New survey highlights golf’s struggles

A new survey of British golf clubs has found that nearly half are expecting a drop in membership levels this year, the vast majority do not offer flexible membership schemes, most still send their subscription notices out in winter and nearly one-fifth do not even track the rounds of golf played by visitors.

Membership subscriptions are the lifeblood for most golf clubs, but the number of members at an average golf club has been dropping for several years.

The survey for The Golf Club Secretary has found that 46 per cent of British clubs expect to see another drop this year. The majority of these believe it will be a small reduction, but more than 10 per cent of all British clubs think they will lose about 10 per cent of their members, while nearly three per cent of all golf clubs are braced for a potentially catastrophic membership reduction of 15 per cent or more.

Just 15 per cent of clubs expect to see growth in membership levels this year, with the vast majority anticipating modest rises. Thirty nine per cent of clubs do not expect to see any change.

Despite the threat to golf clubs, less than 20 per cent of them either have introduced, or are considering introducing, a flexible membership scheme in which, for example, golfers pay a reduced annual subscription and pay reduced green fees each time they want to play a round. Instead, the vast majority of clubs have kept their traditional membership scheme, with many abolishing joining fees in order to recruit new members.

Several clubs reported concern that existing members would convert to their flexible schemes if they were introduced, thereby potentially reducing revenue, as a reason to shy away from them.

The research also found that the majority of golf clubs (58 per cent) request their subscriptions between October and March, with the vast majority of those in January, despite the course often being in its worst condition of the year at that time.  However, just 11 per cent of clubs accepted that January was the optimum renewal month and many have already changed, with 22 per cent of clubs now adopting April as their renewal month. Several of those that had changed reported that this move had directly resulted in fewer members leaving.

Finally, the survey asked if clubs monitor the members’ and visitors’ rounds at their club, which is often cited as invaluable research prior to a marketing campaign aimed at converting visitors into members.

However, two-thirds of clubs do not record when their members play the course, which can have an impact of retention levels, and nearly 20 per cent of all British golf clubs do not monitor which visitors play the course, or how often.