Spanish golf ended 2015 with 277,782 federated members, according to data from the official count carried out as of December 31.This figure represents an absolute decrease of 7,701 licenses during the past year, which in percentage terms is 2.7% less than at the beginning of the year, the sixth decrease experienced in the history of Spanish golf, covering the period 2011-2016, coinciding with much of the prolonged economic crisis that conditions the development of many sectors of Spanish society.
Within the framework of this period of decrease 2011-2016, it is the second consecutive time that the percentage rate has improved with respect to previous years – when the decreases experienced were 6.0% (2014) and 3.7% (2015) -, which in statistical terms is understood, if this trend is maintained, as a turning point since the aforementioned moment.
Taking a longer period of time as a reference, it should be recalled that in 1990 there were 45,000 players in Spain; the 100,000 mark was passed in 1996; 200,000 were registered in the first months of 2002; in mid-2004 there were 250,000 and at the end of 2006 the barrier of 300,000 members was surpassed. The maximum peak in the number of licenses occurred in 2010, when there were 338,588 members, and since then the process of decrease described above has begun.
Women and junior golf in Spain
It should be noted that the number of women’s licenses currently exceeds 81,000, which represents 29.5% of the total number of golf licenses.
Of all of them, 41,329 correspond to women over 50 years of age, 27,914 to women between 21 and 50 years of age and 12,108 to women under 21 years of age, with special mention for the 8,537 children under 16 years of age, the latter figure slightly better than that recorded in 2015, when 7,838 children made up that age group.
Among the youngest, it should be noted that the Spanish golf quarry is made up of 23,563 boys and girls under 16 years of age -somewhat more than 34,000, specifically 34,730, if the age range is extended to 21 years-, which in percentage terms represents 8.5 % or 12.5 %, respectively.
In this case, likewise, the base of Spanish golf is slightly expanded, since at the first of 2015 there were 21,530 under 16 years old -33,682 up to 21 years old-, which in percentage terms represented 7.6% or 11.9%, respectively, a process that coincides with the progressive and gradual implementation of the Golf in Schools Program that has been jointly developed by RFEG, Autonomous Federations and Clubs for several years now.
Data by Autonomous Communities
During 2015 all the Autonomous Communities have registered red numbers in the licenses section. Within this framework of generalized loss of federated members, slightly more attenuated than in the previous three years, Balearic and Canary Islands -with decreases of 1.0 %-, Murcia (1.1 %), Asturias (1.3%), La Rioja (1.5%), Galicia (1.7%), Comunidad Valenciana (2.0%), Madrid (2.4%) and Aragón (2.5%) were the Autonomous Communities where the percentage decrease was lower, all of them below the national average of the aforementioned 2.7%, a figure in which Andalusia was rightly placed.
At the opposite pole, the Autonomous Cities of Melilla and Ceuta, Castilla y León, Castilla La Mancha, Catalonia, Extremadura, the Basque Country, Navarre and Cantabria lost 9.7%, 5.2%, 4.6%, 4.4%, 4.3%, 3.4%, 3.4%, 3.0% and 2.9%, respectively.
In absolute terms, Madrid, Catalonia and Andalusia were the Autonomous Communities that suffered the greatest decrease in the number of members in 2015, specifically 2,068, 1,395 and 1,224 fewer licenses, respectively.
These three figures account for 61.1% of the decrease in licenses in Spain as a whole – 26.9% for Madrid, 18.2% for Catalonia and 15.9% for Andalusia – although in percentage terms the decrease in the number of members in Madrid was 2.4% and in Andalusia 2.7%, below and just within the aforementioned average of 2.7% for the whole of Spain.
Golf by provinces
In provincial terms, all have suffered decreases with the exception of La Rioja, Malaga, Valencia, Teruel, Badajoz and Ciudad Real -with small increases-, while in others -Zaragoza, Cuenca, Granada, Jaen, Tarragona, La Coruña, Lugo, Orense- registrations remain practically unchanged.
In contrast, Madrid and Barcelona, with 2,068 and 1,2013 fewer licenses, with higher population and number of federates, lead the provincial losses in 2015.
In absolute terms, Madrid, with 82,775 members, accounts for 29.9% of the total number of licenses, followed by Andalusia, with 43,859, and Catalonia, with 30,646, accounting for 15.9% and 11.1% of the total number of members, respectively.
The Valencian Community (19,360), the Basque Country (18,093), Castilla y León (14,420) and Galicia (10,588) are the other Autonomous Communities that exceed the 10,000 member mark.
The golf crisis in other countries
The EGA, the European Golf Federation, publishes on its website the number of licenses in the countries of the Old Continent. These data show that the decline in the number of members has been more pronounced in the British Isles, where in England, for example, more than 200,000 licenses have been lost since 2004, all still immersed in an economic boom that gave way to the crisis affecting half the world.
Special mention also goes to Sweden, which reached its peak in 2004, when almost 594,000 members were registered, some 120,000 more than in 2015, the time fixed by the statistics in the attached table.
In contrast, countries of the economic strength of Germany, the Netherlands or France have grown significantly between 2004 and 2015.
In Spain, the peak occurred in 2010, with 338,588 federated members, although in the whole period analyzed (2004 to 2015) some 36,000 licenses were gained (17.0 % more).
Country Year 2004 Year 2015 Difference % Difference
England 878,821 678,372 -200,449 – 22.8 %
Ireland 255,200 194,151 -61,049 – 23.9 %
Scotland 260,043 199,764 -60,279 – 23.2 %
Wales 70,728 49,084 -21,644 – 30.6 %
Sweden 593,873 474.777 -119.096 – 20.0 %
Germany 457.237 639.137 181.900 + 39.8 %
Netherlands 225.000 387.429 162.429 + 72.2 %
France 325.229 408.388 83.159 + 25.6 %
SPAIN 241.618 277.782* 36.164 +15.0 %
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