It’s time to take action. Together.
We’ve conducted extensive data-driven research on every single golf club and golfing facility across Great Britain.
We harness this data to provide clubs with an evidenced based, forward-looking perspective. This unique and specific data allows us to identify trends, anticipate changes in the local landscape, and help clubs make informed decisions that contribute to their long-term viability and resilience in the face of evolving market and environmental dynamics.
How we work with you
Reposition
We partner with your club to establish your current brand, market, and operating positions.
Then we work with you to build a strategic delivery plan to assist your club’s evolution.
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This may include:
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Round and yield analysis
Close market evaluation
Value proposition
Facilities audit
Sustainability
Areas we help
Repurpose
Releasing 'spare' land by extending and reformatting courses to make better use of existing land assets to modernise and improve the venue.
This may include:
New short format holes
Driving ranges
Adventure golf
Indoor/outdoor coaching Improvement to sustainability
New ideas to deliver new revenue streams
New and improved facilities
Relocate
A complete venue relocation to a more sustainable site within an agreed radius of the existing course where socio-economic and business modelling support a new facility or where there is over-supply locally, facilitating a merger with another club.
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This may include:
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Agree key decisions
Select sustainable new site
Project Management
Turnkey Solutions
Engage leading contractors
Partnering with your club
Where we start: A no cost, no obligation venue assessment
We evaluate your current position and assess your options at no cost to your club
Tailored solutions:

Our data analysis team will assess your club’s current state, identify improvement areas, and determine if any on-course and/or adjacent land can be repurposed. We’ll guide you through potential changes, estimated sales value, and how new revenue can enhance your facilities and make golf more accessible to your local community.
Fast and straightforward

We streamline every step of the change process—member consultations, design, planning, approvals, and land sales—maximising financial returns and reinvesting in your assets. Our data-driven approach mitigates risks and ensures a sustainable, future-focused improvement plan for your club.
Our broad range of capabilities
Use data-driven analysis & strategic planning
Our supportive, 'hand-in-hand’ approach, supported by detailed statistical analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), provides your club with an accurate understanding of your market position and challenges.
Help you adapt to changing membership needs
Attract a more diverse and younger membership by offering flexible membership schemes and improved facilities. This includes addressing gender imbalances and providing data-driven insights into membership trends.
Provide economic and financial support
Get support navigating financial challenges by identifying cost-saving opportunities, potential revenue streams, and in some cases, access funding. We also advise on leveraging land value for financial stability through strategic relocations or repurposing parts of the golf course.
Tackle environmental challenges proactively
We help clubs manage environmental risks like flooding and drought by promoting the installation of advanced irrigation systems and strategic planning to mitigate these issues.
Support adoption of helpful technologies
Adopt modern technology to enhance the golfing experience and operational efficiency. This includes golf simulators, shot tracking apps, and digital booking systems, which help clubs attract tech-savvy members and streamline their operation.
Integrate important ESG policy & practices
Enhance social inclusivity, and adopt governance structures that ensure long-term sustainability and community engagement by integrating Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices.
Our Analysis
Transparency and evidence are the foundation of the Custodian Golf approach to understanding the position clubs are in. Combined with our in-depth industry knowledge, our comprehensive course and catchment data gives us best-in-class insights into the true position of golf clubs in their wider markets and establishes a starting point for intervention. Often this can be a position of strength, but sometimes the situation for individual clubs is less positive. This is why, when we initially engage with clubs, we always begin with a thorough, multi-step analysis of the current context.
The Custodian Golf Method
Multi-criteria geospatial data science and gap analysis using best-in-class tools and techniques to gain a true understanding of a club's current situation
Geodemographics
At Custodian Golf we use geodemographics to help us understand a club’s current membership as well as the wider catchment area it sits within. Geodemographic classifications are sophisticated consumer segmentation models that combine demographic and geographic data to arrive at a nuanced understanding of local consumer markets. All major businesses across the UK use geodemographics for marketing, customer profiling and beyond, so we bring this approach to the golf industry as a way of helping clubs understand their unique positions from both a membership and wider market perspective.
True travel time
Most golf clubs in Britain have quite local catchment areas, but some do not. That’s why at Custodian Golf we have sought to gain a deep understanding of the varied travel patterns of members at clubs across the country using our ‘true travel time’ approach to catchment analysis. Some clubs have quite local catchments, with a median member travel time of around 15 minutes, whereas others have a median member travel time of more than 25 minutes. We have also used our true travel time approach to arrive at accurate estimates of club catchment populations for all golf clubs in Britain (more than 2,500). Understanding the geographic spread of club memberships and the barriers to access is therefore a key component of the Custodian Golf approach.
Planning constraints
Most golf clubs in Britain will interact with the planning system at some point, and many will do so regularly. Understanding these constraints can be a daunting prospect for golf clubs, so at Custodian Golf we bring decades of experience to understanding planning constraints from a policy and data perspective. Whether it’s Green Belt, rights of way, listed buildings, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, or any other planning constraint, we are uniquely placed to advise clubs on the planning policy limitations they face, and how they may impact a club moving forward.
Physical characteristics
As part of the Custodian Golf database, we have information on each club’s physical characteristics. This includes things like annual rainfall, sunshine hours, wind speeds, flood risk, elevation, frost days and several other attributes relating to the physical setting of the course. These are part of what makes each club unique and why it is impossible to arrive at a one-size-fits-all approach to understanding the individual context for any single golf club. This is what makes golf a unique and exciting sport, but it also presents challenges that need to be understood at the club-level, and that’s what we aim to do.
Geographic data science
Our team of data analysts have been at the forefront of developments in geographic data science for many years, and combine award-winning analysis with real-world knowledge. The term ‘geographic data science’ refers to an interdisciplinary field of work that combines the established principles and methods of data science with a geographic approach to understanding the world. In short, it combines spatial data with data science techniques like machine learning, algorithms and statistical modelling. At Custodian Golf we’ve used a geographic data science approach to understanding consumer markets, to optimise location planning and to identify gaps in golf provision across the country.
Regional gap analysis
The golfing landscape across Britain is varied in its coverage and quality, and not all clubs are created equal. This diversity in club type is well known, but existing knowledge on course coverage, competition and context is at present quite piecemeal, anecdotal or at times sadly lacking. Therefore at Custodian Golf we have worked hard to understand every single club in Britain in relation to its market position, and then applied a competition and context assessment to it. What this does is allow us to look at every single golf club and, for example, determine how many directly competing facilities there are in the catchment area, how it compares to other local courses, and which other clubs potential members have on their radar. By taking a birds-eye view of this across the whole country we are able to understand where the gaps are, and how clubs might capitalise on this.
WHAT NEXT?
Get in touch
Ready to elevate your golf club’s potential?
At Custodian Golf, we specialise in providing in-depth analysis of Great British golf clubs, offering unparalleled insights to help you thrive. Contact us today to unlock the power of your data and discover how we can guide your club toward its next great achievements.
Questions? Get in touch: