Golf after the Pandemic

In this discourse, I want to explore the different approaches members-owned/operated clubs, privately owned and semi-private clubs take to retain and grow their operations.

The value of being a golf club member has waned in recent years. The exception might be membership of one of the prestigious internationally-renowned courses.

Members-owned clubs, despite the competition for people's hard-earned money, do little in terms of innovative marketing. They are constrained by tradition and operate a very conservative business model. Many older members do not want new members and only agree to accept new members reluctantly. Many existing members operate in their clique and have little interest in socializing with new members. This can be very daunting for a new member. Hence, the trend where new members are inclined to join in groups and they in turn stick together. Not a long-term sustainable model.

How can the members-owned clubs create a sense of belonging for new members that is the backbone of the attractiveness of these clubs? How can you make people feel a valued part of a community? How can this be turned into loyalty and pride?

We are of course assuming that the members-owned club is in good condition, that it is well maintained all year round, that temporary greens in winter are adequate and that greens and drainage are not issues. We are assuming that the practice facilities are good, the clubhouse inviting. the food is good or at least acceptable, the pro-shop is well stocked etc etc.

Offering cheap subscriptions is not the answer. Offering extended membership for the price of the annual sub should only be the domain of the privately owned clubs as their business model is different and motivated by profit.

Members-owned clubs must tackle the problem of a hefty joining fee. Foregoing it upsets members that paid it. If there is to be a joining fee, this needs to be correlated to the length of stay for the member. It should be linked to loyalty and length of stay. If, for example, a member stays for 10 years, some incentive is given to them not quite to recoup their joining fee but a bonus such as a life member category and appropriate sub.

Members-owned golf clubs need to be active now in generating new marketing campaigns ready to go in the Spring. Embracing families more will be key to building a sustainable community and families should not just mean adults and kids. It should be the modern family where there "adult children" are counted as part of a family membership.

It always amazes me that the club manager does not trawl through the existing member's database and profile to leverage any opportunities here. Instead of just tapping these people for prizes, think how these "connections" could be used to benefit the members. Members offering benefits to other members.

Turning to the privately-owned golf courses whose primary motivation is to make a profit, they must be much more innovative than the members-owned clubs to survive.

At the elite 5 star levels, some of the best courses in the world are privately owned. They offer purpose-built courses and superb facilities often linked to hotels or resorts. These courses follow a different marketing path of exclusivity. Even in pandemics, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. People like to be amongst their own. They make connections and can often justify the cost as a business activity.

Let's come down a step from the elite private members "Country Club" level and consider the next level down. Some call these semi-private golf courses, as they are not fully exclusive in that they offer green fees to non-members and societies. In my opinion, these are the clubs at most risk.

In boom times, people's motivation to join a private club might have been the fact that they couldn't get into the local members-owned club or in some cases, members of members-owned clubs joined a privately owned club as their second club to give them the freedom to play a round of golf at short notice and to alleviate timesheet congestion problems in their members-owned club. Members joining these semi-private clubs often like the lack of snobbishness and draconian rules experienced in the hoity-toity traditional members-owned clubs.

In a recession, these semi-private clubs get hit first. People worry about their entrance fee ( even if it is "equity") or even their annual fee. The members are vulnerable to the whims of the owners. History shows that members across the world got burned when semi-private clubs folded with little if any, redress.

All clubs are vulnerable to the new opportunities for the new generation of golfers that are happy to pay green fees - either as a member of a golf society or just to avail of online offers. Let's not forget the role Public Courses have also.

However, with innovative marketing, privately-owned clubs could steal a march on the members-owned clubs. They need to think differently. They need to identify the negatives attached to members-owned clubs and offer positive alternatives.

Consider, for example, a group of semi-private clubs within a 25- mile radius of each other getting together and offering reciprocal arrangements for members. In essence, this would be like joining a resort club where there is more than one course on offer to members. You would still have a "home" club but you have the opportunity to play these other courses just as if you are a member there. This cuts down local business competition between privately owned clubs and alleviates the boredom of playing your own course week after week.

MORE thoughts next week.