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If you asked a business leader whether they’d run a company without a plan, most would laugh at the idea.    Yet in our recent Custodian Golf Club Quiz, almost 30% of golf clubs admitted that they either don’t have a strategic plan or only put one in place when circumstances force them to.

This year has been one of the best golfing seasons in living memory. From spring through to late summer, courses across the UK have basked in long spells of sunshine punctuated by the occasional well-timed downpour. The result has been nothing short of perfect conditions. Rounds are up. Visitor numbers are up. England Golf is reporting record score submissions. On the surface, everything looks rosy.

Back in 1990, just one year after the publication of the R&A’s ‘The Demand for Golf’, I got a job at the first driving range to open in the Highlands of Scotland, on the outskirts of Inverness. At this time the R&A predicted that 691 new 18-hole courses would be needed by 2000 across the UK in order to meet growing demand and the new driving range, officially opened by Sam Torrance, was part of this growth.

With the first major of the year wrapped up and fairways across the country filling fast, the 2025 golf season is now well and truly underway. But as players return in force, so too do the pressures facing clubs behind the scenes.

Here at Custodian Golf we’ve spent the last couple of years knee-deep in data, trying to get to grips with the state of golf across Great...

At Custodian Golf we have, over the past 18 months, pulled together what we believe is the most comprehensive golf course database in...

Golf courses are iconic landscapes, loved for their serene beauty and meticulous maintenance. Yet, beneath the surface lies a growing...

Gradually, then suddenly – Here at Custodian Golf we’re passionate about golf in all its forms. As a group of golf, planning and data...