Sport 21 Background Report no. 19 This is no. 19 in a series of background reports being prepared during 2002/03 to inform the revision of Sport 21, the national strategy for sport in .

A Profile of in Scotland

Research Digest no. 99

by

©

Published by Research Unit sportscotland Caledonia House South Gyle EH12 9DQ

Tel: 0131 317 7200 Fax: 0131 317 7202 email: [email protected] website: www.sportscotland.org.uk

ISBN 1 85060 428 2 Price £5 October 2002 FURTHER INFORMATION

This report is available on sportscotland’s website:

www.sportscotland.org.uk

Governing Bodies of Sport. Outline information on the Scottish governing bodies of sport is contained in a Fact Sheet in the series of Sport 21 information papers. The sportscotland website includes contact details of all governing bodies plus to their websites.

Participation. Reports on sports participation are published annually. The current version is Sports Participation in Scotland 2001 (sportscotland Research Digest no. 90). This is available on the website and will be superseded by the report for 2002 in early summer 2003.

Sports Clubs in Scotland. The full and summary versions of the report Sports Clubs in Scotland (sportscotland Research Report no. 75 and Research Digest no. 59) have been published and are available from sportscotland and on our website. Reports with the responses to all the questions in the national survey of clubs (from which a selection for golf are included in this report) have been published for the following ten sports where the sample sizes were considered large enough to justify individual analyses. These are also available on the website. Angling Football Athletics Golf Badminton Hockey Bowls Swimming Cricket Tennis

Facilities Database. sportscotland maintains and continues to develop a substantial database of sports facilities in Scotland. Four projects in 2002 are updating the information for indoor sports facilities, pitches and courts, golf facilities and countryside sports provision and are also addressing qualitative aspects and the resulting refurbishment and replacement implications. These follow the publication of The Ticking Time Bomb that identifies the implications for pools over the next 20 years. Information from the facilities database may be obtained by contacting: [email protected] (0131 472 7525).

Profiles of Individual Sports. This series of profiles of individual sports draws on governing body information; participation data; sports club survey; and the facilities database. The following sports are being profiled in these Background Reports designed to inform the revision of Sport 21, and the profiles are being placed on the website during the autumn of 2002. Angling Cricket Hockey Athletics Rugby Badminton Football Swimming Bowls Golf Tennis

2 CONTENTS

Page

3 Acknowledgements 4 Section 1: Organisation of Golf 5 Section 2: Profile of Golfers 9 Section 3: Profile of Clubs 14 Section 4: Facilities for Golf

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This report was prepared by sportscotland’s Research Unit as part of a series of Background Reports to inform the revision of Sport 21, the national strategy for . It is one of 12 profiles of sports that include information on the organisation of the sport; participation; clubs; and facilities. The participation and clubs sections are based on information from two studies commissioned by sportscotland: · The golf information from the survey of sports clubs in Scotland derives from analyses by the Planning Data Management Service of the sports clubs questionnaire data gathered by the Survey Unit on behalf of the Centre for Leisure Research, all of Edinburgh University. · The golf information from the regular survey of sports participation by the general public that derives from System’s Three’s Scottish Omnibus Survey. sportscotland is grateful to colleagues at the Union for their help; and the 268 golf clubs throughout Scotland who took the time and trouble to complete questionnaires.

sportscotland October 2002

3 SECTION 1: ORGANISATION OF GOLF

Governing Bodies

1 The Scottish Golf Union (SGU) and the Scottish Ladies’ Golfing Association (SLGA) are the national governing bodies for men’s and women’s golf. The SGU was founded in 1920 and the SLGA in 1904. There were 584 golf clubs in 2002 with an estimated 250,000 members (although fewer actual individuals as a proportion of golfers are members of more than one club).

2 The SGU and SLGA, together with the National Golf Academy, are based at the Scottish National Golf Centre near :

Scottish National Golf Centre Drumoig, Leuchars St Andrews KY16 0DW website: www.scottishgolf.com

Scottish Golf Union Scottish Ladies’ Golfing Association tel: 01382 549500 tel: 01382 549502 fax: 01382 549510 fax: 01382 549512 email: [email protected] email: [email protected] website: www.scottishgolf.com/sgu website: www.slga.scottishgolf.com

3 The Royal and Ancient of St Andrews (R&A) was founded in 1754 and retains its origins as a private golf club in the town, with nearly 2,400 male members in 2002. The R&A has global responsibilities to administer the (together with the US Golf Association); run and other key events; and encourage and develop the game in existing and emerging golfing nations.

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews St Andrews Fife KY16 9JD tel: 01334 460000 fax: 01334 460001 website: www.randa.org

4 SECTION 2: PROFILE OF GOLFERS

Participation Rates

4 A tenth of the adult (16+) and 15 per cent of the child (8-15) respondents had played golf within the previous four weeks during the season (Table 1). When these rates are applied to the Scottish population, nearly 400,000 adults and nearly 80,000 children had taken part in golf.

Table 1: Participation in Golf During the Season, 1999-2001

Participation Adults Men Women Children Boys Girls (most popular 2 mos) (aged 16+) (aged 8-15) Participation in last four weeks during the season % of respondents 10 17 2 15 26 3 No. of participants (000s)1 389 331 54 76 70 9 2Base: 6,245 2,997 3,248 1,007 491 516

5 Adult participation in golf has increased slightly from about eight per cent during 1987-89 to 1994-96 to about ten per cent during 1998-00 to 1999-2001 (Table 2).

Table 2: Adult Golf Participation During the Season, 1987-2001 87-89 88-90 89-91 90-92 91-93 92-94 93-95 94-96 95-97 96-98 97-99 98-00 99-01

Percentage of adult respondents during the most popular two months of the year 8 9 9 8 8 8 8 8 9 9 9 10 10

6 In terms of the number of participants, golf is the fifth most popular sport or physical recreation for adults, similar in popularity to cycling and keep fit/aerobics. For children, it is similar in popularity to snooker/billiards/pool. (Table 3)

1 Population figures are from the General Register Office for Scotland 2000 mid-year estimates provisionally revised on the basis of the 2001 Census. 2 Here and throughout, the ‘Base’ figure is the total number of respondents to the question.

5 Table 3: Participation in Top Ten Sports During the Season, 1999-2001 Sport/Physical Recreation Adults (16+) Children (8-15) Percentage of respondents during most popular two months Walking (2+ miles) 32 21 Swimming 22 52 Football 11 62 Cycling 10 43 Golf 10 15 Dance 9 19 Keep fit/Aerobics 9 11 Snooker/Billiards/Pool 8 15 Multigym/Weight training 7 4 Running/Jogging 6 38 Base: 6,166 996 Figures are from a representative sample of households in mainland Scotland participating during the four weeks prior to interview in the most popular two months for each sport, cumulated over 1999-2001.

Social Profile

7 A national sample of the general population is the only means of obtaining meaningful figures on participation in sport, and for the following profile of golfers this has resulted in a reasonably robust sample size of 1,326 adult golfers and a more modest sample (with more margin for error) of 312 child golfers (Table 4). (For more details of the survey, see the box on ‘Source’ below.)

Source Since 1987 sportscotland has commissioned data on sports participation every other month from System Three’s Scottish Opinion Survey. This is a monthly survey of about 1,000 adults (aged 16 and over) from 40 sampling areas in mainland Scotland. Since 1998 children (aged 8 to 15) have been included in the survey. The question asked is:

· In the last 4 weeks, have you taken part, however informally, in any of these sports or physical recreations in Scotland?

A showcard with a list of sports is used so that respondents are in no doubt as to what to include and acts as a reminder. The last four weeks is a period that normally results in good recall, particularly of the number of times they have taken part. It also allows a rough definition of ‘participation’ to be determined, excluding those who rarely take part. ‘However informally’ emphasises that participation is not limited to formal or competitive activity. The focus is on participation by Scottish residents in Scotland.

The data are analysed for sportscotland by the Planning Data Management Service of Edinburgh University. Sports participation questions are included in the survey every other month throughout the year, but for purposes of identifying actual participation rates only data from the most popular two months each year are analysed, in order to avoid artificially lowering the average with rates from out-of-season participation. Results over three years are combined in a three-year moving mean. This is intended to boost accuracy by increasing the sample size, and to smooth out year-on-year variations that are simply due to sample fluctuations. Statistics on participation in golf are provided here for 1999-2001. For further comparisons with other sports, see sportscotland’s Research Digest no. 90, Sports Participation in Scotland 2001, also available on sportscotland’s website. This is updated annually, usually early summer.

6 8 Golf remains overwhelmingly a male sport, with nearly 90 per cent of both adult and child participants male. The recently-initiated Scottish Junior Golf Strategy may have an impact on the proportion of girls playing the game.

9 In terms of age, however, golf is a fully inclusive sport – one of the few with representative proportions of both young and old adults taking part.

10 A third (34%) of the adult golfers were from the managerial/professional social classes AB, compared with 19 per cent of the overall population. Conversely, 16 per cent were from social classes DE compared with 33 per cent of the population. For children, the profile of players was much the same as the social class distribution for the population as a whole.

Table 4: Social Profile of Golfers 1999-2001 and Population 2000

Profile of Adult Scottish Child Scottish Golfers golfers population3 golfers population

% of adults (16+) % of children (8-15) Gender Male 87 47 88 51 Female 13 53 12 49 Age 16-24 17 14 25-34 18 17 35-54 37 36 55+ 28 33 Social Class4 AB 34 19 22 19 C1 32 26 26 26 C2 19 22 24 22 DE 16 33 27 33 Base5: 1,326 4.077m 312 0.518m

3 Population figures are from the General Register Office for Scotland 2000 mid-year estimates provisionally revised on the basis of the 2001 Census. 4 AB Higher and intermediate managerial, administrative and professional. C1 Supervi sory, clerical and junior managerial, administrative and professional. C2 Skilled manual workers. DE Semi-skilled or unskilled manual workers; apprentices in skilled trades; casual or lowest grade workers; state pensioners or widowers; those entirely dependent on the state long term through sickness, unemployment, old age or other reasons. 5 The base number for Tables 4 and 5 is the all-year figure (not just the two most popular months) over the three-year period for those who reported that they had played golf during the four weeks prior to interview.

7 11 Over half (58%) of adult and about a third (31%) of child golfers were members of a golf club (Table 5).

Table 5: Club Membership of Golfers

Club Adult Child Membership golfers golfers

Percentage of respondents Yes 58 31 No 42 69 Base5: 1,323 267

12 Half of both adult and child golfers played at least once a week during the most popular months for participation (Table 6).

Table 6: Frequency of Participation in Season

Frequency Adult Child (most popular 2 mos) golfers golfers

Percentage of respondents Less than once a week 51 50 Once a week 12 8 Up to twice a week 18 21 More than twice a week 19 21 Base6: 593 126

6 For frequency, only those who played golf during the most popular two months have been included, on the assumption that ‘off-season’ frequency may be different from that at the most popular period of the year.

8 SECTION 3: PROFILE OF GOLF CLUBS

13 In the summer of 1999 Edinburgh University undertook a major survey of clubs in Scotland on behalf of sportscotland. The following section gives a selection of key results for golf clubs compared with results from all clubs in the survey. A total of 268 completed questionnaires were received out of 652 sent to golf clubs, a response rate of 41%. The response rate for all clubs in the survey was 36 per cent.

Year Established

14 Reflecting the long in Scotland, almost half (47%) of the extant clubs were established in their present form over 100 years ago (the oldest in 1735 and 1744) and a further quarter (27%) in the first half of last century. Club growth is not static, however, with a tenth (11%) established in the last decade.

In which year was your club established in its present form?

Golf All Clubs Percentage of responding clubs

Pre-1900 47 15 1900-1949 27 19 1950-1969 6 12 1970-1979 4 14 1980-1989 5 17 1990-1999 11 23 Base7: 234 3,038

Governing Body Affiliation

15 Virtually all (98%) of the sample of golf clubs were affiliated to the SGU or SLGA.

Is your club affiliated to the governing body?

Golf All Clubs

Percentage of responding clubs

Yes 98 91 No 2 9 Base: 266 3,462

7 Here and throughout, the ‘Base’ figure is the number of clubs who gave a reply to that question.

9 Competition

16 Similarly, virtually all the clubs took part in external competitions.

Does your club take part in any external competition events, matches or leagues?

Golf All Clubs

Percentage of responding clubs

Yes 94 88 No 6 12 Base: 261 3,450

Membership

Membership Numbers

17 Two-thirds (69%) of the responding clubs had membership of over 300, with the average number of members over 500.

What is the total membership of your club? (Including players, non-players and social members)

Golf All Clubs Average mean no. 535 133 Base: 260 3,396

Adult/Junior and Male/Female Playing Membership

18 All but 13 per cent of the clubs included junior players and all but 18 per cent included female players.

Are there adult and junior playing members in your club?

Golf All Clubs Percentage of responding clubs Adult and junior playing members 50 55 Only adult playing members 13 30 Only junior playing members 37 15 Base: 234 3,217

10 Are there male and female playing members in your club?

Golf All Clubs Percentage of responding clubs Male and female playing members 74 66 Only male playing members 18 28 Only female playing members 7 6 Base: 234 3,240

Membership Involvement

19 Nearly three-quarters (72%) of the club members were mainly involved in the recreational game, and a fifth (22%) mainly in competitive golf.

Approximately what percentage of members are…

Golf All Clubs Average percentage for all responding clubs …involved mainly in external matches/competitions/events? 22 48 …involved mainly in recreational sport? 72 44 …non-sports players/social members? 5 8 Base: 227 3,002

Waiting List

20 Half of the clubs had a waiting list for membership. A survey of course-owning clubs by the Scottish Golf Union found that 40 per cent reported an increase in the numbers on their waiting lists, compared with no change for 31 per cent and a decrease in numbers for 29 per cent.

Does your club have a waiting list for playing members?

Golf All Clubs Percentage of responding clubs Yes 50 13 No 50 87 Base: 265 3,429

Change in Membership Numbers

21 Membership among the responding clubs appeared to be generally healthy, with nearly half (44%) reporting an increase over the last five years and only 16 per cent a decrease. Reflecting the high proportion with waiting lists, the 40 per cent with no change in membership numbers would largely be those whose size had reached capacity.

11 In the past five years, has membership of your club…

Golf All Clubs Percentage of responding clubs …stayed the same? 40 38 …increased? 44 35 …decreased? 16 26 Don’t know 0 1 Base: 250 3,353

Change in Membership Age

22 Another fairly simple indicator of the health of clubs is whether they are attracting new young members. Nearly half (47%) reported that the average age of members had increased, and slightly fewer (43%) that it remained unchanged. This would again reflect the fact that half the clubs had reached their membership capacity.

In the past five years, would you say that the average age of the members of your club has…

Golf All Clubs Percentage of responding clubs …stayed the same? 43 43 …increased? 47 40 …decreased? 5 15 Don’t know 5 2 Base: 249 3,359

Club Issues

23 Golf clubs (81%) were less likely than sports clubs generally (94%) to identify any issues that concerned them. For those that did, the main issues were attracting women and junior members and retaining existing members, followed by concern about a general shortage of volunteers.

Are any of the following [see list below] an issue in your club?

Golf All Clubs

Percentage of responding clubs

Yes 81 94 No 19 6

Base: 259 3,409

12 If YES, those identified as issues: Golf All Clubs Percentage of responding clubs that identified any issue Attracting women members 57 41 Attracting new junior members 56 68 Retaining existing members 49 54 General shortage of volunteers 42 50 Attracting new senior members 32 55 Financial difficulties or uncertainties 30 41 Shortage of volunteers/staff with management skills 28 29 Attracting family members 16 25 Shortage of volunteers/staff with technical skills 13 33 Recruiting paid staff (eg, managers, coaches) 3 10 Other issues 6 10 Base (respondents identifying any issue): 211 3,199 Multiple responses, so figures sum to more than 100%

Sources of Income

24 Membership and green fees were the main source of income for the large majority (88%) of golf clubs.

What has been the main source of the club’s income over the last 12 months?

Golf All Clubs Percentage of responding clubs Membership fees (incl pay & play, casual, day tickets) 88 56 Bar and catering 5 8 Fundraising 3 15 Match or game fees 2 5 Other 4 3 Base: 235 3,025

Professional Staff

25 The survey found that 70 per cent of golf clubs had salaried staff – compared with 17 per cent of clubs generally. The Scottish Golf Union reports8 that 44 per cent of clubs have a professional in the club, and that there are 489 (389 full professionals and 100 trainees) teaching professionals in Scotland.

8 Scottish Golf Union Scottish golf development initiative. A golf strategy 2001-2005. www.scottishgolf.com/sgu/features/SGUBrochure(2).pdf

13 SECTION 4: GOLF COURSES

Facility Supply

26 There are some 550 golf courses (70% of them 18-hole) and 68 driving ranges:

Courses 9-hole 18-hole Total Driving Ranges Public 19 46 65 - Pay as You Play 29 58 87 - Private 117 284 401 - Total 165 388 553 68

27 Given their need for relatively large amounts of land, and also the coastal locations of links courses, golf courses tend to be concentrated away from densely populated areas. As a result, availability of courses varies from 1.6 courses per 100,000 population in to 33 in Argyll and Bute (the table lists courses per 10,000 as some council areas have populations of far fewer than 100,000 people). No. of No. of Courses per Council Area Courses 10,000 Population Scotland 553 1.1 Aberdeen City 16 0.7 Aberdeenshire 41 1.8 Angus 17 1.6 Argyll and Bute 30 3.3 Clackmannanshire 7 1.5 Dumfries and Galloway 33 2.2 Dundee City 5 0.3 East Ayrshire 8 0.7 East Dunbartonshire 17 1.6 East Lothian 19 2.1 East Renfrewshire 9 1.0 Edinburgh City 27 0.6 Eilean Siar (W Isles) 5 1.9 Falkirk 6 0.4 Fife 45 1.3 Glasgow City 9 0.2 Highland 45 2.2 Inverclyde 6 0.7 Midlothian 6 0.7 Moray 15 1.7 North Ayrshire 22 1.6 North Lanarkshire 18 0.6 Orkney Islands 2 1.0 Perth and Kinross 38 2.8 Renfrewshire 11 0.6 Scottish Borders 22 2.1 Shetland Islands 3 1.4 South Ayrshire 18 1.6 South Lanarkshire 22 0.7 Stirling 11 1.3 West Dunbartonshire 6 0.6 West Lothian 14 0.9

14 Facility Ownership and Problems for Golf Clubs

28 The following information is taken from the national survey of sports clubs in 1999 also used in the previous section.

Facility Ownership

29 Two-thirds (67%) of the clubs owned their own course; 15 per cent used a local authority course; and 13 per cent used a course belonging to another club or a commercial operator.

Who owns the facilities where your club usually plays/competes/participates? Golf All Clubs Percentage of responding clubs Facility owned by the club 67 30 Local authority leisure facilities 15 42 Facilities owned by another club 8 8 Commercial leisure, health or sport facilities 5 7 Outdoor/natural resources 2 13 University or college facilities 2 4 School facilities 1 15 National training centre 1 2 Other facility or location 12 12 Base: 257 3,320 Multiple responses, so figures sum to more than 100%

Facility Problems

30 Only a quarter (26%) of the clubs stated that their playing/training was held back by facility problems. Nearly half (47%) of those using local authority courses considered that their playing/training was held back, compared with a quarter using their own or another club’s course and a fifth using a commercial course.

Is the development of your club’s playing/training held back by any problems with facilities? (Proportion responding ‘yes’ by ownership type used.)

Golf All Clubs Percentage of responding clubs using each ownership type % Base % Base All types of ownership 26 261 43 3,365 Facility owned by the club 25 173 27 993 Local authority leisure facilities 47 38 57 1,479 Facilities owned by another club 26 23 49 280 Commercial leisure, health or sport facilities 20 15 56 307 Base: Number of responding clubs using each type of course ownership

15 31 The specific facility-related problems were raised by a smaller proportion of golf clubs than the overall sample of sports clubs. Only issues of poor quality (raised by 13% of clubs) and the lack of a locally-available course (11%) were raised by significant proportions.

Which of the following problems affect the facilities your club uses?

Golf All Clubs Percentage of responding clubs The facilities are of poor quality 13 20 The facilities are not available locally 11 13 The facilities are too expensive 3 22 The facilities are not available when needed 3 19 The facilities have inflexible management 3 10 Base (all responding clubs): 261 3,365 Multiple responses

National Facility

32 The National Golf Academy was established in 1999 at the Scottish National Golf Centre near St Andrews and includes: 24 covered driving bays; a landscaped target area; a two-hole practice area; chipping, pitching and bunker areas; practice putting green; and indoor practice area.

Facility Issues for the Future

33 In 2002 consultants were engaged by sportscotland to undertake an audit of golf courses and ancillary facilities in Scotland. The study complements four other investigations across the main types of sports facilities. It covers all golf facilities that are normally available for public use in Scotland in the following categories:

33.1 Eighteen-hole golf courses. 33.2 Nine-hole golf courses. 33.3 three golf courses. 33.4 golf courses. 33.5 Practice facilities. 33.6 Driving ranges. 33.7 Golf clubhouses, changing pavilions and other ancillary accommodation.

34 The study is due to report in mid-2003. It will establish the general condition of these facilities, and determine the capital cost of bringing them up to a safe and acceptable standard and then maintaining them in reasonable condition to the year 2025.

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