How Does Your Club Attract New Members

DCB

DCB

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I'm just back in after helping out for a spell at an open day which was aimed at attracting new members into the club. Unfortunately the weather conspired against us today and put a bit of a dampner on things, but hopefully there will be some folks interested after their day today.

Those of you who are members of clubs, what have your clubs been doing to try and gain new members from the ever diminishing pool of golfers out there?

Those of you who aren't members of a club, what would attract you to join a club nowadays ?

We had a special deal on which in effect would do away with the joining fee, which would have been a big factor I would have thought.
 
That figure is probably the total membership, Gents, ladies and Juniors.

We're probably one of the few clubs around here that doesn't have a booking system / sheet for tee times and it has never ben a problem. You just turn up and off you go. you may have a slight wait at certain busy times, but it's usually few and far between actually. There are other clubs in the area where people que to get a tee time for a week hence !
 
Not sure if it is a good thing, doing away with a joining fee, used to be a way of keeping your members, alot of folk just jump from club to club now that most have done away with it.
 
I'm currently looking to join a club but the costs seem to be spiraling out of control. I was a member of Cottrell Park GC a couple of years back and the costs have gone up. Now I'm not wishing to get into that side as the money clearly went into the upkeep of the club.
I do think however some clubs are exremely elitist when it comes to members and I think this is where clubs fail in there new memberships.
I hope I dont get on the wrong side of people for this view but it's my opinion.
 
Our club has recently suspended the joining fee (£750), much to the annoyance of some. It appears to have had the desired effect as the new members applications have increased enormously. Only restrictions are that new members can't stand for committe posts, captain etc unless they pay the joining fee in the future.

I think it's a good thing as the income raised is extra to what we would have had (nil) by not dropping the fee. it is only meant to be a temporary measure.

John.
 
Those of you who aren't members of a club, what would attract you to join a club nowadays ?
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Cost is the main factor.

Obviously to get value for money, winter month play is a must - full greens etc would be good to know before taking the jump

Some sort of arrangement where single players can play with other single players. The guys i golf with don't live that close so we usually meet in the middle but if i was a member of a club, it would be close to me and not in the middle between me and the rest of my usual group.
 
There is a nearby course I'm wishing to join offering 1/2 price membership at the moment (Balbirnie) and I'm very tempted even though I have paid a full years membership at my currect club. The only downfall being a £350 joining fee on top.

That said my current club, Glenrothes is a council course in poor condition, regularly closed due wo water retention and has winter greens from October to March / April almost constantly.

Balbirnie is rarely closed and has full greens all year round, however fairway mats are in operation during winter months, a small price to pay for good fairways during the season IMO.

www.balbirniegolf.com

very very tempted although I'd probably need a small bank loan to join initially
 
I have just put an application in to my now local club(moved last Autum).
There is talk about droping joining fee, but i want to be in ASAP. I should get in Dec-Jan. Joining fee is same as first years sub, but the subs are pretty low <£400, so its not too bad.

I gather that after the intake in Dec the club will no longer have a waiting list, at that point they may well drop the sub.

I assume with no waiting list and a reducing membership then subs will rise quickly to cover the cost. I suppose at some point it all might get too much, are there many clubs closing down?
 
I would love to join a club but at the minute can't really justify it, I am off for the next month as I work in a school but other than that I can't really see when I would be playing regulalry as I play footie saturday mornings so can't justify golf at the weekends as well unless my loving girlfriend (incase she reads this!) is off doing her own thing.

however one thing that would really tempt me would be if somewhere did an inbetween membership that doesn't offer full access but offers the chance to get a handicap and get involved, meet the members and use the practise grounds, that would certainly be something that would help me in making what at the minute seems to be the large step from being a causal at the muni's to being a member.
 
My old club had 3 levels of membership. Full, and 5-day are as normal but they had Associate membership too. For a payment of £120ish you had all the playing rights of a full member but had to pay a fee - £3-5 off normal green fee. It made sense for those who would only get out once a month.
You were still able to get handicaps, play in comps, matches etc etc. A good inbetween membership bracket that helped a few people out.

Current club suspended the joining fee some time ago and havn;t raised subs for a while - so I'm lead to believe. They also offer Direct Debit to the club and not through a Finance House. The DD doesn't incur an extra charge.
 
that sounds fantastic Imurg, I am going to play 2 rounds at Oundle golf course next week and they do an membership for 19-30year olds that is 345 quid and I think that is fantastic, I have played since I was 7 however a number of my friends only took the game up in the last few years and are really interested by that offer, partly due to the course being good, partly because of the value it represents and partly due to how friendly everyone is to us when we are down that way. If somewhere up sheffield (where I live now) did that I would snap it up straight away.
 
Weve got a club near us who have had to come up with some interesting initiatives to get new members. They built a new course recently so need to get additional members to pay for that.

Think DelB is a member there, Swanston Golf Club. they even do a 20 rnd/year membership for around £200 apparently. Npot bad if your only able to golf at restricted times.
 
Think DelB is a member there, Swanston Golf Club. they even do a 20 rnd/year membership for around £200 apparently. Npot bad if your only able to golf at restricted times.
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Somebody mention my name?? :D

Yep, the 'Limited Play' membership, as it's known, buys you a 20 round ticket for only £245.00. That allows you to enter all medals and competitions, maintain your handicap and all other benefits of full membership. The only restriction is that you can't tee off before noon at the weekends. They'll even let you pay it up over 10 months, with only a £15 admin charge, so for £26 a month it's a no-brainer. So for £13 a round, effectively, it's at least a fiver per round cheaper than the local Munis!! :cool:
 
There is a nearby course I'm wishing to join offering 1/2 price membership at the moment (Balbirnie) and I'm very tempted even though I have paid a full years membership at my currect club. The only downfall being a £350 joining fee on top.

That said my current club, Glenrothes is a council course in poor condition, regularly closed due wo water retention and has winter greens from October to March / April almost constantly.

Balbirnie is rarely closed and has full greens all year round, however fairway mats are in operation during winter months, a small price to pay for good fairways during the season IMO.

www.balbirniegolf.com

very very tempted although I'd probably need a small bank loan to join initially
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Interesting to know, thats pretty close to me!!! :D

Pity about the joining fee!!

Played Glenrothes a few weeks ago - wasnt to bad for a council course, wasn't that great either. The greens were pretty bad - looks like recent drainage works!
 
Is Leven or Lundin not closer to you ,have played Glenrothes before ,man you must be fit ,vaguely remember crawling up the 18th after 36 holes there totally knackerd ,by the way i play Scotscraig if you fancy a game.
 
Is Leven or Lundin not closer to you ,have played Glenrothes before ,man you must be fit ,vaguely remember crawling up the 18th after 36 holes there totally knackerd ,by the way i play Scotscraig if you fancy a game.
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I'm in Cupar, so most of Fife is realativly close!!!

The back 9 is a bit of an uphill/downhill slog.

Drove past Scotscraig today - mentioned to the missus how good it's supposed to be!! :D
 
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