Flexible membership schemes

[JT77]

There are too many members at our club to start with imo.
In general though, I think that clubs who have membership deficits should look at all options to increase subs. no point in only offering full membership if you have low numbers, flexible options may increase numbers and those on flexi deals, if they get the bug, or find they are playing more could become the full members of the future.

 

[CrapHacker]

The cold facts are that at £1150 the club was going to get none of my money because for various reasons I simply couldn't justify that outlay for the amount of golf I'm likely to play there at the moment.

But for £495 - the cost of the new flexible scheme - I can justify it as that will give me somewhere in the region of 20 rounds, comfortably enough at the moment for the amount of club golf I'm likely to play this year.

I suspect there is also a regional thing at work here, with membership fees in certain parts of the country not eye-watering enough yet to make people stop and think - but for many in the south-east, four figures plus is the norm for a full membership

That pretty much mirrors my thought processes. No way can I afford a grand for the pathetic amount of golf I'm playing atm, but I've started noticing a few cheaper offers around.

Mid Sussex down our way is £1k full membership, and has this year opened a £499 and a £349 limited option. They've not long been offered, but both have been fully sold out with a waiting list already started on both as well.

I think this is going to be the future of golf - in the South East at least.

 

[HRC99]

I suspect there is also a regional thing at work here, with membership fees in certain parts of the country not eye-watering enough yet to make people stop and think - but for many in the south-east, four figures plus is the norm for a full membership

Even at the top clubs in the area here, you are not looking at four figures yet. My full membership is less than your flexible membership.

I do think it will make managing golf club finances harder but I take the point that £1,200 is a lot of cash if you aren't going to use it that much.

 

[Deleted member 1740]

I don't agree with flexible memberships as it sends out the wrong messgae, us and them. Just because your only playing 10,15 ,20 rounds a year it's not right to pay a less price for using the same facilities as the rest of the full paying members.

Do you think members who play 5-7 days a week should pay more for their subs as they are playing a lot more?

I do think a lot more clubs should offer a flexible payment schemme for subs though.

 

[SammmeBee]

our club has introdcued a vareity of modified memberships.
I switched from "full" membership to Associate; this gives exactlyt the same rights as full 7 day; cost is circa £250 instead of circa £925, but i have to pay £10 a round mid week and £15 at weekends. To my calculations i shoudl just work out better off.

The one i (personally_ dont like is the Under 28yrs old for £250. I think that's ageist and given that the average member around here is an IT guru they can afford a full membership more than me - moan moan old man here

Which club?

 

[toonarmy]

I think nearly every golf club in the country needs to look at how they operate.

For example, my club has the following:

9 hole membership (West course only)
5 day member (9 hole + 18 hole)
7 day member

and that's it. This year, 5&7 day members had a small increase in their subs of about 1.5%. The 9 day members went up by 14%. Why? Because due to various circumstances, a number of long-serving 7 day members had to drop down (myself included) to 9 day membership. Our thanks for choosing to remain as members of the club is to be financially penalised.

On top of this, we are not permitted to pay to enter ANY competitions at all, thus rendering us without active handicaps for next season. How does any of this make us feel like continuing to be a member? What exactly do we get? We can't book tee-times on the 9 hole, so we are, in all but name, pay-and-players without having to pay before each tee off.

Do members get a discount on range balls? No. Why not? Surely this would increase revenue as you are more likely to take a half/full bucket before play.

Can you put your winnings to use behind the bar? No. Why not? It's not an out-sourced catering function.

Can you bulk buy credit behind the bar, in the pro shop etc.? No. Why not? This would all encourage spend that would far offset the discount.

I'm sure there are loads of other areas in which clubs could find ways of making membership 'worth' something beyond turning up and playing. But they all seem stuck in this fixed approach to membership. I understand the need to make full membership of value over and above other forms of membership, but they don't really do that.

Membership strategy still seems to be focused entirely on the right and frequency of play on the course and offers little in the scope of membership of a club.

If I can't afford the cost or the time to be a full member of a club, why should I be ostracised and made to feel like a cheapskate? Are the youth team at a football club made to feel without value and as an irritant? No, they don't get the full privileges, but they are still made to feel part of the collective.

Golf clubs will continue to go out of business as long as they treat membership as an ideal from the 1940s.