The modern golf holiday is being reshaped by food and wellness, the latest data confirms participation is in rude health despite a softer first quarter and a neuroscientist has made the case that a round of golf does more for the ageing brain than a walk ever could. Here’s three stories concerning the UK and global golf industries we learnt during what was, for many, a sweltering last month.
Golf travellers want more than just a great course
The modern golf traveller is increasingly picking destinations on the strength of their wider lifestyle offering, with food, wellness and culture now rivalling course quality as the reason a trip gets booked.
New research from 18Players, in partnership with International Golf Travel Market (IGTM), found that nearly four in five golfers (78.9 percent) would be more likely to book a destination offering a strong mix of golf and lifestyle experiences over one focused purely on the golf. Gastronomy was the single biggest draw, with 83.6 percent saying great local food and fine dining would most improve a golf holiday.
There is a clear group dynamic at work too. More than half said non-golf elements such as wellness, scenery and culture were very or extremely important, while 79.2 percent would consider travelling with a larger group of friends or family.
Resorts including Costa Navarino in Greece and Hotel Finca Cortesin in Andalucia have already built dining and regional wine programmes into their core proposition. The lesson for anyone competing for this business is that the destination now has to work for the whole party, not just the golfers in it.
Golf is still broadening its base
It would have been easy to read the latest rounds figures as a warning. According to Sporting Insights, rounds played per course across Great Britain were down 14.5 percent year-on-year in the opening quarter of 2026. But the context matters: 2025 was a record-breaking year, and Q1 2026 was actually up on 2024, itself a strong year. March 2026 ranked as the second strongest March of the past five years, which bodes well for the season ahead.
As Sporting Insights managing director John Bushell put it, “2025 was a record year for rounds played, so some drop off was not unexpected, especially given long spells of wet weather.”
The bigger picture is more striking still. The 2025 R&A Global Participation Report shows 112.2 million adults and juniors now play golf in all its forms worldwide outside the USA and Mexico, an increase of 4.2 million in a single year. Junior participation alone rose by 3.2 million to 47.1 million, off-course formats such as simulators and ranges continue to grow strongly, and registered players are up 16 percent since 2020.
In Great Britain and Ireland, club membership has climbed to 1.35 million, the highest since 2010, having dipped to just over a million in 2019.
The sport is not merely holding steady; it is broadening its base.
Golf beats walking alone for the ageing brain
If clubs are looking for the most powerful story to tell their communities, it may be this one. Stephen Smith, chief neuroscientist at SPL/PSYenz, says new research shows that playing golf, and not just walking, is so good for the mind that it can help protect against dementia. He points to work from Pennsylvania State University finding that movement of the abdominal muscles creates a hydraulic-like connection with the nervous system, driving the flow of waste-clearing cerebrospinal fluid around the brain and spinal cord.
That fluid acts as the brain’s cleaning mechanism, picking up and removing waste, and when its flow slows the benefit is lost. “Now we know that even moderate exercise activates a pump-like system from our gut that makes sure that this health-enabling fluid keeps on moving effectively around our brain,” Smith said.
Combine that with the 3,000 to 5,000 daily steps already shown to lower the risk of neurodegenerative disease, plus the time spent in fresh air, and his conclusion is hard to argue with: golf may be the perfect prescription.
Leave a Reply