“McIlroy Effect” Boosting Interest in Golf

Inspired by recent maiden major victories for local heroes Rory McIlroy, Graham McDowell and Darren Clarke, interest in golf has risen considerably in Northern Ireland. In the last 12 months, the number of people claiming to be interested in golf has increased from 200,000 to 220,000.

The recent success of Northern Ireland’s top golfers has also captivated the media, with the number of people reading about the sport online and in newspapers almost doubling since 2010. Those with an interest in golf are also 50% more likely than average to read or write twitter feeds, which has become an ideal platform for the top golfers to communicate with their fans: earlier this year Rory McIlroy tweeted “Northern Ireland – golf capital of the world”.

There has also been a shift in the make-up of the Northern Irish golf fan base in the last 12 months with the number of fans in the C2DE social grade rising by a quarter to 111,000. Moreover, women now account for 29% of Northern Irish golf fans, up from 25% twelve months ago.