The effect of offering reduced fees

[Val]

Let's say both players A and B earn £35k/ann. and have the same job, same circumstances.
Both play 100 rounds a year and both play off 3 and between them win loads of matches/competitions.
But one is 24 and one is 31 years old.

But the 31yr old should pay double what the 24yr old should pay?
Just because of age?

Is that fair - is this what the players really both expect and actually think is reasonable and fair?
What about the 30 year old who plays 20 times a year - what does he think of this?

It's not the norm though is it? Yes there will be some in the above bracket but it will be minority. In the same way many pensioners will have plenty of disposible cash whereas some won't.

The amount of golf you play or can play is irrelevent.

 

[Alex1975]

Why do you care what other people pay?

 

[Val]

Perhaps this was true in the old days when you probably had to pay a joining fee to get into a club in the first place. Back then, very few would've considered leaving and having to pay another fee somewhere else, unless they absolutely had to. Nowadays clubs with joining fees are the exception and there's much less reason to stay long term if you think you can get a better deal elsewhere.

My point was more that a 30 year old who had been at a club as a junior or even as a 21 year old through the staged membership was captured.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Why do you care what other people pay?

Part of me agrees with you, but, the other part says, as I'm paying what I'm asked and showing loyalty to the club, I don't want them to come up with a membership structure that is to the detriment of the club in the long term, ie, giving daft offers for short term gain.
Have sensible membership offers, make it public, let each individual make his mind up.

 

[Val]

Part of me agrees with you, but, the other part says, as I'm paying what I'm asked and showing loyalty to the club, I don't want them to come up with a membership structure that is to the detriment of the club in the long term, ie, giving daft offers for short term gain.
Have sensible membership offers, make it public, let each individual make his mind up.

I've no issue with membership incentives and like you as long as they are for long term benefits then bring them on.

I've said before on here, we offered reduced membership for youths under 24, when we introduced it we got a number (can't remember the exact number) who took the offer up, if it wasn't there we wouldnt never have had them. These young guys stay for food, the spend in the bar, the spend in the shop, they offer way more than what the reduction in fee was. It was a great decision by our club.

 

[Coffey]

I am 25 years old and pay a reduced membership rate, which is about 60% of the normal rate. I would say that I am in a job which pays over the average for my age but if when I joined my club last year asked for £800 I could not afford it. The cheaper deal enticed me in and its kept me in for the foreseeable future.

As well as offering stepped membership the club do an introduction to golf membership which was £260 for April-December, official handicap and could play 7 days a week and two group lessons with the club pro. This membership is open to everyone that does not currently have an active handicap. This is very very cheap yet it brought in about 60 members last year which allowed us to get important work done on the course.

These members also got the next year membership for £500 and a lot of them took this up, which once again will be reinvested into the club.

I wonder how many people would have joined if that introduction to golf membership didn't exist? Not many. How many would have stayed for another year if paying full price? A few i'd say but not as many as they got. The deal provided the club with much needed cash.

The money from this deal has been reinvested in the club and I think that is what is important. I would like them to invest in some practice facilities though as we currently have very little.

It is obviously a bit different for me as I pay a lower membership fee already, but as long as you can see the money being used then I don't see the issue. The club needed the money and it got it

 

[Deleted member 16999]

I am 25 years old and pay a reduced membership rate, which is about 60% of the normal rate. I would say that I am in a job which pays over the average for my age but if when I joined my club last year asked for £800 I could not afford it. The cheaper deal enticed me in and its kept me in for the foreseeable future.

As well as offering stepped membership the club do an introduction to golf membership which was £260 for April-December, official handicap and could play 7 days a week and two group lessons with the club pro. This membership is open to everyone that does not currently have an active handicap. This is very very cheap yet it brought in about 60 members last year which allowed us to get important work done on the course.

These members also got the next year membership for £500 and a lot of them took this up, which once again will be reinvested into the club.

I wonder how many people would have joined if that introduction to golf membership didn't exist? Not many. How many would have stayed for another year if paying full price? A few i'd say but not as many as they got. The deal provided the club with much needed cash.

The money from this deal has been reinvested in the club and I think that is what is important. I would like them to invest in some practice facilities though as we currently have very little.

It is obviously a bit different for me as I pay a lower membership fee already, but as long as you can see the money being used then I don't see the issue. The club needed the money and it got it

Which is great, how long can the club continue to offer these incentives though?

Are full fees still on the rise while these incentives are in place?

It'll become a balance when the concessions overtake the full paying or the membership becomes full.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

We introduced a intermediate fees for people aged up to 30 - it helped increase our membership number in that range from 2 to just under 80. Don't hear anyone in the club complaining and a good number of the people in that range that joined have now moved onto full fees

The club do have reduced fees for the over 70 but includes a qualifying period of 25 years continuous membership. They also used to have free membership for over 75 with 25 years membership but this year at the AGM that's was proposed to remove that due to people playing for longer now - there was objection to it mainly from the people that would qualify in the next couple of years - most of them play on minimum 3 times and some 6 times - it was voted in and the majority agreed with it.

 

[Alex1975]

We introduced a intermediate fees for people aged up to 30 - it helped increase our membership number in that range from 2 to just under 80. Don't hear anyone in the club complaining and a good number of the people in that range that joined have now moved onto full fees

The club do have reduced fees for the over 70 but includes a qualifying period of 25 years continuous membership. They also used to have free membership for over 75 with 25 years membership but this year at the AGM that's was proposed to remove that due to people playing for longer now - there was objection to it mainly from the people that would qualify in the next couple of years - most of them play on minimum 3 times and some 6 times - it was voted in and the majority agreed with it.

Seems a shame after all that loyalty and not so much time left to play.

 

[road2ruin]

I have a view regarding fees and membership along the lines as follows; At the age of 30, most members are "captured" by clubs and tend to be settled in life. The fee for this group is almost academic as most will have the disposable income to be able to afford their fees.

Personally couldn't disagree with this more. I live in Surrey so my part of the world has some of the highest house prices and whilst an abundance of courses they aren't cheap. For me, I played more golf and had a higher disposable income between the ages of 25-35yrs than I do now. I am 37yrs have a 2.5yrs old and we're down to one income so being able to shell out a higher membership fee but not playing nearly the amount of rounds of golf isn't appealing.

I think it's actually the young family life-stage that struggle with golf fees more than the younger pre-family or the seniors.

 

[Val]

Seems a shame after all that loyalty and not so much time left to play.

Loyalty doesn't pay the bills unfortunately.

 

[Alex1975]

Loyalty doesn't pay the bills unfortunately.

25 years of subs should have though... but ye, point taken. It was just a nice legacy to that point.

 

[Coffey]

Which is great, how long can the club continue to offer these incentives though?

Are full fees still on the rise while these incentives are in place?

It'll become a balance when the concessions overtake the full paying or the membership becomes full.

No rise this year in any category.

Although there was talk of it dropping slightly this year due to a tax rebate but that never happened.

I think it is quite sustainable as it is really a year and a half reduction in price. Although, it is dependent on the new members renewing, and also keeping the interest alive this year with the offer. It is being run again this year but will see how many take it up in April.

 

[Val]

25 years of subs should have though... but ye, point taken. It was just a nice legacy to that point.

It's something that many clubs have, ours still has it but until we introduced the youth category we found those moving into this category weren't being replaced by a full paying member. It's not affecting finances yet but it could long term if it's not addressed and thankfully our club are looking at a solution.

 

[FairwayDodger]

I think any membership deals should be targetted at under represented demographics rather than trying to make sweeping assumptions about age vs affordability.

If you haven't got many younger members that's a ticking time bomb so offer deals to encourage more to join.

My club has about 10 women and, IMO, should be offering a cheaper deal there to get the number up. I expect that suggestion would get nowhere though.

 

[User62651]

I'm getting ca. £100 off for my first year membership and no joining fee. I'm happy about that but is it an effective 'carrot' to attract new members and is it fair to others who've been members for years? I don't think it works on either point personally, I'd have paid the extra £100 readily enough just to join and I won't be mentioning to other members about my discount!

 

[Alex1975]

I think any membership deals should be targetted at under represented demographics rather than trying to make sweeping assumptions about age vs affordability.

If you haven't got many younger members that's a ticking time bomb so offer deals to encourage more to join.

My club has about 10 women and, IMO, should be offering a cheaper deal there to get the number up. I expect that suggestion would get nowhere though.

100% they should!

 

[C&R]

The police, fire service, etc all do an important job which we are all grateful for, but it's a job they choose to do. As you climb the ranks I'm sure these are fairly well paid jobs with good pensions and they are just as able or probably more able to pay subs than most retired people. Bound to cause a lot of upset with the other members. We all want to be treated fairly.

I agree 100% with this 👍🏻

 

[GreggerKBR]

The average earnings of the population correlate with age, the older you are the more you earn on average.

There will be always be instances of a lucky 16 year old billionaire and the likes of me that re-trained into a different profession and now earn less than I did when I was 24 (now 33). Would you suggest it is based on earnings because that would open a big can of worms?

No, I think members should all pay the same fee to be a member and be entitled to a limited usage.
And then be charged additional fees based on usage.
It's the only successful golf membership business model I have seen (leaving aside the old school members not-for-profit clubs).
Then, it's commensurate financial equality for everyone.

My point was if both people are playing the same amount of golf, why should one be paying double what the other pays?

Offer him a discount and he'll learn to make sure he always gets a discount.

 

[Alex1975]

Life is not fair....