Mike's Editor Letter

[jimbob.someroo]

Short of me typing it all out, does anyone have a quick way of sending me the text?

There's a bit in particular which I want to send on to our pro as it's something we discussed - namely that a lot of decisions made at the club are for the benefit of a small group of (primarily elder) members.

We've taken great steps forward with the incremental membership this year, making it much much cost-effective and appealing for younger people to take up the sport, and to retain current young members but there's a certain competitive side of the club which is being a touch neglected.

One perfect example of this is that the club messed up the entry into the first team scratch league last year and as yet haven't made any inroads at getting the details to get back in the set up - despite numerous pleas from section captains. The 'core' of the club were passionate team players in years gone by, but most of which no longer get involved in matches - and there's very little in the way of incentives for people to come in and grab it by the scruff of the neck.

Anyway, long story short, can anyone send me the copy to save me typing it all out!

 

[GB72]

If you have not had a reply sooner I can photograph and email you a copy tonight or scan it to you tomorrow.

I fully agree with the contents and am half tempted to pin it on the club notice board to see if anyone takes notice

 

[jimbob.someroo]

If you have not had a reply sooner I can photograph and email you a copy tonight or scan it to you tomorrow.

I fully agree with the contents and am half tempted to pin it on the club notice board to see if anyone takes notice

Thanks for the offer, I've got my copy which I can use if necessary but wanted to try and have it as text so that there's no excuse for it not to be read.

Feels a bit like myself and the 1st team captain are banging our heads against a wall at the moment. Competition cancelled for the last couple of weeks and again on Saturday. The reason being that there could be a trolly ban - hence the things mentioned above, of it catering to elder members. Truth be told, the majority of the people at our club that can only play with a trolly aren't too fussed about entering the weekend stableford. Furthermore, the ones that physically can't play without one are all given a special exemption to use one anyway?!?!?!?! So what is the point in cancelling it? At least give some of us that are trying to improve the chance to be competitive.

 

[Fish]

I think a problem with this across clubs can be that committee members and more so in this case, match & comps, are indeed yesterday's captains and as such are largely made up of seniors themselves!

Until much younger members get involved on committees, if they can break into the coven, then a younger voice, which ironically every club is attempting to attract, will not be heard!

 

[guest100718]

Thanks for the offer, I've got my copy which I can use if necessary but wanted to try and have it as text so that there's no excuse for it not to be read.

Feels a bit like myself and the 1st team captain are banging our heads against a wall at the moment. Competition cancelled for the last couple of weeks and again on Saturday. The reason being that there could be a trolly ban - hence the things mentioned above, of it catering to elder members. Truth be told, the majority of the people at our club that can only play with a trolly aren't too fussed about entering the weekend stableford. Furthermore, the ones that physically can't play without one are all given a special exemption to use one anyway?!?!?!?! So what is the point in cancelling it? At least give some of us that are trying to improve the chance to be competitive.

Take a pitcure and use an online free OCR service?

 

[jimbob.someroo]

Until much younger members get involved on committees, if they can break into the coven, then a younger voice, which ironically every club is attempting to attract, will not be heard!

This point is the absolute nail on the head for me.

We're happy for young people to come in and take their money, but be quiet and sit in the corner and don't rock the boat.

I'm not saying all us 'youths' want to change everything about the club, but if the club was doing the things which attracted (particularly better) young players, they wouldn't need to simply drop prices to be attractive.

I'm going to suggest, for example, that we have a 'scratch dink' between now and the end of April. Best three rounds in either a medal or a stableford, winner takes the pot. Would get stableford results by subtracting handicap, so if you shot 40 points off 4, you would have played to scratch, and maybe convert medal scores to stableford and do the same. I'll be happy to run this but at least then it's something for the competitive players to work towards and get involved with.

 

[USER1999]

May be the comps mentioned were cancelled to try to keep traffic off the course during a very wet period?

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Jimbob, you seem to have the very same issue as my club, I'm now leaving the club and a couple of other cat 1 players are refusing to play scratch league going forward. As a result there will only be 8 or 9 cat 1 players to choose from. There are very few good juniors coming through as well.
I know that one member (a past captain) is offering to become scratch team captain (non-playing) for the next 3 years, if the committee will let him have his way regarding marketing, and incentives.

Certain areas suggested as ways to incentivise better players to join have been:
- to make more of the club champion - most people don't even know who he is (offer a parking space, for example)
- free coaching for people who represent the club (saves them paying for their own lessons)
- Reductions on subscriptions for those who make themselves available for club matches
- as well as the 36 hole club championship, have a scratch matchplay for lower handicappers - as many don't enter the current matchplay
- get the SSS to level par, as playing under your handicap but not getting cut is very annoying.
- make the course more interesting for better players - the bunkers at our place are not really in play for bigger hitters - I feel you need risk & reward golf for lower handicappers to keep it interesting.

 

[HotDogAssassin]

Have you considered sending an email request direct to Mike Harris? He may well see this thread, but is likely to see an email sooner.

 

[jimbob.someroo]

Sorted now, thanks

 

[pbrown7582]

Have you considered sending an email request direct to Mike Harris? He may well see this thread, but is likely to see an email sooner.

Maybe but he's a bit busy now working hard in Orlando at the pga show

 

[Jake O'Reilly]

Here you are:

Regular readers of my letter will know I rarely file my copy any earlier than the last minute, and this issue is no exception. But less than 24 hours before the page had to be at the printers I have to confess I didn’t actually have anything to write about. By way of mitigation, I’ve had very little in the way of golfing inspiration.

I’ve managed just 27 very sodden holes of golf in the past six weeks, the European and PGA Tours have yet to kick into life, I haven’t changed any of my equipment since November last year, and if the 27 holes are anything to go by, I certainly haven’t found the secret to executing the 40-yard pitch.

Thankfully, salvation appeared in the form of an industry round table I’d been invited to. More often than not at these sessions we end up telling each other what we already know, but this one was different. The discussion was led by Syngenta, a leading supplier of solutions to golf courses, which had commissioned a large-scale research project on how to grow the game in the UK.

The most eye-opening stat in the survey was that there could be as many as 8.5 million people in the UK interested in taking up golf. If only 20 per cent of that number actually became golfers then the game would be in a very healthy position indeed.

But how do we go about attracting them? Well, thanks to Syngenta and its research company GfK, we now have some hard facts to work with. The big difference between this survey and others I’d seen before was that nearly two thirds of the 3,500-plus respondents were non-golfers, but as they had the desire to take up a new sport and the time to play golf, they were genuine prospects, not couch potatoes unlikely to ever play.

So, rather than golfers telling us what initiatives they ‘think’ might get new people playing the game, these findings offer real insight from outside the game as to what golf needs to do in order to become a serious option for newcomers.

Clubs need to be friendlier, to encourage families, to not be so strict on dress codes and club regulations (including the use of mobile phones), to make it easier to learn the game and to offer greater flexibility in terms of membership.

This insight should be gold dust in the hands of those who run golf clubs, whether the club is in trouble and trying to reverse a declining membership, or whether it’s a forward-looking operation seeking opportunities for growth. The really good news is that none of the above involves spending any money, merely a shift in attitudes.

Proprietary clubs can, of course, change things far more easily, as owners don’t have committees to answer to. However, it’s my view that the majority of clubs most in need of change in order to thrive, or even just remain viable, are traditional members clubs run by committees. And this is where the elephant in the room becomes just too big to ignore. At present, the vast majority of committees are made up of long-standing members, and the decisions they make tend to be for the benefit of members like them.

And, to a point, that’s OK because these golfers will have been loyal supporters of the clubs, so have earned a right to have a significant say in the way a club is run. They’re giving up their time to sit on a committee, some will have been members man and boy, most will have paid a joining fee, put money behind the bar, and represented the club in matches. Without them the club wouldn’t be what it is today. But in this challenging landscape, it’s not about the past, it’s about the future.

So, you must ask yourself this question: are you really interested in protecting the future of your club and the game in general, or are you happy with the status quo because that’s what suits you?

I don’t pretend that changing established thinking and conventions will be easy but, in the cold, hard light of day, this is about safeguarding the future of the game. Surely nothing is more important than that?

 

[Jake O'Reilly]

Or in jpeg format if you prefer.

 

[jimbob.someroo]

Many thanks Jake.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Is there a document anywhere to show the results of the study ?

 

[Jake O'Reilly]

Is there a document anywhere to show the results of the study ?

Not that I've seen knocking about, but equally Mike may be saving them for a grassroots feature, he's in Orlando so I can't ask atm.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Not that I've seen knocking about, but equally Mike may be saving them for a grassroots feature, he's in Orlando so I can't ask atm.

Ok cheers - the findings would be great to see and certainly could help clubs out

 

[HotDogAssassin]

Maybe but he's a bit busy now working hard in Orlando at the pga show

Good point, well made. Shame the H4H auction of Editor for the day wasn't for this week.

 

[GB72]

Ok cheers - the findings would be great to see and certainly could help clubs out

Totally agree, it is such a simple thought but one that is so very important. I am sure that most clubs, when looking to attract new members look at the point of view of what existing members would like to see at the club and not what someone who has not yet joined wants. There is clearly some hurdle that needs to be cleared for this person to join the club be it attitude, dress code, family friendly etc and many of these can be addressed with little or no expenditure.

For me the desire to play golf and be a member of a club has always taken priority over any qualms I may have about the club or the way that it is run. In an ideal world, I would love a more relaxed dress code in the clubhouse (partly to encourage my wife to come up for a beer and some lunch), I would rather I could use my phone (internet etc) in the clubhouse and free wifi would be even better (I like to relax with a coffee and read the news before a round), I would rather the odd social function was aimed at people under 60 and I would like all competitions to be drawn. No club near me offers this and so I have to either be a nomad or compromise. I compromised, others would not.

The problem is always going to be in getting a committee to vote for measures that they may not want or agree with but that may be the best approach for the club's future. I sometimes get the feeling that modernising attitudes is seen as a defeat, as backing down rather than moving the club forward.

 

[Hacker Khan]

Here you are:


Clubs need to be friendlier, to encourage families, to not be so strict on dress codes and club regulations (including the use of mobile phones), to make it easier to learn the game and to offer greater flexibility in terms of membership.

Yes all well and good. But have the people who took part ever caddied for Woosy eh??? Tell them to come back when they have as until then their input is meaningless

Great study and comment, I think most sensible people see that this issue has to be addressed for the long term future of the game, and the days of hiding behind the excuses such as etiquette should be long gone.

Now where's my mobile, my shirt needs to be tucked in...