Singapore: A pioneering research programme by sports and leisure specialists Sports Marketing Surveys (SMS) is assessing the playing habits of Asia’s golfers.

The research marks the first pan-Asian golf research study and fills an important need for the region’s golf federations, venues, brands and retailers.
 
Major successes like Hideki Matsuyama’s Masters triumph, Yuka Saso’s win at the US Women’s Open, Mone Inami’s silver medal and CT Pan’s bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics have already boosted Asian golf in 2021.

The playing habits survey builds on this impetus, generating actionable insight that federations, brands, retailers and events across Asia can use to grow the game at grass-roots level.
 
The survey is the first major project unveiled by Sports Marketing Surveys Asia since its launch in March 2021. Operations on the continent are led by Eric Lynge, Special Advisor to SMS who is driving SMS’ expansion of services across all sports in the Asia Pacific region.

The research questionnaire was made available in seven languages, taking advantage of SMS Asia’s local links and specialist distribution partners.

In total, more than 10,500 responses were received from golfers across the continent in India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.

The report looks at the participating territories as a whole while also comparing and contrasting key differences within each market.

“It will serve as an essential guide for any golf businesses selling or investing in a specific country, as well as supporting federations and venues in assessing how to offer the facilities and initiatives that can drive future growth,” said a spokesperson for SMS, a Full Business Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.

Questions focus on who plays golf in each market, and how, where, when and why they play. This means insight on playing, training, buying, post-round socialising, and following golf in the media.

The impact of Covid-19 on activity will also be assessed to establish the sustainability of trends and project future behaviour.

Reflecting on the fieldwork, Lynge said: “There have not been many regional studies in Asia on consumer playing habits and this research is planned to be the first of many which SMS and partners will be implementing.

“This is the kind of ambitious, rigorous research that the continent has been crying out for. Asian golf is developing but not necessarily uniformly, and the needs of different territories are as diverse as the people, languages, cultures and customs of the region.

“We’ve already spoken to lots of clients who are excited about what the playing habits research will do for their business.”