I'll back this up for north of the Tyne.
Scottish Golf In Decline Again
- Thread starter HankMarvin
- Start date
popeye
Hacker
Unless you are a woman wanting to play at muirfield.......
popeye
Hacker
I never said that is true, I only said that that is what the public image of golf is.
Beezerk
Money List Winner
It’s different on the South mate 😂
This is a good point to be fair. Perception and reality are quite different in many parts of the country.
women now have just as much chance of getting in as a man. Its an exclusive club and is hard to get in end of no matter what sex you are since they decided to let women in.They have set aside 25 places for women to join, they have even having the clubhouse renovated to add a ladies changing room ect
May be where you're from, not where I'm from.
Grant85
Head Pro
Is there a link to an article or published info Hank?
Post #4
Grant85
Head Pro
I think generally a problem of attracting new participants to the game.
My own club does junior coaching. Parents can drop their kids down for an hour of group lessons, target games, etc. on the practice area. There is also a practice course laid out just with 6 or 9 tee markers and flags - very rudimentary, but it allows youngsters to play a few 'holes' albeit there is no holes cut. Perhaps this area will evolve to become a small par 3 course and they can maybe contour a few greens.
Not sure of the cost for the junior coaching, but it seems to be well subscribed and I would guess not just by kids of members.
This is very much the long game. An assistant pro, or trainee - can do this and charge a few quid a head and maybe make £30 for the hour. Not all that bad and a bit better than a loss leader, but the key thing is that you get kids interested in golf. Sure, a lot of these kids will not play regularly, but a few will. If every club had a a few dozen kids doing junior coaching and only 10% of them stayed in the game, it would improve the numbers of golfers massively.
Basically, if as a golf club, you are already struggling and you are not doing initiatives to get kids into the game you are basically taking part in a failed strategy in which every year, a few members will die or leave and it will be harder and harder to attract replacements.
My own club does junior coaching. Parents can drop their kids down for an hour of group lessons, target games, etc. on the practice area. There is also a practice course laid out just with 6 or 9 tee markers and flags - very rudimentary, but it allows youngsters to play a few 'holes' albeit there is no holes cut. Perhaps this area will evolve to become a small par 3 course and they can maybe contour a few greens.
Not sure of the cost for the junior coaching, but it seems to be well subscribed and I would guess not just by kids of members.
This is very much the long game. An assistant pro, or trainee - can do this and charge a few quid a head and maybe make £30 for the hour. Not all that bad and a bit better than a loss leader, but the key thing is that you get kids interested in golf. Sure, a lot of these kids will not play regularly, but a few will. If every club had a a few dozen kids doing junior coaching and only 10% of them stayed in the game, it would improve the numbers of golfers massively.
Basically, if as a golf club, you are already struggling and you are not doing initiatives to get kids into the game you are basically taking part in a failed strategy in which every year, a few members will die or leave and it will be harder and harder to attract replacements.
Grant85
Head Pro
Cheers - I think the numbers probably demonstrate that
a) there are a lot more people on pay and play golf (which is obviously fairly accessible now)
b) the number of golf facilities are simply getting fewer in number.
Neither of these is a disaster, but ultimately golf has to provide a product that suits people. There are still plenty of facilities for people to access varying levels of quality of golf and ultimately the ones that are closing are likely to have been in decline for a number of years.
I know we've had this debate a lot about flexible membership, but ultimately people do not want to be paying £1,000 fees or £100+ per month for golf and the golf 'business' has to evolve to take into account the product that people want and are prepared to pay for.
Slab
Occasional Tour Caddy
If a club is exclusive &/or traditional (or even just perceived to be) and membership is thriving then good on them
If it’s not thriving then in this day & age it better think about how it becomes family orientated & welcoming to all because today's average family golfer just isn’t going to buy into many of the attributes typically associated with traditional/exclusive clubs at the expense of taking that golfer away from their family
And I think that has to include everything from the decor, facilities & amenities, menu’s, service levels, dress codes, membership structure, comp structure etc right through to course condition & play-ability for all
Golf is too much of a financial and time heavy commitment type of hobby to close itself off to just a fraction of the potential consumers that are out there
If it’s not thriving then in this day & age it better think about how it becomes family orientated & welcoming to all because today's average family golfer just isn’t going to buy into many of the attributes typically associated with traditional/exclusive clubs at the expense of taking that golfer away from their family
And I think that has to include everything from the decor, facilities & amenities, menu’s, service levels, dress codes, membership structure, comp structure etc right through to course condition & play-ability for all
Golf is too much of a financial and time heavy commitment type of hobby to close itself off to just a fraction of the potential consumers that are out there
bluewolf
Money List Winner
Time, time, time.
To be a club member and play Comps regularly takes a lot of time out of a week. Just 1 comp round, inc travel, warm up, round and coffee/sandwich after takes 5-6 hours. Stick another round a week in (if you want to improve) and you're looking at 10-12 hours per week.
I've been a Club member for 7 years. I've nearly walked away twice. Both times because I couldn't afford the time away from Family, Work etc.
To be a club member and play Comps regularly takes a lot of time out of a week. Just 1 comp round, inc travel, warm up, round and coffee/sandwich after takes 5-6 hours. Stick another round a week in (if you want to improve) and you're looking at 10-12 hours per week.
I've been a Club member for 7 years. I've nearly walked away twice. Both times because I couldn't afford the time away from Family, Work etc.
Doon frae Troon
Ryder Cup Winner
Never really a problem for women actually playing at Muirfield.
Until recently wife's of members could play at no additional cost.
The club is very welcoming to women [except as members until recent changes].
Jacko_G
Blackballed
I think you have missed the point. It's not juniors that are walking away from the game that is causing the concern at present. It's the fact that once again membership numbers are falling.
yep it doesn't even say participation is down, just Club memberships as thats all the info the SGU collect
Who's idea was it to allow women to play the game in the first place ?
Jacko_G
Blackballed
Until another 50+ golf clubs go to the wall this situation will continue.
There needs to be a cull. Those clubs surviving with 100/200 members and having the members cutting greens, raking bunkers etc need to go under to disperse the members to other more financially aware and astute golf clubs.
It's the only viable solution.
People who want to play golf and be a member will go elsewhere.
There needs to be a cull. Those clubs surviving with 100/200 members and having the members cutting greens, raking bunkers etc need to go under to disperse the members to other more financially aware and astute golf clubs.
It's the only viable solution.
People who want to play golf and be a member will go elsewhere.
