Cycling's popularity affecting golfing numbers?

fred funk }{ wrote: »

Cycling is very time and cash consuming, more so than Golf.

Cycling is way more "family friendly" than golf. You determine start time and duration/endtime immediately before setting out as it doesn't need to be booked.

Is significantly cheaper than golf, has a better image, is less frustrating and healthier. These are significant variables that all work in the favour of 30-50 age range of which I'm smack bang in the middle of. Not to mention cycling doesn't take away the car for 5-6 hours during the prime of the day. I prefer golf, but life gets easier when I switch out the clubs for the bike.

PhilOssophy wrote: »

How? I bought a bike on the bike to work scheme, 500 quid net. Cheaper than my golf clubs!

The roads are free. I can start at the crack of dawn and be back by 9-10 o'clock, having stopped for coffee, after socialising on a bike and getting great exercise.

And I don't have an annual fee.

I don't see how golf is cheaper?

Don't get me wrong, I lament the decline in golf's popularity. But I think the time poor are finding other ways to amuse themselves!

I can get a set of clubs for €50 and go play around a field.

Fact is, if you're serious about either sport then cycling is far more expensive. You wouldn't see 5k on a decent bike.

Seve OB wrote: »

that is just daft.
play golf in a field..... daft, that is not golf and basically nobody does it.

i can get a bike for 20 bucks and cycle around the same field

as for expense, if you are serious about golf a half decent set of clubs, drivers bags, buggy etc will have you close to the 5k mark. now a half decent club you will be looking at another 1500 per year.

5k on a bike, yes that is a serious bike and you can spend a hell of a lot more. but way more than the average joe would be spending.

so if your 5k bike is more than the average, maybe you should compare that with a golf course that is more than average. tip along to the kclub and tell me cycling is more expensive than golf

That's where I started golfing lol.

I was using that as a counter arguement to his €50 bike and stating cycling was cheaper than golf, I disagree.. Nobody who gets into cycling uses a bike worth €50.

My point is if you get into either sport seriously, cycling is more expensive. With a quick google search there's bikes for over 10k. Cheaper than golf me bollix.

Ah_go_on wrote: »

I’m new to golf and was/am a serious cyclist. I can confirm that golf is much much cheaper in comparison. For what I’ve spent to get very well kitted out in golf is a fraction of what it would cost as a biker for similarly spec (mid range) equipment. Doesn’t break as regularly either

I would have said that once off equipment expense is comparable, but ongoing costs are surely cheaper for cycling?

If you join a club you'll likely be spending 1000+ a year (or potentially a lot more). If you don't join a club, you're probably spending around €30 every time you play. Once you have the gear, other than some ongoing maintenance, it doesn't actually cost you anything to go cycling

I don't see how cycling can be seen as any sort of substitute for golf.

Totally different games.

You can't golf weekly without

- taking the car from the family,
- long periods of absence,
- purchase of driver,
- fairway woods,
- set of irons,
- wedges,
- putter,
- fitting of clubs (some would say requirement),
- cart,
- rain gear,
- shoes,
- brolly,
- golf glove,
- Lessons (some would say requirement),
- golf balls,
- annual membership costs,
- competition entry,
- frustration.

I'd argue the first two are the hardest for a family.

With cycling you can buy a very high end carbon fibre bike for <1k (I've done this twice).
You need cleats, a few sets of cycle gear if you cycle regularly, helmet gloves. Bike maintenance is not a significant expense.
Event days have a cost of €50ish, and generally require travel, but are the exception rather than the norm.

Regarding top of the range in cycling, yes, it's possible to get a bike for €15k but just as is also possible to be spending in excess of $250k annually on golf gear (bob parsons pre-pxg). Neither of these are an entry requirement for either sport.

Biking is generally considered more social & healthier. We are in a great country for golf, but we are also in a great country for cycling. The dublin/wicklow mountains are stunning and have been the training ground for Stephen Roche, Shay Elliott, Nicolas Roche and others.

There's good reason why the 30-50 age group are taking up cycling.

It's the 0-20 year old age group that going to be the bigger problem moving forwards though! These guys are completely different animals to us. (The idea of not being on snapchat for 5hours at a time will be a shocker!)

I don't see what relevance the top of the range stuff is. If you want to spend money on a hobby someone will take it. But I imagine someone with a serious interest in either sport would generally be spending a couple of hundred quid either side of a grand on equipment. The fact that some lads will spend 20 grand on a bike doesn't really matter.

Golf has more unavoidable costs than cycling for sure. If you're serious about it you'll have to pay a membership. This will be a minimum of about 700 per year. But I imagine most serious cyclists will want to do a few weekends away and the like.

I don't think cycling is taking people away from golf really. Golf takes up too much time for men with families now. When I was a child my father used to play every Sunday, have a pint after, go home for dinner and then have a nap on the couch. This would have been fairly typical for men of that time. Meanwhile my mother would cook the Sunday roast while minding 4 kids (6 in summer). Good luck getting the wife to agree to that weekly Sunday these days! Golf just doesn't suit most people's lives now. They need something else to do and cycling is a nice pastime. But I'm not convinced they'd be playing much golf if they weren't cycling.

There is also the health benefit of cycling though. Cycling provides exercise for you. If golf is your sport you really should be doing some exercise as well.

LastLagoon wrote: »

there’s nothing that makes you look like more of a gimp than cycling gear

What do you mean?

I do think there is a significant cross-over of males who have moved from golf into cycling (and maybe a lesser extent running). Having lived in Australia, there was a huge cohort of corporate males who have migrated from the golf course to the roads and the same is happening (has happened) in Ireland. While they are chalk and cheese in terms of the type of activity – a lot of males need a sporting social activity in their lives and both golf and cycling are vying for their precious time and money.

With regards to the cost of each – as mentioned, they can each be relatively affordable to downright obscene, depending on how much money you are willing to spend. It’s the same with any walk of life – restaurants, holidays, cars etc. Some people go to Spain on a holiday and spend a couple of grand, others go to Dubai and spend a fortune.

I’m actually on of the few moving from running into golf – it’s definitely a harder sell at home in terms of cost and time commitment!

Majority of cyclists won’t just have a single bike - road bike, mountain bike, cross bike, winter hack etc. Add licence fees, race entries, gear, various helmets gloves glasses, roof rack, van, shoes, parts upgrades, servicing, turbo trainer: you can see where this ends up 😮 I know mountain bikers who have 3 different types of mountain bikes alone! Makes those fancy Pings seem cheap now doesn’t it haha

I tried getting into golf in my 30s and there were 2 major problems. Firstly as we are a 1 car household my wife and kids had no car each time I played golf, as the kids got into more activities it was a non runner. This made it difficult to play regular enough to become a reasonable golfer, thus leading to the second problem, its very intimidating being a learner golfer. There are very few sports where poor players play alongside very good players. I can see how this has a lot of positives it is still pretty intimidating to be a beginner in front of, or being put into a group of regular players. With cycling there are a lot more avenues for beginners.
I don't think money is an issue for golfers but time certainly is.

Ah_go_on wrote: »

Majority of cyclists won’t just have a single bike - road bike, mountain bike, cross bike, winter hack etc. Add licence fees, race entries, gear, various helmets gloves glasses, roof rack, van, shoes, parts upgrades, servicing, turbo trainer: you can see where this ends up &#55357;&#56878; I know mountain bikers who have 3 different types of mountain bikes alone! Makes those fancy Pings seem cheap now doesn’t it haha

I'm not going to argue with you but that doesn't mean cycling is more expensive than golf.

So lets flip it. Majority of golfers will have multiple sets of clubs, balls get lost regularily are €50 a dozen, need a bigger car for the clubs to fit in and not just a roof rack for them to hang off, new clubs every year when the new Taylor Made M7 comes out at nearly a grand for driver and fairway woods. Membership fees, GUI Fees, insurance, competition fees, gloves, tees, towels, rain gear, golf shoes, lessons, range credits, new golf bags, travel bags, annual golf trip (maybe a few of them) green fees to play other courses, you too can see where this ends up! makes your fancy carbon frame seem cheap now doesn't it haha