BRS Golf by GolfNow, saw an explosion of nine-hole rounds booked via its platforms in 2020 and predicts this trend will continue in 2021. Last year, nine-hole bookings in the UK and Ireland hit 3.47 million via BRS Golf’s members’ booking website, members’ app and visitor booking engines — up from 1.55 million in 2019 and 1.4 million in 2018 — and a 123 per cent increase year-on-year from 2019 to 2020.
Meanwhile GolfNow saw a 253 per cent increase in nine-hole bookings year-on-year via golfnow.co.uk and its mobile apps. Nine-hole bookings through its tee-time distribution platform skyrocketed from 8,616 in 2019 to 30,441 in 2020. This increase in rounds is not just thanks to purpose-built nine-hole courses, but 18-hole courses offering the option to play nine holes as well. And the popularity of nine-hole golf wasn’t just a summer fad — BRS Golf and GolfNow also saw a spike in nine-hole bookings in December 2020, which was the fourth biggest month for nine-hole golf last year, behind May, June and July.
BRS Golf and GolfNow service a combined 2,000 golf clubs across the UK and Ireland, meaning it’s nine-hole bookings data accounts for two thirds of the entire market, and predicts the popularity of nine-hole golf to continue as the UK and Ireland heads out of lockdown this spring and golfers return to work.
There are a number of reasons why shorter formats are on the rise, chief among them being that shorter rounds fit more easily into a golfer’s busy schedule than four or five hours playing the full 18. Last year also saw an unprecedented number of people taking up golf for the first time, or returning to the sport after an absence — GolfNow for example reported a 255 per cent increase in 18-24 year olds booking via its website and app — and shorter rounds can help make golf more accessible for beginners and infrequent golfers alike.
What’s clear from these numbers is that the appetite for a shorter form of golf is growing and clubs not yet offering a nine-hole rate on their courses should consider changing their policy, making golf more accessible for players short on time or looking to squeeze in an evening round as daylight hours lengthen.
