Adam Stanley/ Golf Canada
Golf is a sport constructed on historical past and custom, but for hundreds of years it was tied solely to fairways, greens and tee occasions. Since 2020, conventional golf has surged, however the locations the place Canadians play the sport have expanded even quicker. Golf is now being loved in metropolis centres, procuring malls, transformed warehouses and more and more in basements and garages.
All over the world, and particularly in Canada, off-course codecs – from tech-driven driving ranges to cozy indoor simulators and social golf lounges – are decreasing the obstacles to play, widening the viewers, and reshaping what it means to be a golfer.
“We’ll all the time champion green-grass golf because the purest type of the sport, however extra particularly, we’re making an attempt to ship a message to the market: nonetheless and wherever you choose up a golf membership, it’s nice. It’s golf,” says Golf Canada Chief Advertising Officer Tim McLaughlin. “And should you’ve by no means picked up a golf membership on a course, and solely play in simulators, you won’t see your self as a golfer proper now. However what we’re making an attempt to inform you is that you’re a golfer.”
Off-course golf in Canada affords comfort and leisure. Driving ranges throughout the nation have advanced from rows of mats into coated, data-rich tech hubs the place gamers of all ranges monitor stats or compete with pals. Indoor simulators have popped up in all types of places, making it doable to suit a full 18 holes right into a lunch break. Date nights, children’ birthday events or winter weekends can all contain golf, regardless of the season.
“If you happen to’re not a golfer, (off-course golf) might be the best solution to get into the sport – it’s geographically accessible, it’s probably extra reasonably priced, it’s much less time-consuming and its much less intimidating,” McLaughlin says.
To help this rising entry level, Golf Canada launched its Simply Swing marketing campaign to encourage year-round participation. Off-course play is clearly changing into a gateway to the game. In 2022, about 23 per cent of golfers in Canada participated in simulator golf. In the present day that quantity is 41 per cent. In the US, McLaughlin notes, extra folks are actually enjoying golf off the course than on it.
Whereas not everybody who performs off-course golf will transition to green-grass amenities, many will. Golf Canada continues to seek the advice of with provincial associations, trade companions and the R&A, all of whom see the identical alternative to develop the sport via off-course participation.
“The sensation within the trade is that there has not been sufficient training and consciousness about what off-course golf is, methods to become involved, and methods to take part. We see large potential for off-course golf to open up new alternatives for folks to interact with the game,” McLaughlin says.
Golf Canada additionally recognises that the simulator market consists of two distinct teams. Industrial amenities are quickly opening in plazas, strip malls, and workplace buildings. On the identical time many golf golf equipment have put in simulator bays in curling rinks, banquet areas, or apply buildings to offer year-round experiences for his or her members. Golf Canada understands that off-course exercise is already occurring inside its current community, whereas new stand-alone amenities proceed to develop.
Off-course golf shouldn’t be a substitute for traditional layouts or fashionable designs. It enhances them. It helps break down preconceptions, introduces the game to new audiences, and reveals Canadians they will take pleasure in golf in a means that fits their way of life.
The long run holds nice potential. Might there be an indoor Canadian Open sometime? A high-performance simulator league? Or a prime indoor-golf occasion? As extra Canadians choose up a membership wherever they will and easily “Simply Swing”, alternatives continue to grow.
“Our membership technique goals to boost connectivity between off-course golf and on-course play. Many of those amenities are keen to attach with the broader golf panorama, so hopefully, in doing this, we will obtain precisely that,” McLaughlin says.
“All golf is golf, and we have to sign that to the market.”
