With one of the shortest playable seasons in the golf industry the Swedish golf market continues to prove their strength in terms of participation, rounds played and player development. As a nation of of just over 9.5 million people they currently have the highest golf participation rate of 5.1%. With these impressive figures we decided to take a look under the hood of the Swedish Golf Industry to find out their secret.

One of the Keys to the success of the Swedish Golf Market has been their focus on junior golf development and family golf. Whilst this is by no means a revolutionary approach the Swedish continue to stand out from the crowd . Another impressive figure to emerge from Sweden’s participation statistics is the 26% share of the golfing population that is represented by females. Their success in the female market again starts at grass roots level encouraging junior girls with friendships through golf and junior boys with a competitive approach – the numbers speak for themselves.

One of the great factors to the large percentage of junior golfers in the system is the club structures. There is a unique system to Sweden where juniors can be members at clubs, with the club having no obligations to accept them as members when they become adults. It creates a system where more juniors have access to more places to play.

The Swedish Golf Course Owners Association (FSG – Föreningen Sveriges Golfanläggningar)

The Swedish Golf Course Owners Association (FSG – Föreningen Sveriges Golfanläggningar) was founded in 2003 with the objective of both protecting the interests of golf course owners and operators in Sweden and to grow both the Domestic and International golf market. Although Sweden continues to have a very high player participation rate, however this rate does not come without it challenges. For many years the Swedish market had a higher supply of golfers than golf facilities.

With unique market structure in place a boom in golf course development began to meet the increasing demand for the game. With the rapid increase in the supply of golf facilities across Sweden, owners and mangers now face the challenge of increasingly competitive market. The Swedish Golf Course Owners Association play a key role in educating golf course owners on ways in which to attract and retain golfers to their courses.