What Would It Take

GB72

GB72

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There has been a fair amount on here recently about reduced membership numbers, promotional ideas to attract new members, cuts in joining fees etc so we die hard golfers are clearly in demand (though you would not know it round my way with rigid fees and joining costs).

So, what would it take to make you up sticks and move to a rival club. Is there a nearby club that you have wanted to join and if they reduced the costs you would leap at the opportunity? Would a more forward thingking attitude encourage you to try being a member elsewhere?

We hear about all sorts of promotional ideas to get us to join another club but what, if any, would work on you or is the grass not always greener and nothing would drag you away from your current golfing haven? Would the hassle of finding a whole new group of people to play with deter you from moving?
 
I'd need no booked tee times as an absolute must. It really does make getting a game and playing on the spur of the moment a doddle. After that it'll need a dedicated short game area, comparitive pricing, drawn comps and a good bunch of members and atmosphere in the 19th
 
HomerJSimpson said:
I'd need no booked tee times as an absolute must. It really does make getting a game and playing on the spur of the moment a doddle. After that it'll need a dedicated short game area, comparitive pricing, drawn comps and a good bunch of members and atmosphere in the 19th
Click to expand...

Having booked tee times does not make a difference. I dont understand why folk think it does.
 
HomerJSimpson said:
I'd need no booked tee times as an absolute must. It really does make getting a game and playing on the spur of the moment a doddle. After that it'll need a dedicated short game area, comparitive pricing, drawn comps and a good bunch of members and atmosphere in the 19th
Click to expand...

OK, some of those are easy for a club to sort but how does a club promote/show that it has a good bunch of members and a good atmosphere in the clubhouse? Just trying to think what a club can do to have a realistic chance of getting new members without slashing costs. Open days may work but you may only meet a couple of members. An evening in the bar to meet members, committee etc may work but just because it is fun on one night does not mean that there is a good atmosphere every weekend.
 
GB72 said:
OK, some of those are easy for a club to sort but how does a club promote/show that it has a good bunch of members and a good atmosphere in the clubhouse? Just trying to think what a club can do to have a realistic chance of getting new members without slashing costs. Open days may work but you may only meet a couple of members. An evening in the bar to meet members, committee etc may work but just because it is fun on one night does not mean that there is a good atmosphere every weekend.
Click to expand...

If you are thinking about joining our place I think they will give you at least one round to see what you think and wander about the place etc, that is as good a way as any I think.
 
Personally, I'm happy where I am.

But if you're thinking of getting members into a club consider how difficult it is for a member to actually break into the playing side of a club. Look at your comp sheets and you will see the same groups playing together pretty much every week. How can one person break into that? We've all done it but it wasn't easy.

A suggestion to those whose clubs need members. Ask amongst your members who are part of a society, then set up challenge matches between the local societies and club members. With the societies meeting and playing with members they find out what the club/course/members are like. Also there's a chance that society members will join together, thus not having problems with finding people to play with on comp days, and eventually they find friends amongst the members anyway.
 
I think that I must be lucky, I enjoy my course every time I play, we have a good membership on the whole, I think I get great value from my membership. It would therefore take something really special from another club to make me want to move or my club would need to go seriously downhill. One happy loyal member hoping to stay put for a few more years yet.
 
Hobbit said:
Look at your comp sheets and you will see the same groups playing together pretty much every week.
Click to expand...

Why doesn't someone do something about it? It's great to play with people you know and like but it's also great to meet and play with other people. Apart from anything else, it's not good for the same four players to play together in every competition. Your committee should be able to devise a system which allows people to play fairly regularly with people they're comfortable with plus introducing them to other members.
 
Id happily upgrade to a better course, there just isnt any within the locality (except Woburn which I cant afford).

As for requirements, the course would come first, then practise facilities then the members and how the club is run
 
HomerJSimpson said:
I'd need no booked tee times as an absolute must. It really does make getting a game and playing on the spur of the moment a doddle. After that it'll need a dedicated short game area, comparitive pricing, drawn comps and a good bunch of members and atmosphere in the 19th
Click to expand...

chris661 said:
Having booked tee times does not make a difference. I dont understand why folk think it does.
Click to expand...

Maybe not to you but I know lots of guys who play at places where you need to book and in the summer they struggle to get games at their place because all the tee times are booked. I like the fact I can finish work at 5 - leave my clubs in my locker and just take a small bag with my shoes and a golf shirt with me - and be out and playing by 6. No worrying about missing my time if I'm running late. To me its a big incentive at my current club
 
fundy said:
Id happily upgrade to a better course, there just isnt any within the locality (except Woburn which I cant afford).

As for requirements, the course would come first, then practise facilities then the members and how the club is run
Click to expand...

What about Apsley Guise and Woburn Sands?
 
im seeing some great deals at the moment

Members course, pay for 12 months, get 18 months - £1195
Members course, pay for 12 months, get 16 months - |£995
 
Hobbit said:
....
But if you're thinking of getting members into a club consider how difficult it is for a member to actually break into the playing side of a club. Look at your comp sheets and you will see the same groups playing together pretty much every week. How can one person break into that? We've all done it but it wasn't easy....
Click to expand...

Do what we do - and which is how I got to be an integral member of the club very quickly. The weekend swindle is all-comers welcome; just arrive by given time (8:15) - then work out whether we're playing 3 or 4 ball, draw teams by lot so no choosing own your partners, then play golf (individual & team prize). In my first month I probably partnered up with about 20 different people. For those like me who joined as a temporary member (ie wasn't proposed by an existing member) it makes joining in easy. As it was put to me ..." if you can't make friends that way, its you who's the total ar*e !"
 
These replies are interesting and, to a certain extent, what I expected. If you remove from the equation the things that a club can do little about (course, practice facilities etc) as the expense involved in changing those would be substantial, cutting prices etc is not what needs to be done to attract new members or, more to the point, to attract members from other clubs.

Golfers are looking for something else if they are going to move clubs, things that could benefit existing members are much as new members. I for one would have to say that if I was going to move clubs then ease of integration would be at the top of the list. Problem is that none of the clubs that I have looked at recently have regular roll ups and drawn comps to allow new members to meet more golfing partners. Things like this cost very little money, involve little organisation but could make a massive difference to retaining existing members and the possibility of easy integration into a new club environment must make a club attractive to prospective new members.
 
Good things about my course is that there are no teebookings, its not terribly busy so I can usually get round in the afternoon in 2.5 hrs,decent practice facilties and 5 mins down the road, but the course is a bit dull, not many stand out holes, the pro is a lazy b and a few snobs and idiots.
It would not take a lot.
If I lived nearer to a club which is about the same price or it was between work and home then I would join as course is a lot more interesting and challenging.
 
Having now become a full member of Blairgowrie there is no other course I would rather be a member of in my area.
Other courses are Gleneagles and Carnoustie, but they don't have the same club facilities.
 
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