Golf Australia unveils new pathway for social golfers as participation surges

1 Dec 2025

Media Release:

Golf participation in Australia continues its unprecedented rise, surpassing four million adult players in 2024/25 — the highest total ever recorded. With participation up 5.2% and social memberships growing more than four times faster than traditional club memberships, Golf Australia has today announced the launch of Golf Australia Club, a flexible handicap subscription designed to support the growing number of regular golfers who are not yet part of a club.

The findings, released today in the 2024/25 Golf Club Participation Report, reveal that one in every five adult Australians played on a course, driving range, simulator, or mini-golf venue last year.

Traditional golf club membership grew strongly, rising to 477,220 members nationwide, marking the fifth consecutive year of membership growth and a remarkable 24.1% increase since 2017/18 — the strongest sustained period of club membership growth in three decades.

The report found growth is being fueled by new and emerging audiences:

41.6% of new members are under the age of 35, double the proportion of existing members.
Junior membership surged 17.9%, with the number of under 18-year-old members more than doubling in the last five years, up 112%. This has been driven by record growth in national participation programs, including over 40,000 registrations for MyGolf powered by Ripper GC (up 11%) and a 25% increase in TeeMates flexible junior memberships.
Women’s participation continues to rise, supported by the Get Into Golf program for adults new to golf which is up 10% year-on-year. Women representing almost 88% of all Get Into Golf participants, while 25.8% of participants were born overseas, reflecting deliberate efforts to extend golf’s reach across diverse community groups. The Australian Golf Foundation’s Junior Girls Scholarship Program has also expanded to around 1,400 girls across 160 clubs.
Beyond traditional play, off-course golf continues to boom, with more than 1.5 million people hitting balls at driving ranges, indoor simulators and entertainment-style venues.

Golf Australia CEO James Sutherland said the results reflect a sport in transformation, driven by new audiences, new formats and increased accessibility across the game.

“This is a defining milestone for golf in Australia,” Sutherland said. “We’ve passed four million players for the first time and the data shows that growth is coming from younger and more diverse communities. Golf isn’t just growing, it’s evolving as more Australians than ever find a version of the game that suits their lifestyle.”

Introducing Golf Australia Club: a new pathway to support golf’s fastest-growing segment

Despite the growth, the latest data also points to a clear opportunity. There are 1.8 million Australians who play a round of golf regularly but aren’t currently members of a club. Among them, around a quarter of a million play at least once a month. These golfers are highly engaged but need a more flexible and accessible way to connect to the game.

This demand has driven a rapid rise in social and virtual membership adoption, which grew 14.8% last year (four times the growth rate of traditional club membership). Today, almost one in ten club-affiliated golfers is a social club member.

To support this growing segment and strengthen pathways into club membership, Golf Australia has launched Golf Australia Club, a new handicap subscription product designed to get more golfers playing regularly and tracking their progress through an official GA Handicap.

“Golf Australia Club will provide these golfers with an official GA Handicap, insurance and access to the Golf Australia App, giving them a simple, flexible and affordable way to start or continue their journey in the sport,” Sutherland said.

“Critically, this is about building a larger pipeline of future club members. Similar programs overseas have shown enormous success, England Golf’s iGolf initiative has already transitioned more than 20,000 subscribers into traditional club membership.”

The key numbers released today:

4 million+ Australians played golf in 2024–25 — the highest participation ever recorded.
1.8 million Australians play on-course golf regularly without belonging to a club.
Total participation up 5.2% year-on-year across on-course and off-course formats.
477,220 golf club members nationwide — marking the fifth consecutive year of growth.
Regional club membership increased 3% to 259,333, double the rate of metropolitan club.
Club membership is up 24.1% since 2017/18 — the strongest sustained growth in more than 30 years.
41.6% of all new club members were under 35, double the proportion of existing under-35 club members (19%).
Junior club membership is up 17.9%, driven by national participation program success:
- MyGolf – over 40,000 registrations (+11%
- TeeMates – +25% growth
- Get Into Golf – +10%, with women making up 88% of participants
Social club memberships grew 14.8% in the last year — more than four times the growth rate of traditional club memberships.