England saw 10 million rounds played in one year for first time

More rounds of golf were played in England in 2024 than in any year since the World Handicap System (WHS) was launched at the end of 2020.

While the data only looks at four full years, they have all been since the participation boom started following the first pandemic lockdown in 2020, and three of the years featured no lockdowns.

England Golf has reported that 2024 has now become the record-breaking year, with the most scores submitted via WHS ever in a single calendar year.

More than 10 million – 10,213,894 – scores were submitted in 2024, the highest yet – 811,712 more scores than 2023, showing an increase of 8.63 percent.

There were 754,009 more scores submitted by males (8.93 percent increase) while there was an increase of 57,703 scores submitted by females (5.98 percent increase).

There were also 142,043 more nine-hole scores submitted in 2024, at a significant increase of 17.89 percent.

England Golf chief operating officer Richard Flint said: “The huge increase in nine-hole scores submitted shows that there is an appetite for shorter forms of the game, especially in that it helps cater for some people’s lifestyles.”

Last year also saw 272,284 more competition scores entered at an increase of 4.99 percent, while there were 669,669 more 18-hole scores submitted (increase of 7.78 percent).