Golf participation in South Africa would appear to be increasing, with Handicap Network Africa reporting a three percent increase in the number of rounds captured on the HNA system in 2019.
It rose to a total of 3 910 151 scores, which equates to 10 700 rounds a day around the country. Five years ago the average was 10 000 a day.
March 2019 was the busiest month, with 366 669 scores submitted. That was followed by January, December and November. July 2019 was the quietest month, with 295 549 scores.
The HNA system records between 80% and 85% of rounds played, so it’s likely that almost another million rounds were played by foreign visitors, non-affiliated golfers and registered golfers who didn’t always submit scores.
For instance, SA’s two busiest 18-hole courses, Westlake in Cape Town (42 580 recorded rounds) and Stellenbosch in the Cape Winelands (40 560), both had total rounds in excess of 50 000.
Country Club Johannesburg, a 36-hole facility, had the most recorded rounds of any club, 70 022. Randpark was a distant second with 58 769, and Mount Edgecombe third with 52 543.
The busiest provincial union was Central Gauteng (36 courses) with 639 305 rounds, followed by KwaZulu-Natal (70 courses) with 512 527, and Western Province (18 courses) 508 318.
OTHER FACTS
- 2 385 239 scores were entered on the free HNA mobile app, and only 848 996 scores at HNA terminals. There were 437 049 scores entered on the HNA website.
- The average Handicap Index for male golfers is 14.4, and 21.8 for women.
- 28 is the average number of yearly scores entered per person; 79 golfers submitted at least 200 scores; among registered golfers, 46.2% entered 20 scores or more.
