What is your club doing?

[bobmac]

What is your club doing to attract younger and junior members?
I'm thinking about club websites here.
The majority I've seen are just rubbish.
eg
I just looked at the Thetford golf club web site.
I watched the 2 videos and oh dear, old folk Smiffys age everywhere.
They do however have a junior site all of their own but it has a password

Where are the pictures of juniors having fun, younger members 20-40 playing golf and even socialising in the clubhouse.

Every man and his dog has a video camera somewhere on their mobby so there's no excuse of "it costs too much"

Why not start a competition at your club for photos of your course and younger members, the best to be put on the website.
How hard can it be?
And if it catches the eye of someone younger looking to join a new club, that cant be a bad thing.

Is your club guilty of having a poor website that does nothing to attract new younger members?

 

[USER1999]

Surely you want to attract more pensioners? They are the ones with the disposable income, and a rapid turn over keeps topping up the joining fee account?

 

[Evesdad]

I played with one of our juniors yesterday and he was a bit down beat. He said that all the "older" members will always say hello to his dad but never acknowledge he was even there. He was surprised I was even playing with him! Why is this, he claimed the other members thought the juniors churned the course up, what nonsense. All the juniors I have played with have been friendly, courteous and boy can they play. The odd time we've had a laugh and a joke. In my opinion they can be better company than most of the seniors!

Anyway back to the op, our website has a junior section within the members section which is passworded. We ran a course of 4 free sessions to get some new junior members and kids interested. This has now grown to two groups running on alternate Sunday's for a twelve session period. It costs £4 a session or £36 up front for whole course. Not bad value in my opinion. My daughter missed out as I left it too late and now has a group session at the range which costs me £20 for 4 lessons plus £6 a time on balls!!

 

[DCB]

I've helped out with our Juniors for three years and am currently our Junior Convenor. I think one of the issues is that youngsters have so many different activities they do that golf isn't high on the list any more. We have taken on ten new Junior members this year, we still have space for more, but they are just not there in the numbers there once was. Gone are the days when we had a waiting list for the Junior Section.

I run a facebook page for our Junior section and we have recently upgraded our website so have to keep the Juniors pages on there up to date. They are however password protected and can't be seen by everyone who visits the website. Two sides of the coin here, as a closed page, I can update with almost any relevant info or pictures about the Junior section whilst keeping within the Child Protection policy adopted by the club. Flipside, we can't show what we do as easily to prospective members. It's a bit of a balancing act really. Not insurmountable, butit takes a bit of thought and effort to make all info available safely on open pages.

I'm just happy to get our keen youngsters playing regularly, taking part in the coaching the club provides and when they are ready, getting the younger ones to play for a handicap and then play in competitions. It's a hard job to do well, but it is great fun and very rewarding.

 

[bobmac]

I hear what your saying about child protection, but I think many clubs use this as a cop out.
I'm not asking to post their names and addresses, just a few pictures of them having fun playing golf. maybe at a junior coaching session or similar.
And not just juniors.
Golfers in the 20-30 group. Where are they on the website.
Just watch these 2 videos and tell me what the appeal would be for the younger golfer, apart from the stunning course obviuosly.

http://www.thelocationlibrary.co.uk/tour2.asp?id=177

 

[ash01]

Junior section at my club is non existant.

There are a few youngsters out on the course now and then although it is very rare.

Its a shame as the junior section was once very very strong.

What amazes me with golf clubs is that they do not take advantage of free media (Email, Facebook, Twitter).

These channels are widely known to improve the sellability of businesses.

I think it all depends on whether the club wants to have a junior section, alot don't!

Ash!!

 

[fundy]

Our club have just taken on a new pro and part of his remit is to improve and grow the junior section (someting he has previously done successfully a another local club).

Whilst we already have a number of decent juniors, there is now a decent support process in place and the club are actively advertising to recruit more youngsters, organising structured coaching programs etc

 

[Doh]

Our Club has attained the Golf Mark accreditation which has the backing of the EGU/EWGA these are some of the benifits
•Recognition within the local community for the clubs' commitment to junior golf.
•Promotion via the EGU/EWGA websites.
•Assistance and input from a County or Regional Development Officer.
•A focused plan for the development of the junior section.
•Opportunity to review and improve policies and procedures.
•Well coached, committed and educated juniors who may become adult members of the future.
•A safer and more enjoyable environment for junior golf to flourish.
•Greater understanding about junior activities within the club by adult members.
•Support & guidance from a County or Regional Development Officer through finding workshops, sharing best practice, reviewing current policies and procedures, writing child welfare documentation and much, much more.

 

[USER1999]

We have a very strong junior section. They get free group lessons (2 hours) on Sunday, and are well supported within the club. There aren't that many young girls though. Mainly boys. I don't think we publicise much, as most of them are mates at school, and word gets around. Quite a few are members kids anyway. although there is no waiting list, I think the section is pretty full.

 

[Aztecs27]

Our Junior section, as I understand it, is very good.

Because we have an 18 hole par 3 course, that's used for group teaching and course experience.

I believe there's alloted time slots for teaching every week and I've seen notices up around the club about Junior Summer Camps that are being run this year too.

Website is appauling though.

 

[oakey22]

not seen much at our club, but being a new member i have not took much time getting to know the ins and outs yet.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Ashbourne must be doing something right as we came 2nd in the Golf Mark National awards this year.

Although our website isn't great for the mens section there is plenty of info on the junior pages.

Our Club has attained the Golf Mark accreditation which has the backing of the EGU/EWGA these are some of the benifits
•Recognition within the local community for the clubs' commitment to junior golf.
•Promotion via the EGU/EWGA websites.
•Assistance and input from a County or Regional Development Officer.
•A focused plan for the development of the junior section.
•Opportunity to review and improve policies and procedures.
•Well coached, committed and educated juniors who may become adult members of the future.
•A safer and more enjoyable environment for junior golf to flourish.
•Greater understanding about junior activities within the club by adult members.
•Support & guidance from a County or Regional Development Officer through finding workshops, sharing best practice, reviewing current policies and procedures, writing child welfare documentation and much, much more.

 

[barrybridges]

Bingo!

Let's not mash our words here - golf is in the same position that cycling was in 10/15 years ago, before all the attention the Olympics gave it.

I'm 28 and got into golf as a junior. I like to think I'm still quite young (innit), so here's my take on it:

I don't see any investment made by the PGA/European Tour in grass-roots junior level golf. If there is some, where is it? Where is the advertising or promotion of golf to young people?

I get that most schools don't readily have a championship standard 18 hole golf course sat next to the playground, but cycling did something clever by running a national championships (the GHS - which still goes strong today) where people played for their school rather than their team/club. Golf could do the same; local courses team up with local schools to market/advertise/run competitions. Why does this not happen?

Reduced green fees for school holidays and after school.

Relaxation of the dress code for juniors only.

Creation of the post of 'Juniors Captain', whose remit is much more social than official. Their task is to organise junior competitions, socials, trips away, training weeks etc.

Recognition that young people are (ahem) more competitive than older people. Part of the reason why I think cycling changed its attitude is because it never used to be 'cool as competitive'. What I mean by that is that up until perhaps 2000/2002, cycling was the preserve of old men dressed in lycra, racing up and down dual carriageways. Then they made it much more competive; more glitz and glamour in races and local events rather than Bob McScratchett the time trial secretary organising things. The same applies to golf - focus more on the fact that golf is a COMPETITIVE SPORT and not a pasttime. It's about beating your best - and your mates - and it IS about hitting it furthest...or closest...or putting the best. All of the marketing material you see on most club websites is about 'having a nice time' and relaxing on the course. Young people are competitive!!

Encourage regular participation with a golf matchplay 'squash ladder' for juniors. This will get them mixing up as the small number of juniors in each club doesn't create much of an audience for them to play with/against.

I think having golf in the Olympics will make a big difference, but only if it has the glitz and glamour and big names that other sports have.

Finally - a pretty big one this - but tonnes more effect needs to go into raising awareness of the women's game. It's shocking I think that most people when they think of juniors think of getting more boys into the game (whether you admit it publically or not, I certainly did). It's about getting girls and boys in as a group, so finding some good female role models will be key. Laura Davis is not a role model to British girls. Where is the female Tiger?

Anyway, just my 2 cents.

 

[richart]

Our Club has attained the Golf Mark accreditation which has the backing of the EGU/EWGA these are some of the benifits
•Recognition within the local community for the clubs' commitment to junior golf.
•Promotion via the EGU/EWGA websites.
•Assistance and input from a County or Regional Development Officer.
•A focused plan for the development of the junior section.
•Opportunity to review and improve policies and procedures.
•Well coached, committed and educated juniors who may become adult members of the future.
•A safer and more enjoyable environment for junior golf to flourish.
•Greater understanding about junior activities within the club by adult members.
•Support & guidance from a County or Regional Development Officer through finding workshops, sharing best practice, reviewing current policies and procedures, writing child welfare documentation and much, much more.

Same at our club.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Barrybridges,

"Creation of the post of 'Juniors Captain'"
Don't most clubs already have junior captains, ours does and having been one myself 15 years ago my old club did as well.

"Encourage regular participation with a golf matchplay 'squash ladder' for juniors."
I would have thought most clubs have matchplay comp's as well as stroke play comp's. We did, and we also have junior league matches.

As for schools comp's - I played for my local secondary school and I know a few juniors at Ashbourne who played for the school in recent times.
Also, my club held coaching sessions for local primary school kids.

Maybe Ashbourne is a very good club, hence the success re: Golf mark and Club Mark. But I believe other clubs offer similar projects etc in this area.

 

[bobmac]

It's great to hear all the ideas to develop the junior members at clubs and to improve the image of the junior sections, but perhaps my OP wasn't worded very well.

My post was asking you to look at your club's website and ask yourself does it do enough to attract any potential new members that arent 50 and above?
Or does it just show the older members being dragged round the course by an electric trolley or buggy or sitting in the clubhouse playing cards.

 

[DCB]

Regarding the use of pictures and Juniors, to use anything on the website, we'd have to get signatures from the parents of all the youngsters in a group before we could publish that picture. We have to work within the guidelines that the SGU have regarding Child Protection or PVG as it is now. We've got some great pics from our Junior coaching sessions where the Pro is teaching them that would be great to use. We use the pics internally at Junior Prizegiving and put on a wee display because the Juniors are there with their parents and they get a chance to see what has been going on.

We've also had great success this year with our 18-30 age membership promotion (£199 if anyone is interested ). It's great to see so many younger guys and girls out on the course again.

 

[AyrshireGolfer]

Hi guys first post so take it easy!

My local club are offering a free membership for Juniors with every adult membership, to encourage guys to take their kids out and get them involved in the game.

The best set up I have seen is from a local golf and gym complex called North Gailes. They have a driving range, a 7 hole short chip and put par 3 and a 9 holes par 36 course.

They have a kids coaching session with over 150 local kids (aged 6-16) taking part. They get starter packs showing swings, putting and drills they can do at home. They get individual and group lessons at the driving range, chip and putt course and even the 9 hole course when they get good enough.

What I think is pretty cool is that they get different coloured caps depending on skill level and how far through the coaching program they are which keeps them interested trying to reach the next level.

When down at the driving range you get a bit embarrassed when a 10 year old is flighting in balls to the practice pins and you are struggling to get the same type of accuracy! But is good to see youngsters take interest at such a young age. You would hope that they keep with the sport and join the local golf courses and play at a decent level brining new blood into the game.

 

[Evesdad]

We have got to get more girls interested for the sport to get any sort of funding. When I took my daughter down to the free sessions she was the only girl out of about ten kids. The coaches were over the moon and really encouraged her and want more girls on board. Do they expect them to just walk through the door? You have to get out there and grab their attention. Most kids prob won't take up golf if no one in their family plays so you have to make it appealing. My club is out in the sticks so they are always going to struggle to get loads of kids in as they will need ferrying about but if the need is their it's not that hard to sort out with kids from the same areas.

I also like the idea posted earlier about juniors getting free membership with full paying adult, you can't do if forever but maybe upto 14 or so. Before that age they are really only going to play with their parent or whoever anyway. The club aren't really losing out on much, charge the next society to come and play and extra £20 soon get it recouped.

 

[The_ACE]

As a junior I sort of understand some of the problems. My course had a good section when joined and that was one of the attractions also the pros were great and there was loads of cheap lessons just to kit you out.

However most kids of my age don't find any fun in spending 5 hours (practice + round roughly) hitting a ball around a field. You have to have commitment and patience to play golf and most youngsters frankly don't. It's hard to call what to do.