Courtesy: Bell Bay, Nova Scotia

Golf is a huge business around the world.

That may come as no surprise when you fork over 30 or 40 bucks for a box of balls or a grand on some new irons.

But the numbers are pretty staggering, nonetheless.

The enormous impact of the game on the global economy was brought into sharp focus at the just-concluded PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Florida.

The CEOs of the PGA of Australia, Great Britain and Ireland and the US all spoke on how much golf means in simple dollars and cents terms.

Max Garske, who runs the PGA of Australia said in his remarks that golf generates 2.2 billion dollars for the Australian economy, roughly two and a half percent of the country's gross domestic production or GDP.

Keep in mind that Aus is a small country in population. Just over a million people play the game Down Under.

Garske said that the real growth in the game is occurring in the Asia-Pacific region.

Japan currently has 2500 golf courses spread over its tiny land mass; Korea has 200 courses now but is expected to double that number by 2016.

And China, the powerhouse whose economy will eclipse that of the US in a few short years, will have more than 600 courses within 15 years, Garske said.

I suspect that's a conservative number. When the Chinese decide to move, they move as one. And golf can be a huge, huge money maker for the domestic Chinese economy.

It's no different in Europe.

Sandy Jones, the CEO of the PGA of England and Ireland, told the media in Orlando that the golf industry contributes 20 billion dollars a year directly and another 4 billion indirectly in areas like tourism, car rentals, hotel bookings, restaurant dining, etc.

4 million Europeans play golf and Jones said that number is expected to double in the next 13 years.

As a result, more than 2000 NEW courses will be needed!!

Multiply all those numbers by a factor of about 10 and you get the picture in the US.

Joe Steranka is the CEO of the PGA of America. Steranka claims that in equipment sales alone, 4 billion dollars is earned by the industry each year. 8 billion dollars is spent on renovations to courses, clubhouses, practice facilities and the like each year.

Tournament golf generates 900 million; endorsement deals for players: another 255 million.

And, Steranka said, 3.2 BILLION is raised for charity each and every year.

Those are just some of the numbers from a sport which involves banging a small, white ball along stretches of grass towards a tiny hole hundreds of yards away.

It really is an amazing game, isn't it?