A new R&A golf survey revealed that the game "is expanding," according to Martin Dempster of the SCOTSMAN. Involving more than 25,000 hours of labor and funded by the R&A along with 15 of the world's leading golf companies, "Golf around the world 2015" delivers a "fascinating insight into the state of the game." On the "one hand," the number of courses in the U.S., where building booms "gripped the country in two separate spells over the past 50 years, is dropping." From a peak of 16,052, it was down to 15,372 at the end of last year. On the other, golf is "growing elsewhere, notably in Asia, where 207 new courses" are under construction. Worldwide, there are the equivalent of 696 new 18-hole courses under construction or in "advance planning," which, if all were realized (and no existing courses closed), "the total world supply would increase" by around 2%. While 80% of these projects are located in Asia, Europe and North America, the sport is "reaching parts of the world where golf has not been present before." Last year, for example, Georgia opened its first course while the Royal & Ancient game is "also just about to be introduced in Macedonia and Sao Tome and Principe." The report reveals that Europe is home to 22% of the world's total golf supply. In 40 out of the continent's 50 countries, it had 7,403 golf facilities at the end of last year, with "several" European countries boasting the "highest golf participation rates in the world." While the report describes Africa as a "burgeoning golf destination," it is Asia that has been "designated as the Continent that has 'room for golf to grow'" (SCOTSMAN, 3/12).
