Equallities Act

[DaveM]

I have put this on an other thread. But due to its far reaching effects. Needs a tread of its own.



This will have to happen at every golf club. Read below no need for me to add anything.
This come from their Web page. Not from me.

Just to expand on a point raised. By law under the equalities laws. Golf subs all have to be brought into line.
This does not just effect the ladies but also seniors. In fact any special rate. A few of the golf clubs in the Manchester area, have done this in their 2012 fees. Not sure as to the date it will effect all clubs. But it has to happen.

example below.
Prestwich Golf Club
Hilton Lane
Prestwich
Manchester
M25 9XB

Tel: (0161) 773 1404


Membership Information

Membership at Prestwich Golf Club offers you a tremendous opportunity to enjoy one of the oldest established golf courses in the Manchester area and play as much golf as you wish for one low membership price. In addition to this, Prestwich provides many little perks that are available only to Members of the club.

• Ability to play in Member only events and enjoy Member only parties.
• Advanced notice of all events held here at the club.
• Free hire rate of the club house for personal functions.
• Access to Member only guaranteed tee times.
• Club storage and locker services available to Members only.
• Option of having your own power cart onsite.
• Unlimited golf with no restrictions.
• Free Golf at a range of Clubs through the 1908 Golf Society
• Reduced rates at Golf Courses within the N.W.M.G.A.

PRESTWICH GOLF CLUB Ltd. The Equality Act and it’s impact on 2011 Subscription Rates The Equality Act 2010 became law on the 1st October 2010 and its effect on all Golf Clubs is far reaching. The principle change is that membership classes can not be based on sex and that all members must be allowed open access to the course at any time. Gone are historical restrictions such as ladies not being allowed on the course at weekends until 1.00pm etc. or specific ladies days.
To facilitate the change the Board have replaced the main membership categories with just three new one which are open to either sex.

• Seven Day Membership which allows full access to the course Saturday – Friday inclusive £645.
• Six Day Membership which allows full access to the course Sunday – Friday inclusive £552.
• Five Day Membership which allows full access to the course Monday – Friday inclusive £464.

From next year it will be illegal to give discounts based simply on age and as an interim measure our two tier discount for our senior members has been modified and now allows only one level of discount which is 10%. The qualifying ages have been unified at 65 and over. The rates for the members over sixty five are :-

• Seven Day £580
• Six Day £480
• Five Day £418

There are provisions in place for existing members who previously benefited from the second tier of discount in order to cushion the increases.
Junior and intermediate membership rates remain unchanged.

• Junior (Under 10) £ 0
• Junior (Under 15) £20
• Junior (Under 18) £50
• Intermediate Member £150
• Student Member £75

​

 

[stevie_r]

There is a technicality/ loop hole that allows clubs to continue to charge a lower rate for ladies subs (certainly up here in Scotland) and that is that you simply have two separate clubs, one male and one female, playing at the same course.

 

[SGC001]

The age thing comes in April 2012, the others have already been in place.

A lot of clubs offer 6 day memberships or 6 1/2 day memberships at a reduced rate, these have to be available to all groups though.

The equality legislation has been a bit of a ticking time bomb for a whlie now with golf been so senior dominated and ladies often having recieved cheaper deals as a sort of trade off for lesser access.

I am under the impression you can still 'positively' discriminate for minority groups.

edit: Interesting post above, 2 seperate clubs, they'd have to be truly seperate though wouldn't they?

 

[Fyldewhite]

My understanding is that age is not yet a protected characteristic under the terms of the act and the effect of introducing this is "on hold". The link below is from the home office website and includes lots of examples of what would and wouldn't be considered legal under the legislation. Page 10/11 covers most of the key issues for golf clubs.

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/public...uality-act-guidance/private-clubs?view=Binary

The points raised about ladies subs are correct but there is a common perception that it is illegal now to offer ladies a cut price membership in return for not playing Saturdays etc. There is nothing in the act which prevents such a membership..... you simply have to make it available to all and many clubs are not taking the risk that a considerable number of men would also opt for the reduced price and are raising ladies subs rather than giving men the option of a lower priced deal. It is the current practices that discriminate against men btw.

 

[stevie_r]

The age thing comes in April 2012, the others have already been in place.

A lot of clubs offer 6 day memberships or 6 1/2 day memberships at a reduced rate, these have to be available to all groups though.

The equality legislation has been a bit of a ticking time bomb for a whlie now with golf been so senior dominated and ladies often having recieved cheaper deals as a sort of trade off for lesser access.

I am under the impression you can still 'positively' discriminate for minority groups.

edit: Interesting post above, 2 seperate clubs, they'd have to be truly seperate though wouldn't they?

I know that the Gleddoch hotel uses this method, on paper it is two separate clubs, in reality it's not really any different to any other club

 

[HotDogAssassin]

Why do clubs not offer weekend only memberships at the same rate as 5 day? This would interest me greatly as I can only play at weekends but the full 7 day rates put me off.

Or, as one of my local clubs does, a reduced rate that gives you green fee credits with weekday/weekend games taking different credit values off your account. This is a benefit to the likes of me who do not have the ability to pay often enough to warrant a full membership, but want to gain access to all other benefits. I feel sure that this would increase memberships at a time when we know must clubs are struggling.

 

[SGC001]

Why do clubs not offer weekend only memberships at the same rate as 5 day? This would interest me greatly as I can only play at weekends but the full 7 day rates put me off.

Or, as one of my local clubs does, a reduced rate that gives you green fee credits with weekday/weekend games taking different credit values off your account. This is a benefit to the likes of me who do not have the ability to pay often enough to warrant a full membership, but want to gain access to all other benefits. I feel sure that this would increase memberships at a time when we know must clubs are struggling.

I believe the most likely explanation would be financial concerns. I do know of 1 club that offers an off peak weekend ticket (after 11:30 in the winter after 1 / 2ish in the Summer).

 

[HotDogAssassin]

Having people put off from membership because they can only play at weekends or increasing numbers at the same rate as 5 day membership? If I owned a club, I know which one I'd prefer.

 

[Phil2511]

There is a technicality/ loop hole that allows clubs to continue to charge a lower rate for ladies subs (certainly up here in Scotland) and that is that you simply have two separate clubs, one male and one female, playing at the same course.

This is how it works at my place and was against the law.

The golf centre receives £725 a year for green fees from 7 day members(previously £362.50 for ladies) and then the men pay £50 a year to the club which operates within the centre. The ladies have their own seperate club and do their own seperate thing paying their club subs to their own group, although the men do all their handicaps and let the ladies use the computer for competitions etc. Also when we run our summer hat comp or a par 3 competition it is open to both men and women but all operated by the mens club.

In the case that I am aware of the centre was found to be breaking the law.

They offer a senior rate which is called club 55 and is available for £295 to play Tuesdays and Thursdays only but after reading here i assume that it will soon have to be abolished or altered to become available for all age groups.

I heard that another very large club in my area has already increased the subs for seniors and many left but it turned out to be an advantage as far as I am led to believe as those seniors were paying much much lower subs and were car park golfers (not using bar or restaurant facilities etc.) they took up many of the popular tee times on Competition days especially during winter months and now those have opened up for others which has led to an increase in new members who wouldn't join due to no Saturday tee times available previously.