Golf Comes to the Masses: India

It's not lost on most economists that India is an emerging market. In fact, the second largest country (based on population) is undergoing an amazing transformation - many of its citizens are about to make the leap from lower class to middle class status:

"[The middle-class] is almost a third of India's population today, up from 8% in 1980. Since reforms in 1991, India has become the world's second-fastest-growing economy, and the middle class is expected to become 50% by 2022." - The Wall Street Journal

Not to completely trivialize this historic Indian development, but I couldn't help but wonder what that would mean for golf. After all, many parts of the country were, at one time, under British control. And out of this British control came, among other things: The East India Company; IPA (India Pale Ale); and, of course, Indian golf courses.

Image courtesy of golfinginbangalore.com

To that point, golf was actually being played in India long before it was being played in the United States - the first golf course outside of the British isles was...yep, you guessed it...in India (built in 1829 - which is prior to St. Andrews I might add). And since then, many more Indian courses have been developed.

But according to Sumit Rathor (who is the Client Services Director of Rathor Associates in Bangalore and also an avid golfer), many of these courses were historically private, "with limited memberships and a waiting list that sometimes [was] as long as 50 years."

In an email response regarding the growth of golf in India, Mr. Rathor thinks the future looks bright:

"I�ve been playing golf for nearly thirty five years now - I started playing when I was five years old. And if I were to sum up the new horizon on golfing in India, its bright and futuristic. More people are taking to golf at a very young age, because today you have a very scientific approach to coaching. I am also happy to see more women golfers in the circuit, which is certainly an encouraging trend."

And, new course construction is always a good sign to boot. According to Mr. Rathor:

"Another encouraging trend in India is the entry of private enterprise to invest in golf courses along the outskirts of major cities. Bangalore has three new courses coming up and many more happening on the drawing board. These new courses will offer open access to virtually anybody who wants to learn or play."

One such course (Prestige GolfShire) can be seen in the photo above. If courses like Prestige keep popping up, it won't be long before golf catches on in a big way with the general public. And that means growth in the entire golf industry - not just in India, but with retailers here in the States too. Today, there are roughly 30 million golfers in the U.S. (which is basically 10% of the total U.S. population). Should that same trend catch on in India, it would add approximately 120 million new golfers to the world - or 4 times what is in the U.S. now! I'm sure I don't have to point out all the sales potential for U.S. companies (just food for thought for those who think we're losing too many jobs to India).

And let's not forget about golf tourism. Golfers seeking an exotic locale to tee-it-up will no doubt begin considering India. And India isn't just a weekend trip - it's a 10- to 14-day adventure of awesome culture, sites and food (imagine - chicken tikka masala in the snack shack at the turn)! Anyway, all this will boost travel sales both in India and here in the States (on that note, flights in my area to Bangalore start at $1,300...guess I better start saving my pennies).

So needless to say, I'm excited about the growth opportunity for golf in India. Not because American companies can take advantage of a new market, but because an entirely new group of people will be introduced to this great game. And when that happens, it bodes well for golf in general.

Posted in: bangalore,emerging markets,golf,golf stinks,golfinginbagalore,golfstinks,india,indian,Sumit Rathor,tikka masala