Membership cost increase

[IanM]

Clubs need to do what is right for their sustainability (old meaning) in the context of the market in which they operate.

Hence, some initiatives right for some courses, are not necessarily right for others.

 

[Deleted member 25575]

It’s hard because everyone is different, at 23/24 I was living with my parents, earning a fair wage paying no digs and having pretty much no outgoing, I could easily have afforded full price, at late 20s I saddled myself with a crippling mortgage versus earning and went from having a bundle of disposable income to having next to none, no way I could afford a full price membership at that point in life.

 

[sunshine]

Senior's discount is restricted to those who have been a full member for a minimum of 25 consecutive years and are over the state retirement age set by the government.
Discounts start at approx. 12% for age group 65 to 68, 40% for 69 to 71, 72 and over get approx. 60%.
My 2 PPs are 70 but don't won't get the discount till they have 25 years of service.

My conclusion is that these categories were determined by a committee of long serving members aged over 68.
Commercially, I can't see how this arrangement could work or be sustainable.

 

[sunshine]

No. I’m basing my opinion on what I see at my course.

Follow any seniors comp and there are multiple unraked bunkers, pitch marks left on every green, damage to holes where they are using a putter or the flag to remove the ball. And we should be on trolly bans after the rain but we won’t because it discriminates against the seniors. Clubs words, not mine.

They are by no means the only group that are like this, but are by far the worst. Everything that I’ve said above has been witnessed by multiple people and reported to the club. The club leadership has acknowledged the problem off the record, but has admitted there is nothing that can do about the problem.

Well said. The seniors at my place are easily the worst when it comes to caring for the course. Of course many of them have impeccable etiquette, but some of them are a disgrace.

 

[sunshine]

What a wonderful example of you using agism as an insult to come to an unintentional logical conclusion. By extension, those who play the leaast will cause the least damage. Plonker

What a stunning lack of awareness.

 

[D-S]

My conclusion is that these categories were determined by a committee of long serving members aged over 68.
Commercially, I can't see how this arrangement could work or be sustainable.

They would be unsustainable at my club as well as extremely unpopular.

 

[Genu9]

Well said. The seniors at my place are easily the worst when it comes to caring for the course. Of course many of them have impeccable etiquette, but some of them are a disgrace.

They're the worst, they're impeccable and they're a disgrace.......?

 

[Pants]

They're the worst, they're impeccable and they're a disgrace.......?

I had to open my ignore list to see what you were on about lol. Suffice to say that he's straight back on it. Wind up merchant who will jump on someone else's bandwagon without any real thought about what he's posting

 

[jim8flog]

I’ve never understood why seniors got so much discount. Other than they are typically the ones running the club.

They play the most and at my place appear to be responsible for the most damage to the course.

We scrapped senior discounts years ago, however you only got it if you also had 25 years of membership so it could have been seen as a loyalty discount really. One of my mates got very upset when they scrapped it one year before he was 65 and he had 40 years in.

 

[jim8flog]

One of the other things about most seniors is that because they play golf more often they are also using the clubhouse more often so spend a lot more money in the club that way.

Most of the guys I play with get down the club more than hour before their tee time spending time in the clubhouse having drinks and a bite to eat and then another hour+ in the clubhouse after playing doing the same


More likely to see younger players turn some time before their tee time play and go because they do not have the time to spare like a lot of seniors.

 

[sunshine]

They're the worst, they're impeccable and they're a disgrace.......?

Maybe try reading what I posted? ??

 

[Genu9]

Maybe try reading what I posted? ??

See #328. Get the gist......

 

[Golfnut1957]

I had to open my ignore list to see what you were on about lol. Suffice to say that he's straight back on it. Wind up merchant who will jump on someone else's bandwagon without any real thought about what he's posting

It's funny you should say that. I have frequented a footy fanzine site for years and have 17 members on ignore, it sometimes makes threads difficult to follow, but having un-ignored some I soon realise why I did it in the first place.

I don't have anyone on ignore here, but I am sorely tempted to follow your example.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

A selfish golfer is not limited to age - have seen plenty “younger” golfers fail to treat the course in the manner we all expect

 

[r0wly86]

Well said. The seniors at my place are easily the worst when it comes to caring for the course. Of course many of them have impeccable etiquette, but some of them are a disgrace.

when I worked as a green keeper in the summer holidays it was the seniors who were the worst as raking and repairing, also the amount of times they told me to get out of the way when green keepers have right of way was ridiculous, quite aggressive as well

 

[sunshine]

A selfish golfer is not limited to age - have seen plenty “younger” golfers fail to treat the course in the manner we all expect

You're absolutely right.

It's just noticeable that it's the seniors that seem to have the worst culprits at my club. I find it odd as they play the most and I would have thought would be the most invested in keeping the course in top condition.

 

[Voyager EMH]

Membership fees up by 7% from 1st Jan.
Bit of a double whammy though. We have had calendar year fees, but 18 months ago we voted to change to April to March. This is the change over, so we each face a 15 month commitment.
Payment can be in instalments, but the total figure does look daunting for some. Many of the younger chaps are considering the Play More Golf option for next year.
One or two have said they were going to do this anyway.
Discounts at ours for the over 80s and 40-year loyalty.
6 more years at full fee and then I'll get the 40-year discount.

 

[clubchamp98]

You're absolutely right.

It's just noticeable that it's the seniors that seem to have the worst culprits at my club. I find it odd as they play the most and I would have thought would be the most invested in keeping the course in top condition.

I play a lot in the seniors.
While I have seen some very poor etiquette from some I would say the vast majority are very well behaved.
But there are some very arrogant so and sos.
Seen one step over a rake in bunker play his shot and step over the rake on his way out.
Asked him “ you not raking your prints”?
“ that’s the green keepers job “ knob.


But arrogance is not exclusive to seniors in my experience.!

 

[D-S]

Seniors are just golfers whose bad (and good) habits have had more time to become ingrained.
The one thing that I might say is that due to physical infirmity, some struggle to bend over and so the effort of repairing pitch marks is greater and in some cases obviously too much. Many have those ball grabbers on their putters, as they cannot easily bend down, and these tend to damage the edges ogpf the holes if not used very carefully which is often the case.

 

[doublebogey7]

Club announced at a members forum that they are proposing to hold the current rates for the vast majority of members in recognition that some will find an increasingly difficult to bare and to try to hold on to as many members as possible. At the same time, there will be some streamlining of categories meaning a few will see a small increase and a bigger number will see a small decrease. All in all a good decision, and hopefully will mean our membership numbers hold up.