Average golfing household spending pounds 1,092 on sport.

Britain's growing obsession with golf is costing the average playing household pounds 1,092 a year.

With more than 3.75 million players in Britain and Ireland regularly taking to the tee, and a further 2.25 million recreational golfers, green fees have now been added to the basket of 650 goods and services monitored by the Retail Price Index.

A survey of 1,504 households (a mixture of recreational players and golf club members) by golfbidder.co.uk has found that as many as 10pc spend in excess of pounds 1,000 per year on green fees, 25pc more than pounds 500, with an average annual expenditure of pounds 429 by non-members. And as the popularity of the game continues to grow (there is now one full-length golf course for every 23,000 people), so does the cost to the average player. Green fees have risen by 15pc over the last five years to a national average of pounds 22.

But this figure masks a huge range in green fees, with Wentworths Championship courses amongst the most expensive at pounds 250 per round and a number of Scottish locations offering golfers the chance to play for just pounds 6.

Membership fees also account for a large percentage of the annual expenditure, with the average subs figure having crept up to pounds 460.

Compared to the national average salary of pounds 23,607, the average golfer earns pounds 37,464 per annum, according to the golfbidder.co.uk research.

41pc of those questioned admitted to spending more on golf in the past 12 months than they had on their annual holiday, and 52pc spent more on the game than they did on Christmas.

A further 13pc - mainly club members - calculated that golf was their third biggest annual expense after their mortgage and car repayments.

Clubs, however, remain the biggest single purchase for the golfer. A new driver can cost as much as pounds 449 (Taylor Made XR-05), and a full set of range topping irons pounds 1,099 (Callaway Hawk Eye VFT irons). Golfing holidays have also gained in popularity.