What can our club do?Urgent help needed

[pokerjoke]

Hi guys and girls,
Our club is in disarray and in need of urgent help.
It is a council run course and the clubhouse is a seperate entity,so the course itself doesnt actually support the club financially.
It has less than 200 paying members,however the senior section is extremely well supported.
Usually we only have about 15-25 players in the sat and sun comps,due to the club teams not entering due to them either having away games or if not they have their own hustles[contensious issue].
Our group that had 25 for the comps has now become 15 as the rest have gone to another club,and i can see more going.
It is so frustrating because it seems no one is listening to the members that are left.
We pay 165 pound a year for the clubhouse,the course being seperate,but all you get for that is a handicap so you can enter comps[no incentive].
I personally love the club and dont want to leave,however if all our group go what incentive is there to stay.
I went to the club this morning to play and there were 3 other players there,it was raining so they did not want to go out,sad and frustrated this morning,any help or sympathy appreciated.

 

[bobmac]

Where is your club and is it in good condition?

 

[ScienceBoy]

It needs a new direction it seems, you need to have a way to capture the younger crowd, as you cannot influence the course thats tricky.

I would guess some after-school clubs run by volunteers would help. Teach the basics or chipping and putting. This is the time of year for that!

I can only suggest you need to use your biggest asset, the clubhouse. Make a big deal of things in there and tag some golf on the side, get publicity on Facebook and twitter.

You have to embrace all the things out there to get attention and also open up to people who before would go elsewhere or do other things.

 

[pokerjoke]

Bob its Called Vivary park gc and its in taunton,the course itself is not in the best of condition all year round and it has a lot of footfall and it never shuts whatever the weather.The greenkeepers do a good job,however theres only 3 fulltimers and one partime.


ScienceBoy,
There lies the problem in the commitee are old school,i think there unsure how to move with the times.
As for getting the youngsters in,as of course there the future,the course and the golf club are seperate and the pro does childrens lessons,however he only gets 3 or so and hes not attached to the club,so we could not use his lesson area.

 

[feary]

The problem is that if a member goes off the idea of being a member there, You can easily become a member and Taunton and pickeridge, Taunton Vale and oakemanor.

There needs needs to be an incentive to make people choose Vivary over these other clubs.

No offence but having played 3 of the 4, I would be a member at oake. But thats just my opinion.

 

[Jabba]

I would definitely leave. Theclubis run as a commercial venue, not a members club so loyalty shouldn't come into it. I suggest you sit down and figure out how much you pay to play in a year, adding in any extra rounds you would play if you weren't on a Pay and Play basis. I would be surprised if playing a members course didn't actually work out cheaper assuming you play every week and would perhaps play more often at a members club.
You play to a much higher standard than I do, I would have thought that entry to competitions with more participants ould also appeal to you.

 

[richart]

No offence but having played 3 of the 4, I would be a member at oake. But thats just my opinion.

And you play well there Tony.

 

[Junior]

Shame Tony, sounds as though you enjoy your golf at the club, but unfortunately in its current state, it will spiral.

For me it depends who you want to target. To get established golfers to you club then I would say you need to work with the council and the committee to improve the course , its condition and facilities. If you get this right, golfers will come to the course on its reputation.

Secondly, to encourage people just taking up the sport , I would ask what can the course do in terms of offering incentives to people to take up golf . . .trial memberships ? As your fee's are only £165, maybe offer a £20 joining fee for the month with a reduced green fee of a £5 everytime they play ? Then if a player takes up full membership this is discounted from their subscription. Lots of clubs will be doing something similar in your area. If you go down the "new golfer" route then you could seek grants from the likes of the lottery, but you would need to specify and demonstrate and have a plan as to what the funding will be used for new junior or ladies section maybe?

All this in mind you will need to market yourself well, family friendly club etc, get adverts of what ever incentives you decide to do in the local papers.

Good luck !!

 

[kid2]

Hi guys and girls,
Our club is in disarray and in need of urgent help.
It is a council run course and the clubhouse is a seperate entity,so the course itself doesnt actually support the club financially.
It has less than 200 paying members,however the senior section is extremely well supported.
Usually we only have about 15-25 players in the sat and sun comps,due to the club teams not entering due to them either having away games or if not they have their own hustles[contensious issue].
Our group that had 25 for the comps has now become 15 as the rest have gone to another club,and i can see more going.
It is so frustrating because it seems no one is listening to the members that are left.
We pay 165 pound a year for the clubhouse,the course being seperate,but all you get for that is a handicap so you can enter comps[no incentive].
I personally love the club and dont want to leave,however if all our group go what incentive is there to stay.
I went to the club this morning to play and there were 3 other players there,it was raining so they did not want to go out,sad and frustrated this morning,any help or sympathy appreciated.

Im no expert on any of this Pal but if the club has just shy of 200 paying members then why are there only 15-25 entering the comps....

Our place had a weird case last year and the start of this season whereby members were booking tee times during competition rounds but were not entering the competitions..

In fairness i know that memberships are paid but people should still pay the 5 euro for a club comp (10 for a medal) because its going back into the club..

So the club enforced a rule whereby any members that booked tee times during comps were obliged to play them...So far it seemed to have been working.

Also in the current climate they done away with the joining fee off 1700 euros...So now you can just pay your 669 euro and become a member for the 12 months which i think is a good incentive.

 

[HRC99]

There are two choices for you.

Leave or stay and fight for your club.

It sounds to me like the club is in need of fresh blood - most of all in terms of leadership.

I would look to get organised amongst those who think as you do and ensure that you have put yourselves forward at the next AGM for office. Ideally, you want enough of you to be able to "take control" of the committee so that you can then make such changes as you see fit to try and turn things around.

When is your next AGM?

 

[GB72]

There are two choices for you.

Leave or stay and fight for your club.

It sounds to me like the club is in need of fresh blood - most of all in terms of leadership.

I would look to get organised amongst those who think as you do and ensure that you have put yourselves forward at the next AGM for office. Ideally, you want enough of you to be able to "take control" of the committee so that you can then make such changes as you see fit to try and turn things around.

When is your next AGM?

Or are there procedures in place for the membership to convene an EGM to demand that the club comment on how they are addressing the issues or to remove people from positions as needs be if they are unwilling to move from the Status Quo.

 

[HRC99]

There are two choices for you.

Leave or stay and fight for your club.

It sounds to me like the club is in need of fresh blood - most of all in terms of leadership.

I would look to get organised amongst those who think as you do and ensure that you have put yourselves forward at the next AGM for office. Ideally, you want enough of you to be able to "take control" of the committee so that you can then make such changes as you see fit to try and turn things around.

When is your next AGM?

Or are there procedures in place for the membership to convene an EGM to demand that the club comment on how they are addressing the issues or to remove people from positions as needs be if they are unwilling to move from the Status Quo.

True. You'd need to get a copy of your club's rules/constitution first. Ask the secretary for one and then have a study to see what your options are.

 

[viscount17]

I would guess that with the seniors section active, the bulk of the committee comes from them, along with the course manager and possibly a council rep.

the agenda for the manager and the council member will be to take no risks, commit no money and probably have no funding to do so.

(I know how hard it is to get volunteers to serve on committees, which is why some stay on them for years - not because they think they have the right to be members but beacuse of their reluctance to leave without a replacement)

 

[pokerjoke]

Hi just to answer some post.
As the club and the course are two different factions,the pro and the head greenkeeper are the course managers,and tone leisure who run the course have said they never want it shut.
The golf club is run by the commitee,who in there own admission at the last AGM admitted to all that they had no managment experience.
A sub commitee was formed to assist and find out where the problems were,i was on that commitee.
We worked extremely hard and raised 5k,and reduced some debts,however due to a fall out by the sub commitee chairman and the main commitee the sub commitee disbanded.
Of course theres more to it but thats the main jist of it.
I cant see any positive outcome unless Tone leisure and the golf club comes together.

 

[GB72]

If there is a problem with the team golfers not entering comps, make it compulsory to enter a set number before you can be considered for selection. Or, if they want to play amongst themselves, let them enter the comps in their own groups if that is not the case already.

I would also suggest contacting former members to find out why they left and what would need to be done to get them back again.

If you need new members then rather than targeting a specific group, find out what other clubs are not offering. Could you be a good place for new members to learn the game, a cheaper option for those who want to play occasionally and cannot justify a large membership fee. Finding a unique selling point can be more successful than targeting an age group etc

If you need co-operation from the course owners, create a list of golfers who will be off to play elsewhere if there is no action by the end of the year. If there are enough names on the list they will listen

 

[HomerJSimpson]

To me it sounds like the writing is on the wall. If the committee and sub-committee can't work together then it isn't going to install any confidence in the council to get involved. By your own admission the course isn't great. Personally I'd be looking at a new club with an interesting course to play so that you can just go and enjoy the golf without any concern over the direction of future of the club. A new home may breath fresh life into your game and will undoubtedly have more regular competitions to play in