Additional levy on members?

[Crazyface]

Quite a few of our group are looking around, but what keeps everyone together is the camaraderie of the group. Their is one who I think holds the whole thing together. If he went it would collapse and the club would lose 30 blokes

 

[timd77]

From speaking to others, many won’t be paying the £100 and will try to get out of their subs (where they’re paying via fairway credit), others will pay and then leave in April. I’m likely to be in that bracket, £1460 is a hell of a lot for a hobby.

I can understand an increase, it’s only increased something like 5% this year, £50 odd. But £1200 to £1460 (minimum) is a huge hike and probably on the side of not worth it. Other member clubs range from mid 1200s/mid 1300s. There’s one at £1470 (which jumped by a couple of hundred this year) but they rent the land to the tune of £200 per member and the grapevine tells you their members aren’t happy. And then you’ve got enville, no idea why they included that as a comparable course as it’s head and shoulders above everything for miles and it has 2 courses. So £1460 is very much top end, and I wouldn’t say the course is top end. It’s nice, but not that nice.

If we do win the legal action I would imagine the refund will just go towards running costs and so we’ll get it back in a roundabout way. Pie in the sky though I’d say.

 

[GB72]

From speaking to others, many won’t be paying the £100 and will try to get out of their subs (where they’re paying via fairway credit), others will pay and then leave in April. I’m likely to be in that bracket, £1460 is a hell of a lot for a hobby.

I can understand an increase, it’s only increased something like 5% this year, £50 odd. But £1200 to £1460 (minimum) is a huge hike and probably on the side of not worth it. Other member clubs range from mid 1200s/mid 1300s. There’s one at £1470 (which jumped by a couple of hundred this year) but they rent the land to the tune of £200 per member and the grapevine tells you their members aren’t happy. And then you’ve got enville, no idea why they included that as a comparable course as it’s head and shoulders above everything for miles and it has 2 courses. So £1460 is very much top end, and I wouldn’t say the course is top end. It’s nice, but not that nice.

If we do win the legal action I would imagine the refund will just go towards running costs and so we’ll get it back in a roundabout way. Pie in the sky though I’d say.

My concern would always be that I have seen subs go up to cover an abnormal expense or circumstance but I have never seen them go back down.

I reached the point where a membership ceased to be value for money. It was not a case of whether it was affordable, rather it was the fact that I could only play at weekends and every round was getting more and more expensive and I did not enjoy golf club life like some on here do so that was not compensating for it. It came to a head during the really rainy weather a few years ago. I was on gardening leave and did not get my clubs out once for that whole period and when I did I found that the club was letting on members from all the other local courses that were closed on a reciprocal green fee so the queue on a Saturday morning was 90 minutes or more. Stopped playing at the end of that season and now quite happily spend the £100 a month on a nice meal out with the wife, days away, trips back to watch the Tigers play rugby.

Do not get me wrong, i enjoyed golf but when I stopped I started doing so much more now that I do not feel obligated to play every weekend to try and get value out of my membership fee.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Maybe, not sure how it all works out legally to be honest.

But, from a reputation point of view, I think it would be terrible from the club. Banning a few members from the club would not just alienate them (and lose their future membership), but upset their friends and other members that think it is an injustice.

If they need money, could they not just ask members for a "voluntary" fee, and then work out what the increased sub needs to be next year. For anyone that paid the voluntary fee now, they get that "discount" from next years sub. So you're basically figuring out what next years sub needs to be to cover the current and future overheads, and getting some members to cough up a bit of it earlier.

The wording used to describe what would happen to members not coughing up the levy is that they'd be 'banned'...an alternative wording for a levy applied at the point of renewal with the (voted) approval of the membership would be that their membership would lapse.

 

[timd77]

From speaking to others, many won’t be paying the £100 and will try to get out of their subs (where they’re paying via fairway credit), others will pay and then leave in April. I’m likely to be in that bracket, £1460 is a hell of a lot for a hobby.

I can understand an increase, it’s only increased something like 5% this year, £50 odd. But £1200 to £1460 (minimum) is a huge hike and probably on the side of not worth it. Other member clubs range from mid 1200s/mid 1300s. There’s one at £1470 (which jumped by a couple of hundred this year) but they rent the land to the tune of £200 per member and the grapevine tells you their members aren’t happy. And then you’ve got enville, no idea why they included that as a comparable course as it’s head and shoulders above everything for miles and it has 2 courses. So £1460 is very much top end, and I wouldn’t say the course is top end. It’s nice, but not that nice.

If we do win the legal action I would imagine the refund will just go towards running costs and so we’ll get it back in a roundabout way. Pie in the sky though I’d say.

I should add, for balance, there are a few privately owned clubs in the area, their annual fees are all around £1000, comparable quality. This was pointed out last night, but dismissed as being irrelevant because they’re not member owned and are open to the public to generate more money, down to the owners to cover costs etc.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

We are expecting a big rise in membership cost next year. Also, a list came out show the handicaps of all the men, for the 9 hole winter league thing we have. We only have 240 male members. And about 30 women. That's low isn't it???? Oh and some of those will be on reduced fees because of age. I don't think it looks good at all

Yes it seems low. Our split is 562 full gents and 81 full ladies - with 643 full members being our target (so we are full)

 

[Oddsocks]

I should add, for balance, there are a few privately owned clubs in the area, their annual fees are all around £1000, comparable quality. This was pointed out last night, but dismissed as being irrelevant because they’re not member owned and are open to the public to generate more money, down to the owners to cover costs etc.

Could the club not open up green fees after a certain time, set guest days or even just add 20-30+ new members as this would all generate bar profit also?

 

[Captainron]

From speaking to others, many won’t be paying the £100 and will try to get out of their subs (where they’re paying via fairway credit), others will pay and then leave in April. I’m likely to be in that bracket, £1460 is a hell of a lot for a hobby.

I can understand an increase, it’s only increased something like 5% this year, £50 odd. But £1200 to £1460 (minimum) is a huge hike and probably on the side of not worth it. Other member clubs range from mid 1200s/mid 1300s. There’s one at £1470 (which jumped by a couple of hundred this year) but they rent the land to the tune of £200 per member and the grapevine tells you their members aren’t happy. And then you’ve got enville, no idea why they included that as a comparable course as it’s head and shoulders above everything for miles and it has 2 courses. So £1460 is very much top end, and I wouldn’t say the course is top end. It’s nice, but not that nice.

If we do win the legal action I would imagine the refund will just go towards running costs and so we’ll get it back in a roundabout way. Pie in the sky though I’d say.

What club is it by the way?

 

[timd77]

Could the club not open up green fees after a certain time, set guest days or even just add 20-30+ new members as this would all generate bar profit also?

You would think so, surprised it wasn’t already a thing!

What club is it by the way?

Kidderminster.

 

[Crow]

I like this from the website regarding membership:
Further, in recent years we have invested in streamlining our business management structure and processes. Consequently our running costs are under tight control and we are now able to pass on those savings in the form of an extremely attractive annual subscription for unrestricted membership.

 

[RichA]

I like this from the website regarding membership:
Further, in recent years we have invested in streamlining our business management structure and processes. Consequently our running costs are under tight control and we are now able to pass on those savings in the form of an extremely attractive annual subscription for unrestricted membership.

Yep, had a nosey and saw that on the website. Standard golf club website fluff, like when they say, "we consider our visitors to be members for the day", but treat you with thinly camouflaged hostility (not that particular club).

 

[timd77]

I like this from the website regarding membership:
Further, in recent years we have invested in streamlining our business management structure and processes. Consequently our running costs are under tight control and we are now able to pass on those savings in the form of an extremely attractive annual subscription for unrestricted membership.

That’s probably been there since the interweb was invented!

 

[IanM]

That’s probably been there since the interweb was invented!

Looks like the comms/engagement processes are as slick as the budgeting