Our Club's doing away with 5 day Membership

[2blue]

For various reasons over the last few years members have left for other local Clubs & numbers in weekend Comps have fallen off.
Members got an email the other day about next year's Subs & nobody saw this coming -
Our 2025/26 annual subs would have been 7 Day - £1,350 5 Day - £975 (Our Proprietary Club 7 day Membership was getting very close to other, Private Members, N Leeds Clubs.)
Now going to just one category - 7 Days for £1,000
2 other N Leeds Proprietary Clubs are 7 Day - £1,400 & 5 Day - £1,200 with several Private Members Clubs just a little more.
Seems a bold move.
Has anyone else got a similar structure?

 

[rulie]

No similar structure, but it will be interesting to see what happens to your membership and revenue. We have 7 day and 5 day, and I sense that, due to cost, more members are moving from the 7 day to the 5 day. Our 5 day players can pay a significantly reduced "green fee" to play on Sat or Sunday, and many have figured that their annual cost will be less by paying the 5 day and any Sat or Sun cost that they incur when they choose to play on the weekend. It seems that as more members move to the 5 day, the 7 day cost keeps increasing. We have too many membership categories that offer lower annual cost than the 7 day and the 7 day may dwindle rapidly. Members are starting to analyze their annual costs and costs per round and finding ways to reduce it.

 

[moogie]

My current club does not advertise a 5 day membership option.
My previous club had no 5 day option either, full member only.

 

[rulefan]

We dropped 5 day some years ago. We only have 6 (excl Saturday) or 7.
No noticeable effect on total membership. Most 5s simply moved to 6 and paid the extra. Some turned to Social membership and paid green fees.
We now in effect have an unofficial waiting list.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

My club has a 5 day membership, £150 cheaper than full membership. I don't know what the score is with them playing at weekends but personally I'd make it full green fee if they want to, to avoid the scenario that @rulie talked about.

Too many categories is overly complicated, likely to cause problems within the club. Keep it simple, I agree with what @2blue club is doing.

 

[Imurg]

We stopped 5 day membership about 5 years ago...we still have about 90 " restricted" members but no new ones.
At a previous club where I was a 5 layer there was no playing in weekend comps even with paying a green fee and to play at weekends was a full GF...
Whereas another gave free entry to Club Champs and Winners Comp for 5 dayers

 

[2blue]

No similar structure, but it will be interesting to see what happens to your membership and revenue. We have 7 day and 5 day, and I sense that, due to cost, more members are moving from the 7 day to the 5 day. Our 5 day players can pay a significantly reduced "green fee" to play on Sat or Sunday, and many have figured that their annual cost will be less by paying the 5 day and any Sat or Sun cost that they incur when they choose to play on the weekend. It seems that as more members move to the 5 day, the 7 day cost keeps increasing. We have too many membership categories that offer lower annual cost than the 7 day and the 7 day may dwindle rapidly. Members are starting to analyze their annual costs and costs per round and finding ways to reduce it.

Yes, this last year several of us switched to 5 day saving £300.... that's a saving of 15 weekend green fees we can use if we wish. As our year starts 1st May we wait to see just how many 5 day folk leave & how many new members the £1,000 fee attracts back from neigbouring Clubs. However, a lot of those have already started their new year so only those on 'installment' payments will be available to move.

 

[2blue]

My club has a 5 day membership, £150 cheaper than full membership. I don't know what the score is with them playing at weekends but personally I'd make it full green fee if they want to, to avoid the scenario that @rulie talked about.

Too many categories is overly complicated, likely to cause problems within the club. Keep it simple, I agree with what @2blue club is doing.

What % saving is that? Moving to 5 day last year saved me 25%. This new pricing gives a 26% saving to 7 day'ers & costs just £25 for 5 day to become 7 day. I feel it will work as the current course condition gives great as we still playing Q Comps with folk coming down.... well I have this winter.

 

[IanM]

Both clubs I'm in do not offer 5 day membership.

St Pierre down the road still does.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

What % saving is that? Moving to 5 day last year saved me 25%. This new pricing gives a 26% saving to 7 day'ers & costs just £25 for 5 day to become 7 day. I feel it will work as the current course condition gives great as we still playing Q Comps with folk coming down.... well I have this winter.

Full is £695, 5 day is £550. 21.5% or there about.

I understand why clubs do it, they want to attract every new member, pick up every fee. It can cause resentment though and they can miss out on full fees that members would otherwise have paid.

 

[jim8flog]

One of our chairman wanted to bring it in but it never got past the the rest of the board.

These days there is so little difference between the two I wonder why people bother. About £100/ 8%. If 5 day players want to play at weekends they get charged the member's guest rate of £30

It was only bought in to try to reduce pressure on weekend tee times.

 

[jim8flog]

No similar structure, but it will be interesting to see what happens to your membership and revenue. We have 7 day and 5 day, and I sense that, due to cost, more members are moving from the 7 day to the 5 day. Our 5 day players can pay a significantly reduced "green fee" to play on Sat or Sunday, and many have figured that their annual cost will be less by paying the 5 day and any Sat or Sun cost that they incur when they choose to play on the weekend. It seems that as more members move to the 5 day, the 7 day cost keeps increasing. We have too many membership categories that offer lower annual cost than the 7 day and the 7 day may dwindle rapidly. Members are starting to analyze their annual costs and costs per round and finding ways to reduce it.

One of the things our board realised, several years ago, was that they were just applying % increases to members fees so the gap between 5 and 7 day was getting bigger and bigger, which was then corrected with 5 day being a percentage of the 7 day rate.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

the 5 day membership is only £100 cheaper a year for us anyway but don’t expect we would ever get rid of it

 

[BubbaP]

Yes, this last year several of us switched to 5 day saving £300.... that's a saving of 15 weekend green fees we can use if we wish. As our year starts 1st May we wait to see just how many 5 day folk leave & how many new members the £1,000 fee attracts back from neigbouring Clubs. However, a lot of those have already started their new year so only those on 'installment' payments will be available to move.

Would seem odd to leave over £25, but maybe other things at play.
Does seem like a play to bring in new members, you mentioned people leaving so guess there is capacity. Can always put up the 7 day in the future when there's no longer a 5.

 

[nickjdavis]

We still have a 5/7 day difference but over the last couple of years the price gap has narrowed some what.

IIRC about three years ago it was something like £900 for 7 day and £700 for 5 day, but the current rates are £1250/£1150.

We were looking to do away with the 5day category but loads of the 5 day members moaned, saying it wasn't fair because they couldnt play Saturday/Sunday....they piped down when it was pointed out that the majority of 7 days members were folks who could not play Monday to Friday.

It wouldn't surprise me of in a couple of years time there was no distinction between 5 and 7 day membership.

The deal in the OP looks like a cracker....7 day members paying 26% lower than they would have been and 5 day members getting an extra 104 days of golf for an extra £25.

 

[sjw]

One of the things our board realised, several years ago, was that they were just applying % increases to members fees so the gap between 5 and 7 day was getting bigger and bigger, which was then corrected with 5 day being a percentage of the 7 day rate.

Not sure I follow.

(n*x)/(n*y) === n*(x/y)

 

[Oddsocks]

I’m aware of a few clubs that have either done away with 5 days members or are restricting the numbers of 5 days and encouraging more 7 days.

The one that did away with them IMO did it for the right reasons. 5 days members throughout covid made it perfectly clear that 7 day members were weekend only members and 5 days had priority Monday - Friday.

Most 5 day members are partially or fully retired and generally play far more golf than a 7 day member.

 

[2blue]

Would seem odd to leave over £25, but maybe other things at play.
Does seem like a play to bring in new members, you mentioned people leaving so guess there is capacity. Can always put up the 7 day in the future when there's no longer a 5.

Correct as I just heard this morning that the Husband & wife (couples) discount has been done away with..... affects 15 couples I'm told.

 

[Golf is fun]

Not sure I follow.

(n*x)/(n*y) === n*(x/y)

I think it depends whether you look at absolute or relative difference. If fees were £800 for 5 day and £1000 for 7 day, if 7 day becomes £2000 should 5 day be £1800 or £1600 (same absolute difference or relative difference respectively).

 

[rulie]

Yes, this last year several of us switched to 5 day saving £300.... that's a saving of 15 weekend green fees we can use if we wish. As our year starts 1st May we wait to see just how many 5 day folk leave & how many new members the £1,000 fee attracts back from neigbouring Clubs. However, a lot of those have already started their new year so only those on 'installment' payments will be available to move.

Our 5 day membership (Mon-Fri) is 87% of the 7 day membership. We also have an "after 1 PM" membership, which is 45% of 7 day, plus some "intermediate" 7 day for different age groups - ages 19-29 pay 35% of 7-day, ages 30-39 pay 52% of 7-day, ages 40-45 pay 62% of 7-day. Many of us feel the age category reductions are too great and extend too high in age.
Male and female pay the same.
We used to have a Seniors category but realized early on (from experience at a nearby club) that the Seniors category was increasing in number and revenue was dropping, and this would continue. We grand-fathered those already in Seniors and replaced it with the 5-day.