How much are you involved at your club?

[Macster]

Sorry, got bit side-tracked ....... !

 

[Marko77]

We are a section attached to hotel owned courses so the Committee have no real power as such but do link with the hotel regularly. As there is not alot of influencing or power with the Committee regarding the course or the clubhouse, etc it does not attract a lot of people wanting to be involved.

I have done a stint as handicap secretary and my knowing my way around Club 2000 still see's me giving a help hand in closing competitions or assisting at the Men's Open.

I'm not particularly tempted to go back to Commmittee but I wouldn't see the section short if there was a job needing done that I could do.

 

[pokerjoke]

I have recently been voted onto a sub commitee of 6 people,as we found out recently there were some financial issues.We have worked extremely hard,putting in lots of hours work free of charge,along side our day jobs.We have turned the finances around in very quick time.However i have quickly realised it doesnt matter what you do there is always someone who isnt happy.You know the ones,the ones who know it all but wont do f-all to help,and critises everything being done.Its a thankless task but is usually done by people that love the club.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

In answer to the question, not as much as I want to be. I am going to be getting involved a lot more in the communication side of things which I guess is going to help. Personally I'd like to get involved more and having run football teams, golf societies etc realise how time consuming it can be (I might even post less) but I see myself and others interested to, as idea lcandidates. We're that intermediate age between the younger full members (mid 20's) and the seniors and so hopefully can be a voice of reason between their own distinct views.

The club tends to look in house at times but more often than not will put any work out of house. We do have a few guys that do some minor repairs etc but normally any kind of building work etc gets shunted out.

 

[Parmo]

Same financial problems going on, dodgy contracts to family members handed out, dropping membership and high bills are the norm now. As a member of a club I love, I don't want to just leave without trying.

I asked a committee member how can I get involved, the answer was... Start with the Rabbits committee.. and work you way up, Jesus H. Christ the club will be closed by that time!!

So since the club doesn't have a website, I thought I would knock one up and see how it went, see if they will invest a little cash to bring in some. Link below and going to see the Captain on Sunday with a print of each page and sell the idea to him. He was looking into it last time we spoke about it but thought I would get it done as that was about 8 months ago. So I got my hardcopy of the site and details about each page and what can be offered to members and to attract new members.

I will keep you updated.

 

[GB72]

At my club it is not that easy to get involved. All of the committee get their membership paid for and the same people get voted in by the same groups of members every year. The club captain comes from the same group of people, it is basically a closed shop. As I have stated on here a few times, I would love to see some change and would give up some time to do it but it is not that simple. Yes I could go about touting for support and promising change but that would mean getting on the wrong side of the established membership and I suspect you could soon become an outsider. I would only get involved if I felt I could change things for the better but the large number of established, aging members do not want change and so it is probably pointless.

I will see how far I get and how much support I get trying to set up a formal roll up and if my suspicions are proved wrong then I will offer more of my time.

 

[Fyldewhite]

<RANT>We are approaching our AGM and as usual we are short of people for the committee. It seems that year on year we have less interest. No end of people willing to criticise and sound off at every change voted in and no shortage of people willing to stand up and snipe at the AGM. As usual though it will be the ones who are loudest who have never actually given anything back to the club. The ones who take, take, take who sound off in the bar as though they run the place and in reality have absolutley no idea what it's all about.</RANT>

I'm sure the above scenario will be familar to anyone on here who has served on the committee of any golf club. At the end of the day though we are not martyrs, we do it because we enjoy the job and I'm sure our club is no different in that probably 4 or 5 people out of the committee of 12 actually make any meaningful contribution.

On the OP though we have had occasions where non committee members have become involved as they have specific expertise in a particular area but on the whole the membership takes the running of the club for granted.

 

[Parmo]

I guess people see subs as just a service bought rather than the "club" membership as such.

 

[NWJocko]

<RANT>We are approaching our AGM and as usual we are short of people for the committee. It seems that year on year we have less interest. No end of people willing to criticise and sound off at every change voted in and no shortage of people willing to stand up and snipe at the AGM. As usual though it will be the ones who are loudest who have never actually given anything back to the club. The ones who take, take, take who sound off in the bar as though they run the place and in reality have absolutley no idea what it's all about.</RANT>

I'm sure the above scenario will be familar to anyone on here who has served on the committee of any golf club. At the end of the day though we are not martyrs, we do it because we enjoy the job and I'm sure our club is no different in that probably 4 or 5 people out of the committee of 12 actually make any meaningful contribution.

On the OP though we have had occasions where non committee members have become involved as they have specific expertise in a particular area but on the whole the membership takes the running of the club for granted.

What club are you at fyldewhite?

 

[HomerJSimpson]

<RANT>We are approaching our AGM and as usual we are short of people for the committee. It seems that year on year we have less interest. No end of people willing to criticise and sound off at every change voted in and no shortage of people willing to stand up and snipe at the AGM. As usual though it will be the ones who are loudest who have never actually given anything back to the club. The ones who take, take, take who sound off in the bar as though they run the place and in reality have absolutley no idea what it's all about.</RANT>

I'm sure the above scenario will be familar to anyone on here who has served on the committee of any golf club. At the end of the day though we are not martyrs, we do it because we enjoy the job and I'm sure our club is no different in that probably 4 or 5 people out of the committee of 12 actually make any meaningful contribution.

On the OP though we have had occasions where non committee members have become involved as they have specific expertise in a particular area but on the whole the membership takes the running of the club for granted.

I think that is fairly typical but not altogether surprising. Most members pay their money and only want to play as much golf as they can. As long as the bar is well stocked, the course is in decent nick and the locker room isn't falling apart they seem to think everything happens by accident. They never think about the handicap/comp sec trying to organise all the events and collate the handicaps, the socila committee who organise the necessary events to raise capital and the guys who are on the various committees trying to make best use possible of the fees received.

It is clearly a thankless task which is why I think you see the same old faces involved year in year out. They know what they are up against. However I do think there is a need for change. I'd love to get some sort of small (maybe 2-3) group together to work solely on club communications to memebers and the publicity. The twitter thread was an interesting one and a lot of you have given me examples of your newsletters. There has to be a way to keep members updated and involved and to get the club's name in the wider spectrum to drum up business and members

 

[HRC99]

I think that is fairly typical but not altogether surprising. Most members pay their money and only want to play as much golf as they can. As long as the bar is well stocked, the course is in decent nick and the locker room isn't falling apart they seem to think everything happens by accident. They never think about the handicap/comp sec trying to organise all the events and collate the handicaps, the socila committee who organise the necessary events to raise capital and the guys who are on the various committees trying to make best use possible of the fees received.

It is clearly a thankless task which is why I think you see the same old faces involved year in year out. They know what they are up against. However I do think there is a need for change. I'd love to get some sort of small (maybe 2-3) group together to work solely on club communications to memebers and the publicity. The twitter thread was an interesting one and a lot of you have given me examples of your newsletters. There has to be a way to keep members updated and involved and to get the club's name in the wider spectrum to drum up business and members

That's spooky as that's exactly what I've just put to the committee. The archaic notice board just doesn't cut it these days. We need to get out to the members to remind, nudge, cajole, beg, blackmail etc to get them more involved in the club.

Proper notification of competitions, events, functions, offers etc will surely create additional participation and that means money to the club. One or two extra per comp or function would mean a lot of extra revenue for the club that we need.

It would all cost next to nothing too. Just a bit of time. And I (and at least one other I know of already) am prepared to put in.

I've already had feedback that this should be via email and the club doesn't have enough member email addresses to make it worthwhile.

Just get on with it and if you produce a half decent effort people will volunteer their addresses so they don't miss out.

Get on with it!

All in all, I just figure rather than moan why not try to do something positive for the club?

 

[Golfmmad]

I'm sure a lot more people would get involved, trouble is the vast majority are too busy making and earning a living. Then finding time to actually play and keeping everybody in the house happy. Which I'm sure is more difficult for some than others.

As for committees being mostly the older members, is obviously because they are retired and can devote more time to their clubs. As was the case last Tuesday at my club. A group of about 6 members had just been out on the course cutting back trees and bushes, (and what a good job they did!) as I was going out for a round. They are all retired.

So it's not always the case of not being interested in what happens and getting involved at the course, well certainly in my case anyway.

Golfmmad.

 

[HRC99]

That's great and much of the work will continue to be done by a lot of the same people.

I just feel for an odd hour or two a year per member the club could achieve much more with benefits to all.

I've really got a bee in my bonnet about this. Sorry!

 

[Golfmmad]

No need to be sorry. It's people like your good self that can make a big difference to a club.

If you have the time.

Golfmmad.

 

[Parmo]

No offence Homer and I agree with most of what you say, but you say its a thankless task yet most committee members get paid for their troubles one way or another. The best members are the ones not getting paid like yourself and people running the BBQ on Captains day or selling raffle tickets and the likes.

 

[Robobum]

Parmo, I would love to play your course. For such a cheap green fee the holes look stunning!!!!

We have a policy of 3 years on committee only, in certain roles you can be (extraodinarily) voted on for another year.

 

[Tommo21]

I do get a little annoyed when people say “why don’t you come on the committee and see if you can do any better” This smacks of if you not prepared to do it then don’t mention it.

I pay my money and I have every right to air my views, suggestions and criticisms without having to go on the committee to prove I really mean it, or to get it done.

I was involved in a trade union for many years and I can honestly say I was responsible for stopping our convener saying to members “why don’t you have a go then”

I appreciate everything that committee members do, always have. But I’m not into throwing things back at people who have the right to ask questions.

 

[Parmo]

Parmo, I would love to play your course. For such a cheap green fee the holes look stunning!!!!

We have a policy of 3 years on committee only, in certain roles you can be (extraodinarily) voted on for another year.

lol yeah... Not quite finished yet, taking some pics this weekend to finish the site off.

 

[chrisd]

No offence Homer and I agree with most of what you say, but you say its a thankless task yet most committee members get paid for their troubles one way or another. The best members are the ones not getting paid like yourself and people running the BBQ on Captains day or selling raffle tickets and the likes.

I am sorry but I have never ever seen a committee member being paid for their troubles ever! In fact for the 4 years I did it it cost me money, drinks etc during the various monthly meetings and the supposition that committee members were obliged to attend all the club functions. The only thing that, in the last few months on committee we were given were a few sandwiches on the main meeting night as most of us had to forgo our dinners to attend them.

When I did my years of service the only retired people of 16 members on the committee were the representatives of the veterans section, and I dont think that many committee members over the years have been retired people with "lots of time on their hands" they are almost always middle aged business men who do a good job in the main.

There are often people like the poster on this topic who want to do stuff and they are generally encouraged by the club committee but, in my experience, they drift away very quickly and often dont do what they initially promise very well - that, however, is very much a generalisation!

Chris

 

[HRC99]

Do committee members get paid? I don't think so.

I know the captain gets a stipend to help with the expense of all the entertaining and travel expected of him but I don't believe the committee gets paid at all.