Golf Datatech, Yano Research Institute Unveil World Golf Report 2015


One year after announcing a major alliance to aggregate worldwide golf data, and on the heels of releasing the first U.S./Japan Golf Market Report, the industry's two leading independent research and data firms, Golf Datatech, LLC, and Yano Research Institute Ltd., have introduced World Golf Report 2015.

The study provides an in-depth global retail market summary based upon geography, size and economic significance of the $8.7 billion worldwide golf equipment market.

Highlighting the study, data concludes that the world's five largest golf markets represent over 80 percent of total equipment sales. Nearly 20 additional countries/regions account for the remaining world golf market, including Mexico, China, Germany, Australia and the Caribbean among others.

Among the findings for specific markets, individual product categories (i.e. clubs, balls, apparel, etc.) and other global trends, include:

• The Top 5 World Golf Markets: 1. United States; 2. Japan; 3. South Korea; 4. United Kingdom; 5. Canada.

• Germany is the largest golf market in continental Europe.

• China (including Hong Kong and Macau) is the sixth largest golf equipment market but is continually influenced by government regulation.

• The U.S. and Japan control over 65 percent of the world golf equipment market.

"Our collaboration with Golf Datatech continues to produce valuable data that serves to capture the size and scope of the world golf market, as well as individual countries/regions," said Takashi Mizukoshi, president of Yano Research Institute Ltd.

"As we now have a firm understanding of the two biggest golf markets, the U.S. and Japan, this World Golf Market Study is the next step in evaluating ongoing golf market trends around the world, especially those of developing countries where the future growth of golf is so important."

"In creating this study we were able to aggregate hard data from select countries and combine that with soft data from expert sources across a range of global markets," said Golf Datatech's Tom Stine.

"The overall information gathered enabled us to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the entire global marketplace and develop an unbiased report that will serve as a benchmark for the golf industry on many levels. This is the first step in a process that will allow us to establish a footprint for global data collection that will speak to the game of golf well into the future."

Adds Stine, "Golf is truly a worldwide sport, with the game being played in over 200 countries, but emerging markets for golf such as China, Southeast Asia, Central Europe and South America have just begun to realize their potential. Further, golf's introduction into the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil will undoubtedly spark interest in the game worldwide.

This global expansion of golf necessitates a need to have solid, consistent data to track growth and progress on all levels, from player participation to golf equipment sales. This will be our mission."

For more information on the Golf Datatech and Yano Research Institute’s alliance, as well as the World Golf Report 2015, contact Golf Datatech at info@golfdatatech.com or call 888/944-4116.