New research by golfclubs4cash has found that extreme weather could be putting golf getaways at risk, as 16,793 days of play have been lost across some of Europe’s most popular golf holiday destinations since 2016.
golfclubs4cash’s analysis of the most popular golf getaways across Spain, Portugal, and Turkey comes amid a spike in demand for golf holidays amongst Brits, with 940,000 Google searches between January and June this year.
Serik in Turkey, which has had over 60,000 UK Google searches for golf holidays this year, was found to experience the most disruption, with an average of 122 days deemed unplayable each year due to extreme weather.
In Spain, Seville has suffered the most notable weather-related disruption, amid 63,800 searches for golf holidays in the Southern city. A forecasted 115 days were lost each year, predominantly due to extreme heat.
The popular locations to suffer the most disruption since 2016:
Meanwhile, Portugal, which is incredibly popular for golf holidays with over 136,000 searches so far this year, has seen minimal disruption.
Although heatwaves have been more frequent over the past couple of years, just 1,289 days have been lost country-wide in Portugal over the last decade at its most popular golf tourist spots.
As temperatures continue to rise and weather patterns become more volatile, disruption is unfortunately set to become even more frequent across Europe’s most popular golf holiday destinations.
golfclubs4cash forecast that the number of unplayable days in 2040 will rise by 35.2% compared to 2025.
Forecasted number of days lost to extreme heat and heavy rainfall across popular European golfing destinations:
The three locations forecast to experience the biggest increase in days lost to extreme weather in 2040 are all in Spain, a destination that has received 64,820 UK Google searches about visiting for a golf holiday this year.
Malaga is forecast to be the worst affected, losing an additional 52 days to extreme weather in 2040 compared to 2025. This is followed by Rioja (50 additional days) and Murcia (44 additional days).
