The Herald Scottish Golf Survey: Results in 12 charts

The Herald Scotland

05-06-2025

It marks the start of a three-day series that will be followed tomorrow by the findings from the survey on clubs' opinions of governing body Scottish Golf, and a look at the potential financial impact of implementing a 'one player, one fee' system in the collection of affiliation payments to Scottish Golf.
OpenPlay, the flexible subscription for non-club members to obtain an official handicap, will come under the microscope on Saturday. We also speak to some clubs that are working together to improve their financial fortunes.
Ageing membership has ranked second only to rising costs in the list of the greatest challenges faced by golf courses in Scotland, yet there is more concern about bringing in additional visitors than attracting the new members to maintain what is the majority of the income stream at most clubs.
Asked whether their club or facility benefits in any way from the location of the R&A's headquarters in Scotland, one respondent wrote: "The R&A are an elitist club who may as well be HQ'd on the moon. Nothing they say or do relates in any way to the management and operation of a private members' club."
However, Kevin Fish of the Contemporary Club Leadership (CCL) consultancy based in North Berwick disagrees with this assessment.
"Every golfer's dream is to go to St Andrews, so it is absolutely right that the Home of Golf is the home of the international governing body for golf.
"They are careful not to tread on the toes of others bodies whose responsibility it is to support clubs, but believe me, being in Scotland you are more likely to benefit from the odd spin-off of what the R&A do than you are if you are in Azerbaijan."
Meanwhile, the pros and cons of the World Handicap System introduced in November 2020 also dividend opinion among those taking part in The Herald Scottish Golf Survey.
Clubs with between 201 and 400 members made up the largest group in the survey sample, while only 14 either have a waiting list or have closed their waiting list.
The received wisdom is that golf, and golf clubs in particular, were in a general state of decline before the pandemic with a 20% reduction in membership levels during the 20 years prior. Then along came the 'Covid bounce' when golf was among the first activities allowed during the lockdown period, rekindling the game's popularity and reviving financial fortunes.
Our survey shows that while this has undoubtably been the case for some, the broader situation is not as clear-cut as that narrative suggests. And while those with waiting lists and larger memberships have tended to fare better throughout, there are a sprinkling of high-profile facilities and clubs in well-heeled areas who say their finances are not as strong as what many outsiders might have guessed.
Asked to rank their financial strength on a scale of zero to 10, clubs with larger junior sections of 70 or more were more confident of their finances than those with fewer junior members. The former scored a collective 7.8 compared to 6.1 or less for those with fewer junior members.
Read the entire series from The Herald Scottish Golf Survey here: