GOLFERS have been urged to make Saturday, 7 June Wales Golf Day, the most popular day of the year for getting out on a course - and also a chance to set a new record.

Last year a record number of 9,073 rounds were played on the equivalent Saturday, 8 June, 2024, while last year also saw the most competitive rounds of golf played overall in Wales since records began under the World Handicap System.

There were 9,073 cards submitted on 8 June 8, 2024, the second most rounds played was on 13 July 13, while there were even 13 players who submitted a card on Christmas Day.

There were 636,569 rounds of golf submitted for handicap purposes through the summer of 2024 and winter going into 2025, an increase of around 40,000 from the previous record set coming out of Covid in 2022/23.

The statistics also show that the average handicap in Wales is approximately 22 while 6,613 players of are off a single figure handicap

Wales Golf would love to see a new record set this year.

“It would be great to see a huge number of people out on the great courses around Wales,” said Sandy Veale, Wales Golf Operations and Handicapping Manager.

“The introduction of the World Handicap System a few years ago gave us the chance to really monitor who is playing for the first time and now we have got a few years to be able to compare the figures.

“The good news is that the number of rounds of golf being played in Wales is going up, with that early Saturday in June as the most popular single day.

“The figures are not broken down into male and female players, but of course this is a huge year for women and girls golf in Wales with the AIG Women’s Open being hosted in Royal Porthcawl, the biggest female sporting event ever hosted in Wales.

“So it would be good if as many women and girls as possible were inspired by having the world’s best players appearing on Welsh soil and become part of the increased figures for this year as we try to set a new record.

“One of the competitions taking place 7 June, which will see plenty of young players out on the course, is the PING Welsh Junior Tour in Pwllheli, on the back of the last event in Llanishen, Cardiff, having a record entry of well over 100 young golfers.

“While the statistics offer the chance to find some fun facts, of course there is a serious side to it all.

“The World Handicap System works best when players submit as many rounds as possible, to ensure that handicaps are as accurate as possible.

“Also it allows us in Wales Golf to monitor what is going on around Wales and get an accurate picture, which helps influence our strategies going forward under our motto of Everyone’s Game: For Fun, For Sport, For Life.”

Unsurprisingly June was the month when there were the most rounds of golf played in Wales with the number topping 100,000, with July falling just a few rounds short of that figure.

More than a quarter of the scores submitted were from general play – something which shows the flexibility of the World Handicap System to include as many golfers as possible.

While the majority of scores were for 18 holes rounds, around 10% were for playing nine holes – a trend golfing authorities want to encourage for those with less time to spend on the course.

The AIG Women’s Open will be played at Royal Porthcawl from 30 July – 3 August 2025.

Tickets to watch the world’s best golfers in action are available to purchase from £20 at aigwomensopen.com with children under 16-years-of-age free when accompanied by a paying adult.

For more information about the AIG Women’s Open, please visit www.aigwomensopen.com.