Clubs looking for members

golfdub

golfdub

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Jun 30, 2010
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Rochester (Kent)
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Iv been looking around to join a new club and iv narrowed it down to 3 clubs so iv emailed all 3 clubs and informed them I'm hoping to be at a new club by the end of the month 2 weeks away. In my emails that i sent last thursday morning i ust asked a few questions about facilities, fees and a few other silly little bits.
Now all 3 clubs are advertising for new members and all have full time secretaries and 2 of the clubs replied on the same day with more than enough information than I needed but my number 1 choice hasn't sent any reply at all, now am I being very inpatient or is this club showing bad signs of caring for members already ?

Also what is it with clubs not advertising membership fees on their website ? It's apply for membership and then we will tell you how much you got to pay ? I do understand that most of the time that if you need to ask then you can't afford it ;)
 
Think you'r being a little too quick to judge, that has only given them two working days to even have a chance of getting back to you. See what happens by midweek this week. The Sec could have had prior engagements in the diary. Friday may well have been taken up with stuff for a weekend comp ?

As for posting membership prices on the web.... ideal for the competition to see where they stand in relation to your club.
 
Posting membership fees on the web site:
Some do when they're ultra competitive for survival reasons.
I played away recently where members were really peed off by their Club's current offer to attract new members.
They weren't talking about the outcome of not attracting new members.
(I joined my club when they offered 50 places with no joining fee).

On the course today four of us (two different Clubs) discussed the cost of golf.
You hear of more and more "nomad" golfers who simply seek out best offers (and Groupon and other sites offer them often) and play at any course rather than be a member.
So if my Club advertises £1000 pa you can guarantee that some potential new members will look elsewhere first.
It's expensive to some or good value to others but the former will be put off without even considering the course or facilities.
 
golfdub said:
.... now am I being very inpatient or is this club showing bad signs of caring for members already ?

Also what is it with clubs not advertising membership fees on their website ? It's apply for membership and then we will tell you how much you got to pay ? I do understand that most of the time that if you need to ask then you can't afford it ;)
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No I think 4.5 days is more than generous (golf clubs tend to be busiest at weekends so would expect their Sec work schedule to reflect this) but even if they are stuck in a Mon-Fri 9-5 time warp, its still 2.5 days since you mailed and they'd need to be getting a ridiculous amount of mails each day for you to have to wait that long, even an auto reply if the sec is not in for a day or two would tell you that they at least got it!
 
I have just recieved an email from the club in question and now i have asked to play a round one weekend in the evening, not sure if they will let me though as its members only at weekends. hopefully they will :)
 
I have just received an email from the club in question and now i have asked to play a round one weekend in the evening, not sure if they will let me though as its members only at weekends. hopefully they will :) but considering i'm looking to join then i don't see why not.
 
Ah yes, apologies. I think you had a thread the other day asking for recommendations.

I play at Lamberhurst, which is too far away from you, but a similar type of club to Wrotham Heath. The two have a reciprocal agreement in place too.
 
I'm in a similar boat to the OP, looking for a club to join, trying to find not only the best value but also a club that's interested in new customers (because that's what we are!). I've emailed 6 and out of those i've had 2 decent replies, 1 half decent reply, 2 lazy replies and 1 not bother at all. Guess which 2 i'm looking at joining!

It doesn't take a lot for someone to reply to emails and actually sound as though they want you to join. For me, the 2 lazy ones were the worst. The 1 replied with the 1 line "it's this much a year, here's the form if you want to join" and the other reply was "the reason the price isn't on the website is because you have to be a green fee paying member for 5 years before we invite you to join as a fully paid up member. Thanks". No 'however, what you get for that is xyz, you'd be joining in with such and such heritage, would you like to come and play a round to see what it's like' etc etc.

I find it bizarre, and all the talk on other threads about 'car park golfers' and spending money in the clubhouse would be non-exisitent if the clubs themselves had more of a commercial and service view on new members(as well as balancing traditional, values etc of course!)
 
I have to say that when I was possibly moving to a new area a few years ago I had similar issues with golf clubs. Few sent replies that were what I would call inviting, some did not reply and some replies were as basic as 'look at our website' (I had but was looking for more detail). I actually think this is an area that needs to be addressed by many clubs. I also disagree that the clubs needs time to reply. If I send an email to a business then I expect a reply within 24 hours (maybe 48 at a push) and at work I am expected to reply to emails on the same day.

What sold me on my current clubs is that they offered a trial membership for £50.00. For that you become a member for a month and if you then sign up as a full member then the £50.00 is taken off the cost. This allowed me to try the course, the facilities and ensure that I was comfortable that I would get a game with someone every week.
 
GB72 said:
What sold me on my current clubs is that they offered a trial membership for £50.00. For that you become a member for a month and if you then sign up as a full member then the £50.00 is taken off the cost. This allowed me to try the course, the facilities and ensure that I was comfortable that I would get a game with someone every week.
Click to expand...

That is a very good idea, i just a had another reply from the club saying if i arrange with the pro to play on a weekend in the evening that should be fine. would i pay for that round ? i have no idea.

Another thing that i don't understand on the club websites is they don't show or tell you about the practice facilities at all, they're more focused on telling you about venue hire. :confused:
 
Courtesy rounds are rare these days, you might get the green fee back if you join though

WH used to have a $1000 joining fee, when I looked it was down to 250.
 
GB72 said:
and at work I am expected to reply to emails on the same day.
Click to expand...

We have to reply within 3 hours at our company, even in its just a holding email thanking you for your enquiry and promising to get back within a couple of days with more info. You would think that in the current climate that any email asking about joining would be answered straight away with as helpful a reply as possible. It's really not that difficult in 2013.
 
Hacker Khan said:
We have to reply within 3 hours at our company, even in its just a holding email thanking you for your enquiry and promising to get back within a couple of days with more info. You would think that in the current climate that any email asking about joining would be answered straight away with as helpful a reply as possible. It's really not that difficult in 2013.
Click to expand...

exactly ;)
 
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