in the UK, a more than eightfold increase in the last five years. Recently several golf venues, such as Royal Norwich, South Buckinghamshire, Golf It!, Teign Valley, Trevose, Worldham, Hartford, Farrington Park, The Mount and The Notleys have either installed padel courts or announced an intention to.
Two padel courts recently opened at St Ives (Hunts) Golf Club. They are open to anyone, not just members of the golf club, and are helping to attract a wide audience of leisure visitors to the 230-acre site, which opened in 2010.
Speaking about the courts, Thomas Munt, St Ives general manager, said: “Padel is a great addition to our facilities at St Ives. We had an open day recently and it was really busy. The benefits of padel are that it’s highly sociable, great fun and easy to pick up – you don’t need any previous racket experience – so we encourage as many people as possible to come and try it.”
Industry spokesman Michael Gradon, CEO of Game4Padel, added: “The courts have already been busy and we are working with the club to put on coaching clinics and trial days for people that are new to the sport, or have played it and are now keen to improve.”
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