THE REALITY-BITTEN MATH OF GOLF
Golf is famously a game of numbers where players obsess over handicaps, yards, strokes, penalties and more. So here’s the reality-bitten math: Just a little over 1 per cent of Singaporeans play golf, but golf courses take up almost 30 per cent of space allocated to community and recreational facilities in Singapore’s 2030 land use plan.
The Singapore Golf Association (SGA) reports that of the 46,000 members of Singapore’s private golf clubs, 83 per cent are men and 55 per cent are 55 or older. But 2023’s National Sports Participation Survey found that across genders and ages, the most popular sports are walking, running, calisthenics, swimming and cycling.
Most of these have snagged international podium wins over decades, crowning stars from sprinter Shanti Pereira and marathoner Mok Ying Ren to swimmers Joscelin Yeo and Joseph Schooling. Golf has been more low-profile, although 19-year-old Shannon Tan has just turned pro and already has two international wins.
Undoubtedly, if you build it, they will come. The gorgeous expansions of the Park Connector Network and newly revamped ActiveSG facilities are why 2022 marked an all-time high in regular participation in sports.
But with most golfers belonging to private clubs and guaranteed tee times, the few remaining players will either scramble for limited public spots at Keppel Club, or trek to Johor or Batam to tee off – a much cheaper, albeit more time-consuming, proposition than country club memberships and course rates. Prioritising land-intensive recreation for a tiny segment over pressing housing, transport and healthcare needs simply doesn’t add up.