What is the GBS?
The Golf Benchmark Survey (GBS) is a market intelligence study designed to collect and share comparable golf industry benchmarks across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMA). The survey is initiated and coordinated by KPMG Golf Advisory Practice EMA, under the leadership of KPMG Partner, Andrea Sartori.

Why now?
Over the course of implementing numerous projects in the golf sector, KPMG Golf Advisory Practice EMA identified a clear market need for structured information regarding the operational and financial performance of golf courses. More specifically, we believe the golf sector will benefit from a set of industry benchmarks that would allow individual courses to compare their performance to that of the industry high, average and low.

Invaluable information for key players
Through its annual release we aim to make the GBS an invaluable reference point for the industry and its key stakeholders. These include golf course owners, operators, golf course and real estate developers, and suppliers to the golf industry (designers, equipment manufactures, consultants, etc.), financial institutions, and professional media representatives.

Survey structure
In order to succeed in this ambitious task we target almost every golf course operator in the EMA region (more than 6000 courses) in order to receive their input for our survey, which consist of the following areas:

• Basic course information
• Membership information
• Green fee and cart/buggy rental information
• Round information
• Financial information

Identifying benchmarks, trends
The regional reports and the EMA region comparative report performed in 2007, based on data supplied by more than 1,500 golf courses across 48 countries, allow golf course owners and managers to compare their individual course performances against high, average and low performers in their geographic markets. In the years to come when a critical amount of historical data will be available, a key goal of the Survey is to determine trends impacting the golf industry in different geographical regions.

Confidentiality
The information provided to us is treated confidentially and under no circumstances results specific to any golf course will be disclosed outside KPMG. (Privacy Statement and Disclaimer)