Golf subs for 2014

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Because golf clubs struggle to recruit intermediate members and see it as an incentive to safeguard the future of the club. You make out like 20-30 year olds are pining for reduced fees - it's not the case. I can only assume that intermediate members are seen as a valuable commodity by golf clubs - otherwise there wouldn't be the incentives there are to attract them.

Simple - potential intermediate members have in general the greatest amount of flexibility in their life. But get 20-30yr olds in; keep them - however you can; have them build a loyalty to the club and a social circle within it; you have a chance keeping them when they get into their 30s and maybe have family and schools. Besides. Younger guys want to associate with at least a few like-aged and like-minded. A clubhouse full of over 55s may not give out the right signals to a 25yr old prospective member.

 

[bladeplayer]

I'm not sure there are many individuals breezing into a golf club office and laying out to the secretary their conditions for joining the club.

There is surely a big difference between someone expecting to play less for something and a business offering that something for less. It's up to the club to determine it's recruitment and retention strategies - and these must recognise the local market conditions and environment.

I agree that clubs have to do deals, most clubs over here do introductory offers around august for the remainder of the year and the following year , they are for new members .. my argument all along is on how these deals are allocated .. it is no longer ok to tag people automatically by age alone ..

Would it be ok then for Golf Clubs to negotiate membership fees on individual basis with each member in private, pay what you can for full membership depending on your current financial status ? .. Surely that would keep all its members ?

I dont think it would be feasible tho

 

[bladeplayer]

Well juniors can't play before certain times

Country members can only play a certain amount

What other restrictions would you like - restrictions you would have been ok with when you paid discounted fees in your 20's

A lot can't see the bigger picture at the moment

I didnt play junior golf and i have never recieved discounted membership for my age or any reason , so for many years i played at a club thats 45 min drive , because i could afford it ..
I can see the bigger picture but dont agree with how its defined ..

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

It seems to me that most on here are viewing this issue from a golfer perspective, rather than a Golf Clubs perspective. Take the aforementioned 600 member GC. What does the club do, if for some reason it only has 450 members, and a recruitment drive has failed? It has to either increase fees for the remaining members or attract new members. The GC studies the membership and realizes that it has very few members between certain ages (say 20-30). Therefore, this is where it targets its recruitment drive. It also may target Ladies, Seniors etc.

Unfortunately it's a classic sign of a contracting market. An expanding market would have no need of these incentives. Not enough full fee paying members to go around, so we have to attract members from other demographics.. It will get worse before it gets better....

Absolutely in agreement. If my subs increase by inflation year on year then I honestly don't care (that much and all within reason) what the club does in respect of member recruitment and retention to make that possible. Especially if what the club does is aimed at filling any gap between the current and the ideal membership level - and maintaining it at the ideal.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

I didnt play junior golf and i have never recieved discounted membership for my age or any reason , so for many years i played at a club thats 45 min drive , because i could afford it ..
I can see the bigger picture but dont agree with how its defined ..

And I never took advantage of any discounted junior fees but have seen the results of giving younger people incentives to join clubs - a thriving golf club with a membership that will last and has a future. Most clubs lowest % of membership is between the ages of 20-30 - making them pay more won't increase that % - if anything the opposite.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I agree that clubs have to do deals, most clubs over here do introductory offers around august for the remainder of the year and the following year , they are for new members .. my argument all along is on how these deals are allocated .. it is no longer ok to tag people automatically by age alone ..

Would it be ok then for Golf Clubs to negotiate membership fees on individual basis with each member in private, pay what you can for full membership depending on your current financial status ? .. Surely that would keep all its members ?

I dont think it would be feasible tho

You are going down the means testing route.

Also note that whilst individualised membership deals may sound attractive what a club would have to do in the context of the FSA (Financial Services Authority) would generally preclude many arrangements. So for instance a club might offer a 5 yr fixed subs deal with a penalty for early exit from the agreement. Fix subs at reduced level for year one and pay the same for 5 yrs - but you are in for 5 yrs and pay a penalty if you pull out before the end of the 5yr period. Sounds good for the club in respect of financial planning - and attractive to the member who stays for 5 yrs. But this sort of thing would require the club to satisfy and adhere to many financial services rules and regulations. Not an option for members clubs I'd suggest.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

You're really going to have to stop this SILH. You're talking much too logically, and if you keep doing that, we'll all end up agreeing with you about DMD's!

Ah buddy - I hope I am not always a p-i-t-a and not always talking through it. But I doubt you'll ever agree with me on DMDs - and you know what? - for that I am pleased because wouldn't life be boring if we all agreed about DMDs

 

[CheltenhamHacker]

Ah buddy - I hope I am not always a p-i-t-a and not always talking through it. But I doubt you'll ever agree with me on DMDs - and you know what? - for that I am pleased because wouldn't life be boring if we all agreed about DMDs

Not a p-i-t-a at all, I enjoy debating these sort of things! Never get overly annoyed at things on the internet, it's only words!

 

[chellie]

Our club has a waiting list.

I'm also new to golf and also being a member of a club. Am also female so have to pay the same rate as men. HimID has gone back to golf after a break of 30 years. He couldn't have afforded either the time to play golf or the membership costs when we were younger. Other things took priority for our money. A cheaper rate wouldn't have made any difference.

Would also add that from what I see the intermediate members seem to be dash off as soon as they've played their round. Would seem to be the 40+ plus pensioners who are spending in the clubhouse.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

The way I see it, it starts at the bottom. A lot of clubs don't have enough juniors coming through. They need to be inspired to join a club and welcomed into the fold and not treated like a nuisance. They then need to be held onto and so if that means offering a subsidy going from juniors into the adult ranks then up to a point I am happy. I think the ceiling has to be lower and I think that after say 21, they are adults and capable of making their own life style choices and that includes being able to afford and wanting to join a club.

I am not a big fan of these discounts going all the way up to almost 30. I think it's divisive and creates barriers and animosity. In the same way, I don't agree with discounts for senior golfers who by and large have more chance to use the course on a more frequent basis. In my mind (and on planet Homer it makes sense) the onus is firmly with the owners and powers that run clubs to ensure they are doing everything they can not only to recruit members regularly but to retain them. That is key

The issue in the OP (remember that) of having to top up bar levies to cover short falls in catering smacks of poor management. Out of interest, do the club do things like Supper Club (9 holes and a chance to buy off a set menu), theme nights etc. Do they actually encourage members to want to eat there and spend money

 

[Dodger]

Ours are up by £30 again, more or less paying for the 95K the club lost on the bar and catering again

This cannot be real surely?

Can't be and your assumption of the paltry £30 rise paying for it is even more tougher to believe.

 

[Dodger]

Clearly a very emotive subject this one!

Of course, I can see all sides to most of the arguments, but many golf clubs run the risk of dying if something isn't done to bring more of the younger adult generation into the fold, so I would have to come down on the side of needing to see the wider picture, otherwise some golf clubs won't be there by the time that generation hits their 40s and 50s and is rolling around in so much money they don't know what to do with it... oh, hang on, that's me now and I'm most definitely not doing that! But even so, I would far rather something is done to keep the younger generation in the fold even if they're paying less than me - others clearly disagree with that!

Spot on.

A man not looking selfishly but looking at the bigger picture and the future of golf clubs and what will undoubtedly happen to golf clubs within the next ten years if clubs do not capture more youngsters.

Too many members are solely interested in the present and themselves and not the long term future of their club.

 

[PNWokingham]

I was an intermediary when starting reading this thread - I now feel ready to join the seniors!!:lol:

I totally agree with Jezz and several others. Offering reduced rates for a transition period can be healthy for the spirit of the club an make perfect business sense and possibly keep the rates down for others - although I think much beyond 25 is taking it a bit far! I am not sure I agree with seniors getting a discount - they play a lot more than others and are often some of the wealthiest one at the club, especially as many will have benefited from pensions that our generation can only dream of!! The compromise here could be a loyalty disount - maybe they should get X% off after X age if they have been at the club for X number of years - maybe with a voluntary opt out for those that choose and offer to pay full fees with the difference going into the Junior Coaching pot to encourage young golfers

 

[HawkeyeMS]

I'm not sure I get this future of the club bit. I would wager that it is more likely for some around the 40 mark to be more likely to still be a member of the club they are at now in 10 or even 5 years than someone of 25. The changes in a 25 year olds life over those years is likely to mean giving up golf or at least not being a club member whereas I know so many in their 40s who have just come back to the game now the kids are older and they have more free time.

I can't see many of the younger generation keeping up their membership when families and bigger mortgages come along just because the club gave them a discount when they were younger, it doesn't work like that.

 

[davidg2010uk]

Young people are leaving uni with £10k + debts / struggling to get jobs. Older people are watching their pensions pots diminish - its easy to see why your average golf club need to provide incentives to these age groups.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Young people are leaving uni with £10k + debts / struggling to get jobs. Older people are watching their pensions pots diminish - its easy to see why your average golf club need to provide incentives to these age groups.

Graduates - Uni debts - bit of a red herring IMO - it's a tax it's not really a loan; but struggling to get a job - yes - a big issue. Getting a job, and able to live in the locality of the club you are, or have been, a member of - very difficult

 

[andrew_mac]

Young people are leaving uni with £10k + debts / struggling to get jobs. Older people are watching their pensions pots diminish - its easy to see why your average golf club need to provide incentives to these age groups.

Agree or at least some shock absorbers to help those in their 20s build up towards paying full fees from say 28 plus. It's an investment in the future and to assume you will get these players back when they hit 40 is a big assumption in a fast moving society.

 

[Imurg]

Agree or at least some shock absorbers to help those in their 20s build up towards paying full fees from say 28 plus. It's an investment in the future and to assume you will get these players back when they hit 40 is a big assumption in a fast moving society.

Isn't it just as big an assumption that you'll get them back once they've finished Uni....?
Assuming they've started in the first place..?

 

[andrew_mac]

Isn't it just as big an assumption that you'll get them back once they've finished Uni....?
Assuming they've started in the first place..?

There appeared to be agreement earlier in the end to support junior right up to 21 which I agree with and was specifically addressing the fairness point in respect of those with jobs that are 21 plus.

 

[mchacker]

CBA reading all 18 pages but got to throw my 2p in.

I joined my club during an offer period of half year membership with no joining fee, and continued the next year at full rate. Then in January this year(my 3rd full year) I got an email saying that as I was under 30 my subs were coming down to a reduced rate and my direct debit was changing as a result. This was just dumb, I had already agreed to pay the full rate for the year so by changing all the club did was lose £200. Offering a better deal to new or wantaway members is fine but reducing existing income is just giving away free money.

As I'm turning 30 before the year's out I'll be paying full rate again next year, bringing it closer in price to Patricks club down the road, and for reasons I outlined in another thread(and a few more beside) I am seriously considering moving if I can squeeze some sort of deal out of them, it's further from me but I seriously think it would be worth it.

I think if clubs want to offer a reduced rate to under 30s then great, it get's in fresh blood which a lot of clubs need, but more should be done to keep them at that magic number, why not have a reduced rate if you sign up to a 5yr deal?