A PICTURE OF HEALTH

Fergus Bisset speaks to Phil Anderton, chief development officer at The R&A, to hear about how the governing body's drive on golf and health could provide a massive boost to global participation

- Fergus Bisset

The R&A's campaign to promote the holistic health benefits of golf could be a significant driving force in growing the game around the world over the coming years.

Most of us who play golf know and appreciate some of the health benefits of the game we love, if not all of them. Those outside the sport have perhaps been less aware that golf is one of the very best activities for increasing overall physical and mental health and can increase your life expectancy. The R&A's 2020 Golf and Health report featured a scientific study conducted in Sweden that showed golfers live an average of five years longer than non-golfers.

In its entirety, the report (see page 57) demonstrated via several thorough scientific studies. focusing on various aspects of physical and mental health that golf is indeed good for you. After proving the health benefits of the sport, The R&A wanted to discover if the findings were of interest to people inside and outside of golf. Unsurprisingly they were.

"We did research with existing and lapsed golfers, plus people who play off course' (perhaps use driving ranges only) and people who don't play golf," says Phil Anderton of The R&A. "We showed them the information that it's been proven categorically by doctors and other medical scientists that golf is good for your health. We asked, 'Does this change your perceptions of golf and your intent to play golf more frequently, to take it up again, or take it up at all?' The results were outstanding. To give you an illustration, in Britain, for those people who currently play golf, the intent to play more was 51 per cent after learning more on the sport's holistic health benefits."