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Is it common practice for clubs

colintrav

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Apr 13, 2009
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I got a flyer through the door the other day advertising an Open day .. at a club near me , Looks good


Yet to my utter astonishment ... it clearly states that no joining fee for new members under the age of 30 ..which clearly is discrimation against a person whom is aged over 30 whom wishes to join the Club even if they happen to live in Village where the Club is ..

I don't know if this is a common thing to do by various other clubs .. but stating that when it looks to me there looking for new members creates the impression they're not ...


So is this common practice .. by Clubs in general persoanlly I found it insulting ..
 
I got a flyer through the door the other day advertising an Open day .. at a club near me , Looks good


Yet to my utter astonishment ... it clearly states that no joining fee for new members under the age of 30 ..which clearly is discrimation against a person whom is aged over 30 whom wishes to join the Club even if they happen to live in Village where the Club is ..

I don't know if this is a common thing to do by various other clubs .. but stating that when it looks to me there looking for new members creates the impression they're not ...


So is this common practice .. by Clubs in general persoanlly I found it insulting ..

I would say that it contravenes the recent age discrimination act but I'm happy to be contradicted.
 
I think a lot of private clubs have an ageing member list and are really keen to get younger members in.

My father is a Pro and the vast majority of the members at his club are really old - and don't spend much in his shop.
 
I've heard of it and I don't see it as being discriminatory. Most clubs offer different fees for juniors and over 60s so why would this age break be any different?

Unless you've just turned 31 and were looking to join a club :D
 
Trying to keep players that move from juniors paying a pittance to full members paying full subs often backfires on clubs in that these young adults can't afford it and drift away from the game.

The club is trying to keep and/or attract younger members by whatever means they can.

By the law of averages older people tend to make more money therefore have more disposable income. I know this is often not the case but I wouldn't object to younger people getting a reduced rate or a saving like the one you've seen.
 
You are always gonna get people saying it is or it isn't. Though in the eyes of the law, and I know my stuff here, it isnt discrimination. They arent saying over 30s cant join, they are just saying that if you want to then you will pay full whack.

Discrimination would be an over 30 going in, wanting to pay the joining fee and green fee and then being told sorry you cant join.

I havent seen said flyer but its obvious that they want to encourage the younger crowd but they could have worded it better imo.

At the end of the day a green fee is a green fee regardless of the age of the wallet it comes from.
 
Me and a mate join a club last year, and they were offering extended intermediate fees for under 30's I was 28 at the time and my mate was 31. Every week since, moan, moan, moan, like an old woman. I wish I could dam pay the extra £200 just to shut him up.

Best is it was between 2 clubs we were going to join and the other club was full memebership fees for both of us, and he said he preferred The Chase, where we play!
 
I think as Birdieman says, it's down to the neccessity of trying to keep the young people you bring through a juniors. Many seem to move on to Uni or end up working and can't afford the full fees whilst training. A sliding scale of fees for those between 18 and 30 is more common nowadays.

At our AGM I was astounded to hear the low number of 20-30 age group members currently in our club. As a result we've implimented some form of sliding scale scheme to attract younger players to stay at or to come into the club.
 
The club I was about to join has the same, if you are under 30 you get away with paying a grand, but to my surprise they said I could spread it over three years lol. Think I will stick to Muni golf for the time being.
 
My club has an Intermediate membership for under 30s. It's exactly the same as the full membership, but about 60% less. I pay about £450 a year (plus, I got 3 months free as there was an offer on when I joined) so I don't need to renew now til Apr 2011.
 
I'd be surprised if they haven't checked their position before issuing the flyer but I do think the wording sounds poor. We seem to be like a lot of clubs where we have a crop of juniors but then very few in the 18-25 bracket. It seems that we get members coming in around 25 obviously once they are in a job, got a house etc and fixed in the area.

Obviously we are losing more and more from the top end of the age bracket as many of our more senior guys are finding the new course much harder going than the old heath inside the racecourse and so every year we are losing a large(ish) number of them and need to encourage younger blood and make sure they are happy and continue to play for years to come
 
At my club when you reach 18 you go to students rate. Then when you reach 22 or 23yrs old you pay the same as everyone else. There is no joining fee for anyone who was a junior.
I find that a hard one as some of you seem to be saying that your junior's have to pay a joining fee.
 
At my track there is no joining fee to pay if you join whilst under 25. They also have discounted memberships for those aged between 18-24 on a sliding scale.
 
It pains me.

Who's to say that just because you're over a certain age that you're able to afford to pay more than a 25 year old.

Such sweeping generalisations get my back up intensely!

I've just started to teach a 27 year old who is a Company Director in London, lives in a swanky house in one of the best villages around here and is about to join the Oxfordshire.
I can barely afford to pay a green fee there but I'm 20 years his senior.
 
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