GONZAGA ESCAURIAZA, President of the Royal Spanish Golf Federation, recognises that the economic situation is causing a decrease in the number of golfers registered with the federations in Spain.

“Unfortunately, the crisis is also affecting the number of registered golfers. People who are leaving the federation, perhaps those who play infrequently or who have reached a certain age, who have maintained their registration but have now decided to let it go so they don’t have to continue paying. Like everyone, we are suffering from a situation we hope will pass quickly,” says Gonzaga Escauriaza, President of the Royal Spanish Golf Federation. He is, in spite of everything however, moderately optimistic about the medium-term future of Spanish golf, no doubt influenced by the superb day we were enjoying in Marbella when we spoke to him, during the weekend of the Open de Andalucía Costa del Sol.

-In any event, the fact that people are leaving the federation over such small amounts of money shows that golf is becoming more of a popular sport for the masses, not only accessible to those who aren’t worried about their finances…

–We have more than 320,000 registered golfers, which means golf is extremely popular, I would say. It depends on the particular region but the sport is either third or fourth in Spain in the number of officially registered participants.

-How is progress with the initiative to take golf out into the streets?

–Good… A lot of people are showing interest and it moves and encourages clubs to do things, as well as the regional federations. Some town halls are interested in providing us with land to develop projects. And all of this, together with golf in the schools, we hope will lead to interesting results in the medium term.

-What is, in your opinion, the main problem with golf in Spain?

–As well as the dreaded crisis, we have the same drawbacks as in the rest of the world: that is, the average time required to play the game and the funds needed to build amenities. Having said that, the fact that it can take five hours to play a round also means that more seniors are taking up the game, as they have a lot of free time when they retire.

-Finding sponsorship for tournaments is becoming increasingly difficult. What is your view of the fact that four European Tour events are held in Andalucía?

-It’s absolutely incredible. Andalucía has become the mecca of golf in Spain. I believe that investment in this sport is a good decision that should be maintained, because the returns are considerable.

-Perhaps consideration should be given to holding less expensive tournaments, not only here, but everywhere else?

-That might be feasible if in Asia, where the money is, they had not raised the bar so high. If Asia entered the game, yes, tournaments that are more accessible could be held – and there would even be the possibility of holding more. But in the East they are moving upwards rather than downwards.

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