ANDALUCÍA TOPS 50,000 FEDERATION GOLFERS

The Royal Andalucian Golf Federation had (as of 31 January 2023) a total of 50,003 golfers registered with official federation licences, according to the latest count published by the Royal Spanish Golf Federation. This means that, during 2022, the Andalucian federation added more than 1,100 new golfers to its list, representing a yearon-year increase of 2.3 percent.

This data is especially important if we take into account the fact that the number of federated members had not been above 50,000 since 2012, when the economic crisis caused the Andalucian region to suffer a period of decline in the number of licences, which did not recover until 2019 – a year that, in statistical terms, was considered a turning point. Specifically, growth from the beginning of 2020 to the start of 2023 was more than 12 per cent.

Pablo Mansilla, president of the Royal Andalucian Golf

Federation, referred to this increase in licence numbers at the golf course directors’ annual meeting held at the end of January at the federation’s headquarters. At that meeting, the president stressed the importance of promotional work carried out by the various Andalusian golf academies to bring the sport closer to the general public.

Similarly, he highlighted the important role that major golf events in the Andalucian region have in promoting the sport and encouraging non-golfers to take up the game. To that end, 2023 will mark a special milestone when the Solheim Cup – the premier international professional women’s team golf competition and one of the most important events in women’s sport worldwide – is held in September at Finca Cortesín on the Costa del Sol.

As for distribution by province, of those 50,000-plus licences, more than 20,500 are in Málaga, which – followed by Cádiz, with more than 10,300 – is the province with the highest number of golfers in the Andalucian region and also with the largest concentration of golf courses in continental Europe ■