European Golf Expanding

Sports Marketing Surveys unveiled their latest research in Munich which showed that the numbers of golfers and golf courses on the Continent are still increasing.

Around three million golfers are currently playing on 5,200 courses in Europe while the corresponding numbers for Germany are just under 320,000 and 575.

Sports Marketing Surveys asked 12,000 regular golfers in Germany, Great Britain, France and Sweden - where 80 per cent of Europe's courses are located - about their buying habits.

The conclusions were that during the 12-month period covering the second half of 1998 and the first half of 1999, the sales of balls (7.627 million dozen), clubs (6.362 million) and gloves (4.198 million) were all slightly up on the previous year while the sales of shoes (1.583 million pairs), bags (774,600) and shirts and pullovers (6.845 million) were all slightly down.