Current Regulations and New Members

[Wolf]

Nothing and nor at this stage do I think the club should be (and aren't). We as members need to be able to access tee time bookings (not something we usually have so a learning process for the members) and get as much golf in as we can, especially while the weather is good. I think the club are looking at members/guests at some point. Those new members we've secured have as much right once they've paid their money to book a time as anyone else. If anything, I've found the two ball times have meant being lumped together with a few new faces to either fill a spot or they've signed up to play with me.

Now we're at four balls it may be harder. Again though I'd suggest they simply grab the bull by the horns and put their name down and play. Not many at the club that are that stuffy and wouldn't want to play with a stranger

Remind me not to join your seemingly overly welcoming club ?

New members are every bit as much a member as long standing ones and clubs should do everything they can to integrate people into the membership. Not just take their money and leave them to their own devices, especially in the current climate you'd hope people would be mkre welcoming and wanting new blood innthe club for long term sustainability and not just have people sticking to their cliques and showing everything that can often be shown to be wrong about golf club atmospheres ?

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Good to hear that is happening. At my old club pretty much everyone has their own groups and so it was very rare to get a lone person booking that you could join up with or a group with a slot spare. Again, good that others will sign in with a person booking a speculative time on their own.

Not the same for you as your membership is currently closed but, as we are going to be stuck in this social distancing world for a while, it would be nice for cubs to thing of ways to help out new members, perhaps a new members whatsapp group which can be used to pass on information or find a game. The sort of thing that just cannot be done face to fact now.

Also interested to see if any other clubs have taken the view expressed earlier in the thread that existing members who have paid up throughout the lockdown should be protected and ensure that they get plenty of golf ahead of new members who have just signed up. I can sort of understand a degree of animosity to anyone who was able to quit when the lockdown started and now wants back in but cannot understand the hostility to brand new members who could be with the club for years to come.

We are an open and very accommodating membership

 

[jim8flog]

Just wondering how clubs are dealing with new members at the moment. Under normal circumstances they would get pointed towards the regular roll ups or suggest they sign on to blank booking slots. With no roll ups, no new member nights or comps and I would assume people sticking to their normal groups, how, if at all, are clubs integrating new solo members. Even the old last resort of turning up and asking if anyone was short a playing partner is out now.

Interested as I may be looking to sign up to a club again soonish and wondered what clubs were doing to help ensure that new members get a game.

We have gone to full named bookings with four possible names per time slot so a new member would be able to book themself in to any free slot where there are 3 or fewer players .

Given the requirement for track and trace I would have thought most clubs have gone the same way.

 

[jim8flog]

As to new members we are only taking in new members from next Monday on the simple basis that with 2 balls and ten minutes there was not enough tee times for existing members.

 

[Orikoru]

We aren’t allowing anonymous booking so you cannot just book a slot then hold it until you have a name, you have to give members name when you book.

We are also not yet accepting new members, but I expect that to alter this month as it’s renewal at the end of it.

Our club doesn't have its own online booking, they're just using GolfNow since they reopened.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Why do you feel that genuine new members should not be helped to pair up with a few people at a time when there is no bar, no chance to arrive on spec, no roll ups, no comps etc and, in fact, many people being entrenched in their existing groups until courses open fully. I can understand that clubs may not have any provisions as they have quite a bit on their plate at the moment but why do you feel that leaving new members to fend for themselves at a time when most of the avenues available for a new member to integrate are closed.

I am sitting here with the money to spend but need some indication that I am not going to be out in the cold for a few months. I am not some nervous newbie, I am an experienced member but being put in touch with a couple of whatsapp groups or similar would certainly sway my decision on where I went. I am not sure how attractive a club would be whos membership felt wit was a good thing to sign up new members now and ignore them.

At the moment, the club are offering trial memberships for 3 months (which I am dead against as I can't see too many joining once they've enjoyed relatively cheap golf in the height of summer). It is members like you that we should be reaching out for and offering longer term deals for and getting them aboard and staying. A lot of our roll up groups are on Whatsapp and so if the club were to put us in touch with new members interested playing at the time we tee off (under normal circumstances) then we'd arrange for them to play with a few group members and look out for their name on the booking sheet and make sure the group joins up with them.

 

[Robster59]

At the moment, the club are offering trial memberships for 3 months (which I am dead against as I can't see too many joining once they've enjoyed relatively cheap golf in the height of summer). It is members like you that we should be reaching out for and offering longer term deals for and getting them aboard and staying. A lot of our roll up groups are on Whatsapp and so if the club were to put us in touch with new members interested playing at the time we tee off (under normal circumstances) then we'd arrange for them to play with a few group members and look out for their name on the booking sheet and make sure the group joins up with them.

We've been doing this for the last few years and found it really successful with our "Get into golf" package. Maximum 2 months with a deal at the end should they join. They can only take this up one year. If they apply the following year it is at a significantly higher price so they can't take the mickey. We have included things like putting lessons followed by meet the Captain at the end and we've had quite a few members from it.

 

[richart]

Best time to get to know members at my club. Tee booking from 07.30 to 19.30, so new members just need to put their name down and empty spaces will fill up really quickly. You can either play in a two ball or from Wednesday a four ball as well. Probably easier to get a game with a four ball, so three new mates.

We don’t normally have tee booking, so roll ups best way to meet new members and guarantee a game.

 

[jim8flog]

Our club doesn't have its own online booking, they're just using GolfNow since they reopened.

We do not have our own we use Intelligent Golf and prior to that we used BRS.

 

[GB72]

At the moment, the club are offering trial memberships for 3 months (which I am dead against as I can't see too many joining once they've enjoyed relatively cheap golf in the height of summer). It is members like you that we should be reaching out for and offering longer term deals for and getting them aboard and staying. A lot of our roll up groups are on Whatsapp and so if the club were to put us in touch with new members interested playing at the time we tee off (under normal circumstances) then we'd arrange for them to play with a few group members and look out for their name on the booking sheet and make sure the group joins up with them.

Really do not want to keep mentioning this but I asked the question about what was being done to integrate new members when they do not have access to a game and the response was-

Nothing and nor at this stage do I think the club should be (and aren't). We as members need to be able to access tee time bookings (not something we usually have so a learning process for the members) and get as much golf in as we can, especially while the weather is good.

Is what you say above being done now as this is the sort of thing I would like to be looking for and need some examples to discuss with clubs. Are the club putting new members in touch with roll up whatsapp groups?

I would also add that it does appear a little self defeating. The club introduces trial memberships to try and encourage people to join full time. There is no attempt to integrate and encourage the trial members or to ensure that they get a game as they are seen as only being after cheap summer golf and are thus treated as second class members. As such, the trial members do not enjoy their time at the club and decide not to join and everyone else then pats themselves on the back about how right they were about these trial members not hanging around after the trial ended. Bit of a self fulfilling prophecy.

 

[backwoodsman]

That was not the question, the point was what are you doing to ensure that new members get a game bearing in mind that all of the normal methods (roll ups, new member meetings, new member comps, turning up and asking if anyone is looking for a game) are all off the table at the moment.

In first instancee, we're pairing up new faces with existing members who take them out for their first game or two. They get told about what the arrangements (swindles, rollups etc) are for normal circumstances - and also get pointed at WhatsApp groups tyat are currently running. And in the meantime, the onlline booking systerm means they can sign up as sngletons and are guaranteed to get a player joining them (or they can bag a vacant slot in an existing group)

 

[Grant85]

Just wondering how clubs are dealing with new members at the moment. Under normal circumstances they would get pointed towards the regular roll ups or suggest they sign on to blank booking slots. With no roll ups, no new member nights or comps and I would assume people sticking to their normal groups, how, if at all, are clubs integrating new solo members. Even the old last resort of turning up and asking if anyone was short a playing partner is out now.

Interested as I may be looking to sign up to a club again soonish and wondered what clubs were doing to help ensure that new members get a game.

I don't think that there's all that much that can be done.

If clubs are using BRS, then easy enough for singles to join groups with other singles or 2s or 3s. I'd imagine the vast majority of golfers would be absolutely fine with this.

 

[GB72]

I don't think that there's all that much that can be done.

If clubs are using BRS, then easy enough for singles to join groups with other singles or 2s or 3s. I'd imagine the vast majority of golfers would be absolutely fine with this.

part of me agrees but part of me thinks that there should be some thought given to this as the usual options of roll ups or simply heading up to the club are gone for the foreseeable future. As a weekend only golfer, I know how hard it was at my old club to sign in to a group at weekends when there was a comp and I am envisaging similar at the moment.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

We are asking the board if the Saturday am Roll-Up can have some tee times allocated as soon as is deemed appropriate. One main reason is that we want the roll-up to be available for new members who may be joining soon - or who joined shortly before lockdown and didn't have a chance to get to a roll-up or meet many or any members.

 

[Pathetic Shark]

I've just had someone tell me he played his first round for handicap last Sunday and wanted it submitted - was giving himself putts, picking the ball out of bunkers and he played on his own. Priceless.

 

[IanM]

I think it is currently easier for new members at our place... everything is on-line booking (whereas normally no times are pre-bookable) So, they can go on an put their name down and get game with whoever they want in any available space. Will get them to meet more folk like that. Capt mentioned this on an email and reminded everyone to look out for their names

 

[ADB]

I've just had someone tell me he played his first round for handicap last Sunday and wanted it submitted - was giving himself putts, picking the ball out of bunkers and he played on his own. Priceless.

Sounds like a Positive Scoring Method devotee

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I've just had someone tell me he played his first round for handicap last Sunday and wanted it submitted - was giving himself putts, picking the ball out of bunkers and he played on his own. Priceless.

I am sure you explained there may have been one or two problems with that. I bet his face was a picture

 

[The Gentleman]

This post is very timely as I too have money burning a hole in my pocket to join my local club. I emailed the club pro with my concerns (getting a game, getting a handicap and integrating into the club in general during these unprecedented times) this week. His response was really positive and told me to pop down before putting my money down and he will introduce me to current members, explain the roll-up etc. He was very reassuring. Then it pissed down with rain yesterday just as I was about to pull the trigger. Are the gods trying to tell me something ?‍

 

[HomerJSimpson]

This post is very timely as I too have money burning a hole in my pocket to join my local club. I emailed the club pro with my concerns (getting a game, getting a handicap and integrating into the club in general during these unprecedented times) this week. His response was really positive and told me to pop down before putting my money down and he will introduce me to current members, explain the roll-up etc. He was very reassuring. Then it pissed down with rain yesterday just as I was about to pull the trigger. Are the gods trying to tell me something ?‍

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