Number of Golfers in UK could be doubled....

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Lucky you! My boss says I can't play during the week. PS I have two bosses - one at work and HID. Then we have 2 children.......

Does your boss stop you having weeks holiday a few times a year during the year? No he doesn't. And do you use all your holiday to play golf - no you don't. And these are your choices. That's what I was getting at. An individual's personal circumstances and how we arrange our days, weeks and months are of no interest to a golf club as the club cannot control them. Maybe a club should be more cognisant of each individual memebrs circumstances - but they cannot control or determine when a 7 day member's circumstances 'permits' him to play.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Did you not read the rest of his post?

I did, and I agree. No matter what people answer to surveys that say why they won't do things, people like excuses. You could get 100 people to answer a survey, and change every single reason they suggest to accomodate them (within reason). Guess what, I believe, that even after that, most of them wouldn't join.

You could ask 100 people on the street "would you use a personal trainer, and if yes, what is stopping you". A lot of people (in my experience/guess) would say they would use one, but the cost stops them. I would put significant amounts of money on the fact that if you then said, "Ok, have a free personal trainer for a while", a lot of them would then find another excuse.

The dress code is an easy get out clause for people.

Yup - you've got my point precisely - and why I would not base change upon the evidence of a survey such as that carried out. As you say - clubs could even try giving membeships away free - but still some folks wouldn't join - and folk wouldn't join for such a multitude of reasons that a club couldn't possibly foresee or indeed that were quick illogical or from 'left field'.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

So we set up creche in the golf club? Why not?

My old club, a muni, has setup a pirates adventure golf course. They are apparently losing a lot of members because when they come in after their round they can't get a seat in the bar, can't get served at the bar and have kids running round the place. A lot of these guys have kids, but don't want them running around at the golf club.

Being a muni, I'm sure they don't care but it does highlight the point that for many people, golf is their escape from every day life and they may not want that taken away.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Yup - you've got my point precisely - and why I would not base change upon the evidence of a survey such as that carried out. As you say - clubs could even try giving membeships away free - but still some folks wouldn't join - and folk wouldn't join for such a multitude of reasons that a club couldn't possibly foresee or indeed that were quick illogical or from 'left field'.

Glasgow City Council offered free use to under 18 year olds on their golf courses a couple of years ago.
Not sure how successful it has been, perhaps some of our other poster know about it.

 

[SocketRocket]

I do understand basic economics, I'm just stating for this reason I don't have a membership. I simply cannot justify the cost. I'd rather play a different course every weekend. It just blows that for this reason I am not allowed an official handicap...

Why would you want a handicap if you don't play in Club competitions?

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Did you not read the rest of his post?

I did, and I agree. No matter what people answer to surveys that say why they won't do things, people like excuses. You could get 100 people to answer a survey, and change every single reason they suggest to accomodate them (within reason). Guess what, I believe, that even after that, most of them wouldn't join.

You could ask 100 people on the street "would you use a personal trainer, and if yes, what is stopping you". A lot of people (in my experience/guess) would say they would use one, but the cost stops them. I would put significant amounts of money on the fact that if you then said, "Ok, have a free personal trainer for a while", a lot of them would then find another excuse.

The dress code is an easy get out clause for people.

I was going to post something similar. If all these people really want to play golf, why aren't they. The dress code isn't that strict and there are plenty of muni's where you can play without a huge upfront fee. We'd all cheaper lessons, free golf and better courses but that isn't how the world works. If you really want to play, then play, there is nothing stopping you apart from excuses.

I started club golf at a muni, I phoned up and joined, then signed up for the comp and played, it was easy, it was daunting, the people were friendly - easy

 

[JustOne]

A new survey has revealed that the number of people playing golf in the UK could be doubled if clubs and courses were friendlier, encouraged families and offered greater flexibility and better playing conditions.

World peace and global warming could also be solved along similar lines, in fact these two are probably easier!





hmmmm....

Others said they would be encouraged to take up golf if there was easy access to affordable golf lessons (61%)

does that say 61%

 

[HawkeyeMS]

I was going to post something similar. If all these people really want to play golf, why aren't they. The dress code isn't that strict and there are plenty of muni's where you can play without a huge upfront fee. We'd all like cheaper lessons, free golf and better courses but that isn't how the world works. If you really want to play, then play, there is nothing stopping you apart from excuses.

I started club golf at a muni, I phoned up and joined, then signed up for the comp and played, it was easy, it wasn't daunting, the people were friendly - easy

I didn't spot the mistakes until it was too late to edit

 

[HomerJSimpson]

To be fair, my club is pretty relaxed on dress codes off the course these days and most members are savvy with what would be considered acceptable with perhaps that old chestnut of sock length and colour when wearing shorts. Personally I've never seen anyone playing that I've really considered inappropriately dressed when I've been out and playing. As it's a private members club the assumption is they accept the rules of the club and want to be there. This argument about golfers not wanting to join a club and perhaps not wanting to stay seems to indicate that those surveyed aren't so inclined.

My club isn't that affluent and like many others still struggles to balance the books. They do try and hold social events and social golf with a meal after to encourage members to come up and spend some cash. The social golf in particular is normally fully booked so is obviously doing something right.

In my opinion it's like any of these things and you can read into it more or less what you want and how you interpret the information presented impacts the way you see the results.

 

[Deleted member 18588]

Anybody remember the survey & report done in the (I believe) early 90's that suggested there was going to be demand for many more golf courses.

Guess what? They were built and now many of them have closed and been returned to other uses as the demand was not, after all, real and sustained.

I agree that clubs & centres may have to change some of their ways but overall I suspect the "cake" is not going to get very much bigger.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Murrayfield was rebuilt on the grounds that the crowds in old murray field were regularly 60k-70k. So the deduction went we can build a new stadium for that number. What the SRU seemed to ignore that a vast number of those 60k-70k went along because it was cheap and good crack on the day. For many the game was a good inexpensive way to spend 2hrs in the middle of a great day in Edinburgh - kept you off the booze for while for a start.

Rebuild Murrayfield and start charging £30-£100 for a ticket - forget it. And they did - and stayed in the pubs in their '000s. The SRU deliberately or otherwise completely misinterpreted attendance at a Scotland match as reflecting a love or at least an enjoyment of, or interest in, rugby. WRONG - it was a cheap way of killing time and being part of a crowd. Many cared little for rugby and certainly hadn't clue about the game. But attendance at old murrayfield was taken as a survey of intent to attend matches at a new murrayfield, and these days - Murrayfield is half empty for most matches - and that is little to do with the state of the Scottish team.

 

[backwoodsman]

A new survey has revealed that the number of people playing golf in the UK could be doubled if...

Well, if it is doubled, I hope they all naff off and play at someone else's course. There's plenty enough at ours, thank you very much.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Anybody remember the survey & report done in the (I believe) early 90's that suggested there was going to be demand for many more golf courses.

Guess what? They were built and now many of them have closed and been returned to other uses as the demand was not, after all, real and sustained.

I agree that clubs & centres may have to change some of their ways but overall I suspect the "cake" is not going to get very much bigger.

Totally flawed R&A report based on the 'tell the mugs what they want to hear, grab the fee and get out quick theory'.

The UK suddenly filled up with golf experts and consultants. Allegedly 'experienced' golf course designers like Peter Alliss and Tony Jacklin took the mugs money and built dreadful unplayable courses.
In Wiltshire 14 courses were built on the strength of that report and 12 went bust within 3 years.
The two that did not go bust just happened to be one that I built and one I advised on.

 

[JustOne]

In Wiltshire 14 courses were built on the strength of that report and 12 went bust within 3 years.

I would have thought that the way they were run/managed had at least some influence on that and not necessarily that there wasn't a demand. I could leave my course and never play golf again, doesn't mean that I would if it 'makes me happy' and I want to stay there.

 

[Deleted member 18588]

Totally flawed R&A report based on the 'tell the mugs what they want to hear, grab the fee and get out quick theory'.

The UK suddenly filled up with golf experts and consultants. Allegedly 'experienced' golf course designers like Peter Alliss and Tony Jacklin took the mugs money and built dreadful unplayable courses.
In Wiltshire 14 courses were built on the strength of that report and 12 went bust within 3 years.
The two that did not go bust just happened to be one that I built and one I advised on.

.
But isn't that likely to be the case with this survey?

After all you can obtain any answer you want from an opinion poll if you frame the questions in a suitable manner.

I am sorry but I do not ever see golf becoming a mainstream leisure activity which would be the case if the number of participants were to double.

 

[Crazyface]

Good article, I especially liked the quote Rules and regulations regarding clothing was an issue for both non-golfers and golfers, supporting the view that golf may not be attuned to customer expectations around leisure and sports activities. More than half (54%) of the non-golfers we interviewed said they would be encouraged to take up golf if there was a relaxed dress code , which will hopefully put to bed the argument I see on here quite a lot about dress codes not being that important a factor on why people are not playing. But knowing this board it probably won't

I also found 'Of the golfers we interviewed, 65% said they would consider leaving their club or regular course. That’s a significant proportion of golf’s customers who are questioning their commitment to the sport. One statistic that stands out for me is that 25% of golfers recall no experience of being treated like a valued customer. Also, up to 50% of golfers feel intimidated by club rules, regulations and members of staff' a pretty shocking and damning indictment of the people that run the game and clubs. You surely can not sustain a long term future for the game with that kind of feedback.

There's also a really good article in GM this month about growing the women's game by providing more family friendly facilities. A lot of it is not really rocket science and a vast majority of other sports and leisure pass times have cottoned onto these issues and made changes. I just fear the the people running golf, plus a large majority (although clearly not all) of people that run clubs, are not really fit for purpose in the 21st century to grow the game for the good of all in the long run. And mostly just serve the interest of an ever dwindling and increasingly elderly group of mostly male members.

As the article says, there are opportunities to grow the game. Let's hope the people that matter take note and do so.

Relax the dress code?!!!!!! Get lost. When people play other sports they spend a fortune of the gear. Christ!, even cyclists have all sorts of expensive crap they can buy to lok utter knobs in as they cycle about. Hell people spend fortunes of their clubs lastest top when such an amount could easily get a pair of golf shoes, and old polo top and pait of trousers!!!!

 

[garyinderry]

sensationalist headline. the sun COULD blow up tomorrow says top boffin !!

 

[JustOne]

sensationalist headline. the sun COULD blow up tomorrow says top boffin !!

I think it has in Sussex.... or someone stole it!

 

[Curls]

Haven't read through the thread but come on, seriously?!

Commission a report from a body who has a vested interest in the outcome and take a wild guess what the outcome will be.

What a waste of money.