Subscriptions/current course closures - what is your club doing?

[mikejohnchapman]

evening all

Hope you're all well and staying safe/sane in these crazy times

know there's been a lot of threads/posts around this topic but looking to get a snapshot as of now - April 2 - as many subs will have been due for renewal yesterday

Looking to find out examples of anything that was/is being offered to members to either...

Encourage them to pay their subs by April 1/ASAP
Recognise that those who did pay on Jan 1 can't play at the moment

could be
Deferring renewal until courses are back open
bar card bonuses
extra months being added on to 2021 memberships
anything else innovative
any special options for those who have been impacted financially in a big way by the crisis

or is the situation not even being acknowledged?

If you do post a response be useful to know a)when your renewal was/is and b) name of your club or just area it is if you don't want to post the club name

thanks in advance

Mike

Fees due 1st April - I paid mine in full.

Club have been communicating more than usual with an heartfelt plea for members to pay their subs to ensure we have a course to come back to! It seems to have worked.

The General Manager has also said that the club would look to compensate members for the lack of golf from 1st April - no details yet.

They have also published several vidios of work being done on the course with hollow-tining and fairway work being completed. We suffered badly in the wet weather (remember that!) so a lot of remedial work needs doing. The irony of doing all this work without having to avoid golfers isn't lost on the members.

In context we are a resort style course with 140 ish beds and bowls / gym facilities as well as golf so the owners are hurting badly.

 

[bladeplayer]

Few weeks back club were giving each member 4 green fees for the 5 weeks lost due to rain/ flooding
Nothing on this yet . Have my sub paid in full .. very rich club so i hope they do something anyhow

Mind u the owner is an american millionare who business is aimed at americans and rich irish so god knows whats in line for us at end of this

 

[backwoodsman]

Members club (south london). Subs due as of 1 Jan - either paid in full by 1 Jan or by 9 instalments Feb through October.

Current proposal being considered is to change subs renewal date to 1 April thereby giving a three month extension. Also to not collect instalments for March to May inclusive and push the collection period back by 3 months. But still needs to be ratified/agreed by the Board.

Will be a kick in the balance sheet but is the right thing, and should be survivable.

 

[GG26]

Members club in the East Midlands. Renewal date is 1st October.

Nothing mentioned re fees and the club will need them to stay afloat, so I’m not expecting or anticipating any concessions.

 

[Imurg]

My new club (Ellesborough) allowed me ( and Fragger and CVG) to pay subs from 1st March and effectively allow us a free months golf. Subs due 1st April.
So we paid up before all this began
We've had a couple of emails from the Finance Board Member asking for subs to be paid asap
They are looking at ways to reduce costs and, once they've had as many subs in as they think they're going to get, are looking at what they can do for the members.
I'm expecting some information next week with an outline of what, if anything, they can do.
Communication is very good at Ellesborough and I dont expect we'll be kept in the dark about anything.

My previous club has already come out with a raft of measures designed to persuade people to pay by 1/4
Memberships will be extended by the amount of time the course is shut
Added to that, fees have been frozen for 2 years and, when play resumes, £30 will be credited to bar cards of full members and £20 to 5 day members and again at the start of next season.
This is going to cost the club in excess of £60k this year ..or about 60 full member's worth of finance.

Update from the Board.
Over 500 have paid subs for the year but about 120 haven't
Finances are ok but we will have a deficit at the end of the year if no more subs are forthcoming
Recruitment could be tricky depending on what happens with C19 so, at the moment, there are no plans to refund members or move subscription dates as this could jeopardise the future of the club.
The time to look at that will be this time next year when the pre-approved subscription rise may be frozen.

Overall, I'm happy with that.
Some of the measures being put forward from other clubs can, in my view, only hasten their demise.

 

[Jacko_G]

As in other thread. Old school members' club, subs paid in January. Email from Board reminding membership that as co owners we all share in the success or failure of the Club and that no refunds will be payable (as expected)

Basically the same email we got however it emphasized the losses to date with loss of visitor income and hinted rather strongly that this will be shared amongst the membership which is worrying.

 

[User20205]

Ours will be rolled out next week, paid by 1st May.
Not sure what I’m doing yet. That £1450 could go along way, 80% doesn’t go that far despite what some on here think ?

 

[harpo_72]

My club Oxfordshire area has responded with their plans ... half the staff are furloughed which will be covered by the government grants.
They acknowledged that income from visitors will be down but are not aware of the total value of this lost revenue.
Membership response has been good, it was due at the start of March, so before all of the issues had impacted. They had a new membership scheme in place referred to as a winter warmer and that has been relatively successful.
They are a bit unsure of the strategy going forward and it will be determined by the amount of months closure or lost earning days. They are talking about reflecting this in next years subs - loss or not.
But the business for a club should not wholly be dependent on green fees .. it won’t survive on that strategy. My present club is relatively expensive per year, but I expect the basic membership to cover the day to day running and green fees are pure profit. Given that there is a payment being given by the government 40% of the wages bill is covered for the number of months it can be claimed. So I suppose this is the key to the profit and loss sheet.

 

[Ducky81]

evening all

Hope you're all well and staying safe/sane in these crazy times

know there's been a lot of threads/posts around this topic but looking to get a snapshot as of now - April 2 - as many subs will have been due for renewal yesterday

Looking to find out examples of anything that was/is being offered to members to either...

Encourage them to pay their subs by April 1/ASAP
Recognise that those who did pay on Jan 1 can't play at the moment

could be
Deferring renewal until courses are back open
bar card bonuses
extra months being added on to 2021 memberships
anything else innovative
any special options for those who have been impacted financially in a big way by the crisis

or is the situation not even being acknowledged?

If you do post a response be useful to know a)when your renewal was/is and b) name of your club or just area it is if you don't want to post the club name

thanks in advance

Mike

Betchworth park Dorking are totally ignoring the whole situation?? Extremely frustrating

 

[gary996]

Bridle Path, Gosforth
Fees due 31st March. We had an email extending this until 30th April but basically told there will be no benefit and the yearly subscription will be the same.
It is hard. I’d love to pay but until the lockdown is sorted I just can’t justify it. Jobs are uncertain and family has to cone first. Hoping the club can come through it and I’ll sign back up at the first opportunity.

 

[rudebhoy]

Our subs were due 31/3.

Got an email urging members to renew as normal, and stating that anyone who didn't do so in the hope of saving some money, would still have to pay a full year's sub from the point the course reopens to 31/03/2021.

I have renewed, but reckon we will lose a good number of members as a result.

 

[Ducky81]

Our subs were due 31/3.

Got an email urging members to renew as normal, and stating that anyone who didn't do so in the hope of saving some money, would still have to pay a full year's sub from the point the course reopens to 31/03/2021.

I have renewed, but reckon we will lose a good number of members as a result.

My subs were due in early September so paid upfront as per every year, have emailed the club to find out what will happen getting totally blanked even though they are urging members to pay for a service they can’t currently use, ignoring the problem will not make it go away , will cost them a lot of members!!!

 

[PhilTheFragger]

My subs were due in early September so paid upfront as per every year, have emailed the club to find out what will happen getting totally blanked even though they are urging members to pay for a service they can’t currently use, ignoring the problem will not make it go away , will cost them a lot of members!!!

If Subs were due in September (unusual) why are they still urging members to pay?

Surely the subs should be in with nothing to pay till this coming September.

I can understand the request for some sort of rebate or extension, but as we don’t know how long it’s going to last, it’s difficult to predict

 

[oltimer]

Our Club membership fees will be suspended for however long the period the Course is closed, renewal dates will be extended pro rata, that's called looking after your Members.

 

[upsidedown]

Our Club membership fees will be suspended for however long the period the Course is closed, renewal dates will be extended pro rata, that's called looking after your Members.

Are they mothballing the course ? With just two greenstaff working at ours basically just ticking over and with standing orders, contract payments etc we will have overheads of £20K per months .

 

[oltimer]

Are they mothballing the course ? With just two greenstaff working at ours basically just ticking over and with standing orders, contract payments etc we will have overheads of £20K per months .

No in fact the opposite , using the lack of foot traffic to make improvements with the Course which is ready for use immed restrictions are removed.

 

[Deleted member 17920]

My subs were due in early September so paid upfront as per every year, have emailed the club to find out what will happen getting totally blanked even though they are urging members to pay for a service they can’t currently use, ignoring the problem will not make it go away , will cost them a lot of members!!!

Your subs are due in September, the course has only been closed for 2 weeks, give them a chance. Loyalty costs nothing.

Who actually knows how long the courses will be closed. The management have never come across a situation like this before.

If people decide to leave because they haven’t communicated then really do they deserve to be a member at this club.

 

[Deleted member 17920]

No in fact the opposite , using the lack of foot traffic to make improvements with the Course which is ready for use immed restrictions are removed.

We’ll they shouldn’t be, the guidelines are clear, minimum amount of work as possible to keep the course going.

 

[upsidedown]

We’ll they shouldn’t be, the guidelines are clear, minimum amount of work as possible to keep the course going.

Was about to reply with the same , in webinar the other day BIGGA made it quite clear that the HMRC will be auditing clubs that furloughed workers. Don't what the situation would be if no workers furloughed tho ?
https://www.bigga.org.uk/news-listing/bigga-appeal-to-follow-covid-19-guidance.html

 

[fenwayrich]

We’ll they shouldn’t be, the guidelines are clear, minimum amount of work as possible to keep the course going.

This seems a little odd. If a club has the financial resource to retain all its green keeping staff, and they are able to ensure that the staff can work safely on the course within government instructions, why are they only allowed to do the bare minimum to maintain the course? Isn't the alternative to furlough workers, costing the government money which the Club is prepared to fork out itself? It can't be impossible to make sure that say 5 or 6 staff follow the social distancing and safety guidelines.

Or am I missing something?