Annual fee's & membership problems

[Junior]

Ok, realise these may be a couple of contencious issue, but here it goes. . .

My club is raising it's fee's for 2008 to £869(previously £769) due to declining membership. The ladies fees are also rising to £469.

The ladies have the tee on one morning of the weekend (if the guy's play Saturday, the ladies have it Sunday and vice versa) and have ladies day on Thursday where the tee is booked from 830 to 1330.

I have no problem whatsoever with lady golfers and wish i was as good as some of the lady memebers at my club. My point is that they have as much course time, but the fee's are less.

This will never change at the club as if there are a lot of "couple" memberships who benefit also.

I disagree with the raise in both male/female fee's to cover costs, I believe they should lower the annual fee and half (or even scrap) the joining fee.

So I guess my questions are ??

What is the male / female membership status at the other forum members clubs ?

Do your clubs still have joining fee's?

How are your clubs recovering costs with so many newer clubs fighting for membership ?

 

[shanker]

It's extraordinary that the ladies pay so much less than the men at your club. I wonder what our lady poster (Ali) thinks about this. I also consider it unfair that married couples should get their golf cheaper than others. What about the single folk? Not to mention the gay golfers etc.
Golf in Britain needs to modernize!

 

[GB72]

Agreed, also woud suggest that increasing fees when membership is dwindling is counter-productive. Surely the correct approach should be to ditch joining fees, cut the annual cost and look to attract new members by that method rather than try and bleed dry the members that they still have. If members are leaving already, increasing the cost will surely only drive more people away

 

[shanker]

Agreed, also woud suggest that increasing fees when membership is dwindling is counter-productive.

I agree. Surely it goes against the basic laws of economics to ask for more when demand is falling.

 

[happyhacker]

The club have in my opinion got it badly wrong with the price rise and as stated before will probably only serve to drive more away.

To be honest its the only thing they will understand, when people start to do the talking with their feet & walk away.

 

[cosworth]

maybe the issue of dwindling members is because the fees are so high.
lower the fees then hope to attract more members in the long term i think.
we have a great cheap booze shop where i live and the guy is minted because he's cheap as chips so he's packed out with customers every day.
speaking of which im enjoyin his produce now.mmmmmmmmm

 

[simplyme]

I find that incredibly annoying. Why should the ladies receive a significant reduction compared to the men?

Also echo what the others have said, why put fees up with dwindling membership numbers. It makes no economical sense and is asking for severe trouble.

 

[rgs]

As an Irish member i cannot comment on the situation in the UK but i find it hard to understand why with dwindling membership would the club raise its fees.

 

[John_Findlay]

Let's be honest, guys. The joining fees and membership fees thing is the club's way of being discriminating in the type of member it attracts. Whether that works or not is a different matter but there are many "posh" clubs with crap courses and vice versa.

 

[brendy]

I joined my club in Jan 2006 the annual subscription was £700 plus £1400 joining fee this year subscriptions went up to 750 per year. I think 750 is a fair but what I dont agree with is that the ladies pay less and have access to late times slots on a saturday and can play all week round and even have a ladies only day, I really don't get it.
As far as joining fees are concerned, they are necessary to keep the books healthy and also maintain a certain standard of player/member Ive played in clubs where membership is cheap but football shirts etc are commonplace, Im far from a snob but I take my golf seriously enough to follow etiquette (im 31 btw not 70+ hha) and would expect the rest to do likewise. You dont see tennis clubs etc letting in people wearing jeans and letting them play wearing denim etc.

 

[GB72]

So you are saying that etiqutte and course behaviour are based on level of earning and only those that can afford are worthy of playing on certain courses. Basically if I do not earn enough to cover the high fees then I cannot be worthy of playing on your course. courses can charge nothing and apply rules and dress codes.

 

[brendy]

No fella, what i'm saying is that if you really want to join a club you would eventualy get the money together and that in joining you are agreeing to abide by their rules. Having entry fees puts off the occasional golfer who only goes out for a hack round when the masters or open is on.
My post was not meant to be an offensive one to those with lower earnings, I earn a reasonable salary though with family commitments I had to scramble the money together, it wasnt readily available to me.
Put simply anyone who wants to play golf in jeans or football jerseys would 99.9% of the time rather pay and play £10-£30 than fork out over a thousand pounds to join somewhere that enforces etiquette. Surely you can see where im coming from here GB72?

 

[AliB]

Thanks to whoever emailed me direct and asked for my views on this!
I'm suprised at ladies playing less and it's not something I've come across (though I've never been in a club with a ladies section!)
Can't see how it would be justified unless there are fewer opportunities for playing compared to gents, or if they are discriminated against in some other respect (not allowed in the bar? grotty changing rooms?)
I'm all for a bargain but also for Equal Opps for ladies and I don't see that this actually helps. I pay slightly more than my other half as there's a charge from the Ladies golf Union (?)which is higher than for men (though goodness only knows what I get out of it!)
Otherwise this discussion is going in some interesting directions re subs and etiquette/dress code. Why should you have to pay a silly price to play with people who are 'serious' and look smart - ? Why indeed, but I suspect in many places it's part of the deal. It would be good to think there are places where you can play decent golf in plesant company without sacrificing arm and leg moneywise or being hide bound by old fogey rules and regulations.
Any suggestions?

 

[Driverman]

At my club, the Ladies have their day on a Monday where the tee is normally reserved for a couple of hours for a competition or match. I have never had a problem trying to get on the tee of a Monday at all. The problem lies with the seniors who have their day on a Tuesday. Not only do they have the tee booked for a couple of hours but on Thursdays they are also taking over the tee unofficially by turning up en-masse and having a compeition between themselves. I know we all pay our membership but when the tee is free on the board and then you turn up and can't get on for an hour and your round takes 4 hours really gets to me. I have no complaints about our fees as they are very good for such a nice course.

 

[GB72]

My point was that I am fed up of the idea that money is the way to enforce etiquette. By making a club more exclusive do you immediatly improve the quality and attitude of those on the course. If you do not want hackers on the course, set minimum handicaps for pay and play guests, have the starter enforce a dress code on the first tee, have effective marshalling that sort of thing. If this results in an increase in fees then so be it, it will be paying for something that the members have demanded. If you keep increasing fees, how are you supposed to encourage juniors, new members and other such newcomers to take up the game

 

[viscount17]

Agreed, also woud suggest that increasing fees when membership is dwindling is counter-productive.

Not only counter-productive but downright stupid. I have the luxury of several courses in my immediatr area, so anyone trying this would soon be out of business.
Are you sure there's not a hidden agenda here somewhere, planning application maybe?

As for ladies' days, are these legal anymore in this era of supposed equality if there are not also mens' days?

 

[USER1999]

If you go to a club with high joining fees, and or debentured membership, count the vans in the car park.
From my experience, the only people who can afford the fees, are self employed with untaxed income to spend. All you get as members are plumbers, plasterers, and electricians. Now while these are often lovely people, they are not exactly the exclusive types the fees are there to encourage, and as likely to turn up in jeans as anything else.

 

[Parmo]

As far as joining fees are concerned, they are necessary to keep the books healthy and also maintain a certain standard of player/member Ive played in clubs where membership is cheap but football shirts etc are commonplace, Im far from a snob but I take my golf seriously enough to follow etiquette (im 31 btw not 70+ hha) and would expect the rest to do likewise. You dont see tennis clubs etc letting in people wearing jeans and letting them play wearing denim etc.

But surely clubs have a dress code and I for one have never seen anyone wear a football shirt on a course, but mind you I would rather see someone in a football shirt than the elitists out in force in their Galvin Green wear hacking away on weekends.

Joining fees are a thing of the past and do discriminate against people, I play off 18 now and I am 31 and have been only playing again for 2 months after 15 years out of the game. I think clubs should offer direct debit payment systems and half joining fees if not get rid of them all together.

The elitists have had their time in the game and it is time to move over and let working people play and enjoy golf rather than push them to poorly run municipal courses, Tiger has shown that golf has no place for the old school golf larr-de-dar’s prejudice and its time the UK moved forward and opened their courses to all.

 

[viscount17]

Two points:

I can't see what's wrong with football shirts (unless they're red ), though rugby shirts are better. They are collared and sleeved which is all that most club rules require. Where is the difference between these and some of the strangely coloured designer wear.

We already have monthly DD for fees.

 

[brendy]

I had the choice of DDs for the annual subs and the joining fee over 2 years but then the second years subs etc gets heaped in there and id rather save on the interest Id get charged as its not the lowest form of finance apr wise.
Football shirts were commonplace in my old club before I gave the game up, it was a not a typical municipal course though with two estates nearby and the course was frequented by the local mafia who did what they wanted.