Greetings to all our golfers!
We are once again at the point in the year when we look back over the past 12 months and share with you some interesting numbers and statistics about golf at the Southern tip of Africa.
Number of Golf Club Members
We had a 3.2% year on year increase in golfers from 148 335 in 2021 to 153 083 golfers at the end of 2022.
This statistic not only covers South Africa but includes Namibia, Botswana, Eswatini, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique and Democratic Republic of Congo.
Very encouragingly, we saw the highest percentage growth year on year from the junior and female golfers in South Africa with these categories jumping 8.8% and 7.2% respectively.
Number of rounds
Although not a record breaking year, 2022 still saw a respectable 4 272 560 rounds registered, 4.85% lower than 2021 which was a record year with 4 490 275 rounds.
We put the decline in registered rounds down to an unusually high number of course closures due to flooding as well as a return to normality post COVID.
Of all the scores entered in 2022, 9.8% or 418 521 were hole-by-hole scores (compared to 10.7% in 2021).
2022 saw 66 182 dedicated golfers or 43.2% of our total membership base play more than two rounds of golf per month.
The busiest month for golf was January in which 395 915 scores were captured. The three next busiest months were: March (388 258), October (376 007) and December (379 841).
Busiest Courses
There was barely 1.0% or 576 rounds seperating the two busiest clubs in South Africa namely Country Club Johannesburg and Randpark Golf Course with CCJ emerging as the busiest club with 72 220 rounds captured between visitors and members.
In the 18-hole-course category, Stellenbosch Golf Course was the busiest club with 44 116 registered rounds taking over pole position from Westlake which has been the busiest club for several years now.
Fancourt hosted the most handicapped visitor rounds at 20 031 (2021: was Royal J & K with 20 813 rounds), with Waterkloof Golf Club taking the honours in the 18-hole-course category with 16 276 visitor rounds (2021: was Wingate Park with 17 958 rounds).
Which Platform Holds The Torch For Most Submitted Scores?
The HNA mobile app once again was the go-to option for golfers to submit their scores with a whopping 82% of all scores submitted via this medium.
The average handicap index for male golfers in 2022 was 13.7 and the average for women was 20.42
The Busiest Clubs Per Region Are as Follows:
Note: All figures are only for rounds that are registered on the HNA system only.
Quote of the Month
“If you watch a game, it’s fun. If you play at it, it’s recreation. If you work at it, it’s golf.” – Bob Hope
Swing easy!
The Handicaps Team
