Given that we play an outdoor sport, golfers are at the mercy of the elements, meaning that extreme weather can often get in the way of making your next tee time.
Whether it be the torrential downpours that have blighted recent winters in the UK, or the searingly hot and parched summers that have taken courses to the edge, it feels like golfers have lost a lot of potential days due to venues having to close their doors to recover.
New research by golfclubs4cash has shown just how stark this trend has been. They have found that golfers in the UK have lost the equivalent of 94 years' worth of play to extreme weather over the past decade.
How Many Days Have UK Golfers Lost Due to Weather?
(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)
golfclubs4cash analysed historical daily weather data from 2016 to 2025, classifying days when temperatures exceeded 31°C or more than 30mm of precipitation fell as unplayable. These thresholds are associated with a high risk of heat-related illness or heavy rain, with occasional thunder.
Across the United Kingdom, extreme heat and rainfall caused 34,359 days to be deemed unplayable, with the average golf course losing one month (30 days) of play to hot or wet weather every year over the past decade:
- In England, 16,333 days have been deemed unplayable since 2016, the equivalent of 44 years and 274 days.
- In Scotland, courses and golfers have lost a combined 12,626 days over the past 10 years, the equivalent of just over 34 years.
- Wales has recorded 3,512 unplayable days - almost 10 years.
- In Northern Ireland, golf courses and players have lost 1,888 days of play due to extreme rainfall since 2016.
The locations that have been hit the hardest by extreme weather since 2016 in the UK
Courses and golfers in Cumbria have been the most impacted, with a third of days (36.27%) deemed as unplayable since 2016. An estimated 1,324 days have been lost, with an average of 132 days each year considered too hot or too wet.
Neighbouring Lancashire is the second most impacted, losing a forecasted 124 days each year to extreme weather over the past decade.
Courses and players in the Argyll region of Scotland have been the most affected in Scotland, with 121 days each year considered unplayable, whereas the Ross and Cromarty region is the second most disrupted region, losing an average of 102 days annually.
In Wales, courses and golfers in Gwynedd have suffered the most unplayable days to extreme weather, losing 676 days (18.5%) since 2016.
But what does the future hold?
Disruption is Set to Become Even More Extreme
golfclubs4cash also found that weather-related disruption is set to continue in the coming years, with 13 locations set to lose at least one additional month of play in 2040, compared with 2025.
UK golf courses and players are forecasted to face an additional 17.7% increase in days lost to extreme weather in 2040 compared to 2025, losing 570 more days.
Courses and players in Lanarkshire, Scotland, are forecast to experience the largest increase in days lost to extreme heat and rainfall, losing an additional 67 days compared to 2025 - the equivalent of over two months.
Nottinghamshire in England and Derry/Londonderry in Northern Ireland are forecast to experience the joint-second biggest increase in disruption, each losing 57 additional days to extreme heat or heavy rain compared to 2025.
These findings raise questions for both golfers and venues themselves as conditions become more extreme. How that impacts the general playability of the game and also the sustainability of maintaining courses to the required standard is a fascinating topic to explore in the coming years, when answers will surely need to be forthcoming.
