National Golf Month 2017 targets women

National Golf Month (NGM) will focus on encouraging women to take up the game as its primary target for this year’s month long campaign, which starts on May 1^st 2017.

Currently, only just over one in ten UK golfers are female (14 per cent) compared to one in four in Europe (25 per cent), which makes the proportion of female golfers in the UK the lowest of the top ten markets in Europe.

“Women should be a higher proportion of the playing base, which is why increasing the number of women playing the sport will be the top priority for National Golf Month in 2017. If we can boost the number of women who play the sport, then we can also revitalise the playing base of the sport through increased family participation too,” said Doug Poole project Director, NGM.

This year’s NGM will address some of the key barriers currently preventing women off starting the game in the first place: the cost of taster sessions, easy access and the chance to try the game with their friends. These factors were highlighted by Syngenta’s recent global report ‘Unlocking Golf’s True Potential’.

Core to NGM 2017 will be a its target to provide 50,000 free one hour trial sessions, exclusively for women, worth over £2m, which will be the industry’s largest ever promotional offer aimed specifically at getting women started in the sport.

As well as providing a substantial inventory of taster sessions, National Golf Month will provide a better understanding of how clubs and professionals can attract more women through new or innovative approaches.

“There is a clear business case for attracting more women to play the game. New female members generate an additional £750 of revenue per annum PER PLAYER according to some research and female players open up the family market. We plan to help the industry learn more from the great data and case studies which exist,” said Doug Poole.

The National Golf Month web site will use the booking platform, supplied by fibodo, to match consumers with golf professionals. The website will be live on February 1^st at: www.nationalgolfmonth.com.

Philip Morley, Chair of the British Golf Industry Association, said: “The British Golf Industry Association is delighted, once again, to support National Golf Month which remains the most effective campaign we have to promote the sport in the UK. Golf is a fun, healthy and social game which more people should try, especially women. We hope that our efforts this year will help to boost female participation in the game for the long term.”

Further details about the promotional plans, sponsors and supporters will be released over the coming months.