. Playing golf is associated with an improvement in cardiovascular risk factors.

. The 70% companies irrigate golf courses with reclaimed water

Citizens' sporting habits have been greatly affected by the lockdown measures and subsequent restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While those who practiced sports intensely have been forced to considerably reduce the time they dedicate to it and to change their routines, the number of people who do moderate exercise has increased considerably.

A survey conducted by Ipsos Digital for Hubside reveals, for example, that three out of five Spaniards began to practice some sporting activity after the de-escalation, with a clear preference for outdoor spaces.

Golf courses have been one of the main beneficiaries of this new trend. Indeed, in the months following the lockdown, golf participation has increased significantly due to the preference for outdoor, solitary sports and because golf is considered safe in the context of COVID-19, thanks to a protocol validated by the Ministry of Health and developed in conjunction with the most representative associations and federations. This protocol was approved during the height of the lockdown last May with the collaboration of unions, regional governments, and the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces, and coordinated by the State Secretariat for Tourism.

The coronavirus crisis presents a unique opportunity to assess the impact that sport, physical activity and exercise can have on the life expectancy of citizens, considering that 13.41% of deaths in our country are attributable to physical inactivity.

In fact, a report led by Bahman Farahmand and Anders Ahlbom, professors at the Karolinska Institutet (Sweden), reveals that golfers have a life expectancy five years longer than the average person of the same sex, age and sociocultural level.

Among the benefits attributed to this sport are: a 36 to 68% reduction in the risk of hip fracture; a 30 to 40% reduction in the risk of developing diabetes; and a 20 to 35% decrease in the likelihood of suffering a cardiovascular event as well as developing various types of cancer.

It has been shown that practicing sports in open spaces, besides being a well-established priority, oxygenates the mind and body and enhances vitamin D synthesis. Furthermore, the environment in which it is practiced helps to combat and slow down mental illness, another of the most immediate consequences of the pandemic that various experts are beginning to warn about.

The new report by IE, in collaboration with the Spanish Association of Golf Courses (AECG) and the Royal Spanish Golf Federation (RFEG), also highlights the industry's commitment to the environment: the 88% of the companies have a water-saving system for irrigation and the 70% irrigate with reclaimed water.

Claudia Hernández, president of the AECG, commented that “the COVID-19 pandemic has led many people to reflect on our priorities and the kind of country we want to become. In terms of health and well-being, golf is an asset we already possess and in which we hold world leadership in tourism, but perhaps we are not taking full advantage of it at the national level. At the AECG, we are working to promote the practice of golf among citizens, as it is an accessible sport that allows for physical distancing and provides numerous benefits for both body and mind.”.

Gonzaga Escauriaza, the sole candidate for the Presidency of the RFEG at this time, has stated that “physical inactivity, in addition to having health consequences, has an estimated economic cost of around 1.56 billion euros, 70.5% of which falls on public administrations. This pandemic has opened our eyes to begin to act and to value both the practice in general, and the assets we have that we can and must also promote at this time when tourism and local and national leisure are being encouraged above all else.”.

Full report below, in the Related Links section

Data sources

The study on the economic impact of golf in Spain was carried out by IE University based on a questionnaire to the companies that manage golf courses in Spain - carried out by the AECG and the REFG - as well as data from Mastercard that collect the spending patterns of foreign tourists in Spain up to one month before and one month after their visit, and microdata from the Tourist Expenditure Survey provided by the National Institute of Statistics.