DAVID OWEN

GOLF is now more popular in Ireland than in the sport's traditional home of Scotland, according to new figures from KPMG which reveal that 7% of Irish people are affiliated to their national golf union via club membership, compared with only 5% in Scotland.

The success of Irish golfers, as epitomised by Padraig Harrington's victory in last year's Open Championship at Carnoustie, is helping to spark a golf boom on the Emerald Isle, with the sport now more popular there than anywhere else in Europe.

The Nordic countries come closest to matching Ireland's participation rating, with Sweden scoring 6% and Iceland 5.3%. Wales, the prospective host of the 2010 Ryder Cup, has 2.4% participation, with England on 1.9%.

The figures also demonstrate that Irish golfers are not put off by the high cost of playing the sport in their country, possibly reflecting rising prosperity in a formerly impoverished nation.

Joining fees at Irish clubs were said to average almost e6000 (£4480), with annual subscriptions weighing in at e949 (£709). This compares to an average of e2327 (£1738) and e821 (£613) in Great Britain and Ireland overall.

Scotland's 18-hole courses are the busiest in Great Britain and Ireland, averaging 34,000 rounds per year, against 31,000 in England, 27,000 in Ireland and 24,000 in Wales.

Golfers in Scotland also have the dubious distinction of paying the most expensive green fees in Great Britain and Ireland. These amount to e45 (£34) for a weekday round and e54 (£40) at weekends. This compares with e42 (£31) and e51 (£38) in Ireland, e42 (£31) and e49 (£37) in England and e40 (£30) and e49 (£37) in Wales.

Spanish courses charge more - e59 (£44) and e66 (£49) a round - with prices in Portugal e71 (£53) and e78 (£58).

Eighteen-hole courses in Scotland boast an average membership of 659, almost on a par with England (665), but substantially less than Ireland on 830.

Harrington beat Spain's Sergio Garcia by one stroke in a four-hole play-off in last year's Open, becoming the first European to win one of the four majors since Paul Lawrie won the Open in 1999.

Nearly 1500 golf courses across Europe, the Middle East and Africa submitted data for the survey. Average revenues at courses in the Middle East, where capacity is growing fast, are far higher than in Europe.

Revenues at 18-hole courses in the Middle East averaged e5.3m (£4m), compared with e1.8m (£1.3m) in both Portugal and the Netherlands, e1.5m (£1.1m) in Spain and e1.3m (£1m) in Ireland.

  • KPMG's Golf Benchmark Survey Summary Report, available free of charge at www.golfbenchmark.com