Membership Opportunities - Royal Ascot

[HomerJSimpson]

Just got back from a pretty good round at Royal Ascot today. While I was enjoying a post match diet coke I was reading a letter place on each table.

Apparently the club is on a recruitment drive and are holding two open days on Sunday May 11th and Friday May 16th whereby prospective members can come along to view the facilities, play 9 holes free with a club member or take a lesson with the pro.

The club is also advertising in the local press and is entering into a reciprical arrangement with a local business (not sure who or what line of business) where they will forward any membership leads.

The final step is a leaflet campaign to targeted homes in the locale. It is a six page folded glossy A4 "membership invitation" aimed at showcasing the club to local people who may be thinking about taking up the game or looking for a membership nearer to home.

Prices are pretty reasonable (although not compared to many on here) and are cheaper than most of our neighbours (Mill Ride, The Berkshire, Wentworth). 7 day membership costs £1120, and there are young adult places available on a sliding scale. 26-28 years old = £840, 22-25 years old = £560 and anyone 18-21 pays £280

The reason for my post is two fold. Firstly anyone on here who is interested in joining or attending one of hte open days please PM me asap.

Secondly, is Royal Ascot alone in this seemingly driven and intensive recruitment drive. Does your club actively advertise for new members or rely on ad hoc membership enquiries. Is this type of open day the norm and do you think there is any milegae in leaflet campaigns (not sure how they got their "target" addresses).

I'm intrigued to know how your club does it. Look forward to your comments

 

[theeaglehunter]

I don't have much knowledge on the situation with any clubs other than my own, but despite many people claiming that golf is going through a decline period where clubs are having to hunt down new prespective members as such, my club still has to turn many people away due to being in such high demand in the area and certainly does not advertise membership opportunities as the waiting list is huge anyway.

I have just looked at your courses website and I see no reason why it is not sought after, times must really be hard if such advertising campaigns are being introduced to attract members to this kind of club.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

The problem we have had is that when we were integrated inside the racecourse it was a relatively short track (virtually a glorified pitch and putt in summer) and so our older members could enjoy it without too much trouble.

Now we have a much longer track they have found it harder and harder and so we are losing more of the older members each year. These are usually the life blood of a club and so it is proving hard to attract members in sufficient numbers.

We are also expensive compared to local municipals (one of which is a decent track and one which isn't and both can attract shall we say "non" golfers in Summer) although when you compare us to our neighbours we are pretty good value especially as you can just roll up (no pre booking) and go out so its ideal for after work

 

[OldWindy]

Bit far for me, Ascot. But on the membership side, Aberdovey has home and away members, mainly due to it being a bit of a holiday location. As a village there are a finite number of people who want to play golf and there are just so many folks who come visit and can afford effectively two memberships (home and away). As such, new members are relatively infrequent.

(No doubt there'll be a huge summer intake and prove me wrong, now.)

 

[themmings]

My boss is a member of Royal Ascot.

Whilst looking around for my first club, there seemed to be a lot of deals on, my (now new) club introduced a family membership which swayed me to join:

No joining fee.
7 Day full membership.
2 adults and 2 children.
Free large bucket of balls (80) for range every day of the year.
Free family golf lesson.
Use of a buggy up to 5 times a year.
The course has 3 professional loops of 9 and a 'academy' style shorter 9 hole which is great for the family whilst they learn with less pressure.

They call this 'Family4Golf' and I thought it was great. I staggered the payment over a few months with no incremental costs.