As golf has managed to expand to different countries around the world it has been growing in popularity over time and is one of the fastest growing sports in the world to boot – it continues to be an exciting theme in gaming and a popular theme for more casual options like golfing games at this list of online casinos too. For viewers, it’s easy to get the sense of expense from the sport too, the US has some of the most impressive courses on tour with huge features and impressive designs, and with a number of top players too with some recent names hailing from Texas with the likes of Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth – but is golf an expensive sport, or just one that has an illusion of expense?
(Image from blackbeargolf.com)
Huge sponsors and huge prize funds certainly don’t break this illusion, with rolling sponsors of Rolex through to the prize pot for winners in the millions, as well as the fun challenges like the hole in ones that could see participants win a car – for some this fuels the belief that there’s a lot of expense to the sport and may not be one for those on a budget, but like many can seem deceiving at first.
Professional players and enthusiasts have long encouraged players to seek out more affordable options rather than relying on brand new gear too to make it more accessible – a set of new clubs at the top of the range can run into the thousands of dollars, but a fantastic set of second hand clubs can come in at just the few hundreds range – there’s also no need to spend big on new clothes on a regular basis, but so long as course rules are upheld comfortable clothing can be found at an affordable rate too.
The only thing that may hit some players hardest are membership fees, particularly over the past couple of years some courses had to increase this cost and some course fees are now quite the premium to pay, of course not all courses will charge as much as others but there’s still the possibility of membership fees running into the thousands which needs to be considered for any would-be enthusiast looking to play.
Ultimately golf doesn’t need to be expensive, and with the audience growing so quickly the elitist view that it needs to be is quickly changing, but those hoping to liken it to something such as football may be frustrated to see how much higher the costs may be.
