13 May 2008 | Despite the rapid expansion of the golf industry, Greece remains behind with investments in golf courses, national media reported recently.

Greece currently has only six golf courses, although – based on the number of arrivals and courses in competitor destinations, it should have 46, according to a study by the Association of Hellenic Tourism Enterprises, quoted by the Kathimerini newspaper.

The golf courses in the country – according to the aptly named Golf and Tourism in Greece magazine, currently include the Crete Golf Club and the Porto Elounda Golf Course on Crete, the Afandou Golf Course on the island of Rhodes, the Corfu Golf Course in the Ropa Valley in the center of the island of Corfu, the Glyfada Golf Course, located in a seaside suburb of Athens and the Porto Carras Grand Resort on the Chalkidiki Peninsula, 75 kilometres south of the city of Thessaloniki in northern Greece.

The construction of several additional courses is planned. According to Kathimerini, new golf courses will be built in the southwestern Peloponnese, at Cavo Sidero on Crete and in Thessaly for the 2013 Mediterranean Games that will take place in Volos and Larissa.

The publication claimed that golf was estimated to directly contribute some 15.4 billion euros to the European economy every year, with a total of 6,300 courses and 4.1 million registered players. Most of the golf courses are located in Northern Europe, and an average of 83 new courses are created each year on the continent.

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