We have approximately 23 million golfers left in the game, down 6+ million golfers
Of that 23 million, 19% are age 70 and older – 4.37 Million
- Of that 23 million, only 5% are age 30 and younger – 1.15 Million
- A Core Golfer is now down to a golfer who only golfs at least 8 rounds a year (8 to 24 = NGF Core)
These are some of the most frightening STATS in golf – we have to reverse this!
This means we have currently lost a generation in our golfing population – Now we are about to lose another generation, as the parents who are under 30 years old and do NOT golf are NOT going to suddenly start teaching their kids to golf. Instead, they will teach Soccer, Baseball or Lacrosse or similar sports that they themselves did when younger.*
*35 million kids (age 5 to 18) play in organized sport – 85% of them are coached by Dad.
An Interesting Perspective . . .
Jack Nicklaus said . . . “In today’s ESPN world, a child choses his or her sports by age 8, 9 or 10, if we don’t introduce golf before then, we will simply lose them.”
Fact – Jack Nicklaus has 22 Grandchildren – only 2 play golf, he knows what he is talking about
So in my perspective, one of the most pressing problems we have is to hook young kids into a controlled and successful path to becoming golfers like every other sport does – basically this graphic – which golf does not follow – hence the decrease in numbers.
There you have it.
That is John’s opinion. What is yours? Comment below.
