Competition in the tourism market that is getting tighter requires innovation of tourism facilities in order to make a destination individually recognizabla. Keeping in mind the present trend of the own health care supported by sports activities, iti is logical that holidaymakers look for facilities that will make their stay more active. This leads to the creation of a special segment of tourism - sports tourism. This form of tourism combines different forms of rest, from relaxing and therapeutic to competitive and special ones, including active and adventurous forms with a high level of sports activities shared by tourists. In the European Union, particularly in the highly developed countries with equally developed sports infrastructure and sports activities ( 38% of the population is engaged in sports at least one a week; in Croatia 15% ), this contribution is significantly higher. In addition to improving the quality of holiday tourism and shaping specific forms of tourism in accordance with the resource base, Croatia is also trying to improve its position and achieve a competitive advantage in the tourism market through the development of sports tourism, which for the Republic of Croatia has all prerequisites. In this course of development a special position is taken by golf - from elite sport changing into a sport accessible to a higher number of people thus becoming a motivating factor of a segment of the tourism market. The purpose of the research is to show all the important features and phenomena of tourism, sports tourism and golf torusim in Croatia, through theoretical and practical knowledge acquired by primary research in the field. Research has proved that golf tourism can be a highly profitable activity, but it is not the rule in all cases. Therefore, the study of the impact of relevant factors in the potential locations of golf tourism in Croatia is imposed as a prerequisite in planning the development of golf tourism. Regarding the context of golf development in European countries and having in mind the underutilized potential of the Croatian segment of sports tourism, this thesis explores the importance of golf in tourismof the Republic of Croatia. Having identified the position of golf anf the necessity of its development to enhance the competitive position of Croatia on the European and world market as well as the effectiveness of building golf courses in the potential golf destinations, the proposal for the development strategy of golf tourism in Croatia is given.