Golf courses occupy 33% of open green space in Great Britain

With an estimated 979,500 golf players, courses reopening in England on the 29th March (joining Wales and Scotland) will be a joyous occasion for many.
There are 373,673 hectares of open green space in Great Britain. Golf courses account for a staggering 33%, the equivalent of 124,806 hectares.
The re-start of many sports will not only be good for our wellbeing but it also helps support the UK economy, contributing £39 billion each year. A significant proportion of this money comes from individuals' involvement in grassroots sport.
With an estimated 1,044,050 residential sales in 2020 and each sale contributing £9,559 to the economy, we estimate residential sales in 2020 added £9.9 billion to the UK economy in comparison. Source: Dataloft, Ordnance Survey, Sports England, Statista, Knight Frank, HMRC