Australian Golf takes the game to parliament house
Australia boasts 1530 courses and about a million people play some 30 million rounds every year, but club membership is declining and the biggest group of golfers is aged between 55 and 64.
If correct, Victorian MP Richard Marles then rightly added: “I think we have got more golf courses per head of population than any other country in the world.”
As an outside observer of the Australian Golf industry for some time now, I must say that the last year or so has seen some fantastic initiatives.
The industry does seem to be bringing the game out of the dark ages and pushing it in the right direction (There was talk of nine hole competitions and a review of the current handicap system which is exactly the sort of thing the game needs.).
The upcoming handicap changes, Tiger’s Australian presence and this push into Australian politics bodes well for Australian Golf. What we need now is another major winner, a few professional’s getting on board and for the golf industry to keep up the momentum.
Definitely good to see Golf Australia keeping up the momentum for the industry. I think some of the golf clubs around the place need to start becoming a bit more creative in their bid to attract new members.
The nine hole competitions are a good example. Despite this initiative running for more than a year now, few clubs seem to have taken it on. A bit more focus on junior golf by some of the clubs I think would help lift the game as well.
Good point about junior golf Malcolm, that is definitely something that needs to be looked at.