Golf Access 4 All 1.96

The title of this Research: "Golf- Access for All? An analysis of golf from a universal access perspective, towards the development of exemplary case studies and a functional map of best policy and practice".

Research examining inclusive golf has increased over the last decade. Surveys issued by the United States Golf-Association (1999) and England-Golf (2014) have provided substantial data regarding disability-golf. Despite this trend, Ireland, which is considered Europe’s number one golfing nation (Independent, 2008), has yet to demonstrate any substantial research in the area of disability-golf.

Irish golf clubs have lost 55% of their members since 2007. The golf industry is experiencing an underutilization of 42% (Carr Golf Services, 2010). Including people with a disability (PWD) could boost membership by 12.5%. The England-Active-People Survey (2014) illustrates that 10% of once a week golfers are PWD. In contrast to England [53% of golf clubs have PWD as members (England Golf 2014)], Ireland has no available data on how many golf clubs count PWD as their members.

This research will elicit the beliefs/attitudes of golf club owners and their current service provision for disabled golfers. Collected data will guide the creation of a map for best policy and practice that will establish what levels of inclusion exist in golf. A survey questionnaire has been developed and will be issued through Survey-Monkey to golf clubs around Ireland in October 2016. The survey will evoke the challenges, state of readiness to make changes, supports needed, and knowledge gaps of golf clubs around Ireland. Results will highlight training needs for Governing Bodies of Sport. Semi-structured interviews with 10 golf club operators will comprise the second stage of data collection.