Here’s our top three tips from stories in the last month to help golf clubs grow

Alistair Dunsmuir
By Alistair Dunsmuir November 1, 2019 12:39

October was a traumatic month for the industry with a number of course closures, but there were also several good news stories to encourage clubs to grow in the next decade.

Reciprocal arrangements with other clubs work

Royal Mid-Surrey certainly thinks so anyway. It now has linked with 33 prestigious clubs around the world after adding The Lakes in Australia to its portfolio – in which members of both clubs can play at each other.

Royal Mid-Surrey now has this arrangement with nine clubs in Australia alone, which benefited many of them this summer as some of their members visited the UK to watch cricket. This, in turn, of course, led to increased secondary spend at the UK golf club on top of the added benefit to its members.

Royal Mid-Surrey has now partnered with 33 international golf clubs

Growing demand for electric cars is an opportunity for golf clubs

If more people start driving electric cars then the demand for their charging locations will grow. And golf clubs, by being spread around the country and typically accessible by car, represent venues the electric car industry might want to work with.

In fact Forev plans to create a network of over 1,000 charge points throughout Scotland and has offered to install them at golf clubs in exchange for a fixed annual payment per parking bay to be donated to each club’s junior section. Crail Golfing Society has become the first club to take advantage of this opportunity.

Crail Golfing Society to have electric car charging points installed

Some golf clubs need to diversify

According to 125-year-old Royal Norwich Golf Club’s manager Phil Grice, his club’s “business was unsustainable. The challenge of having an older clubhouse, with an older membership, an older mentality and an older golf course was leaving us cut adrift.”

The club, which had suffered declining membership for 11 consecutive years, relocated this autumn and, as well as featuring a new golf course, the club offers a range of non-golfing incentives such as a microbrewery, bakery and family nature trails.

“We’re just ensuring the customer is getting exactly what they want,” he said.

Royal Norwich’s manager: Golf clubs need to diversify

Alistair Dunsmuir
By Alistair Dunsmuir November 1, 2019 12:39
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2 Comments

  1. Pete USA November 5, 13:28

    We got tired of seeing declining numbers, so we started asking people why they didn’t play and what they expected in a more modern golf game.

    Most said it was a time issue, others said it was the cost, difficulty & learning the game.

    So we developed a new conforming “Hybrid” golf ball to exceed their expectations. Now we have more golfers playing a quicker, affordable & less frustrating golf game (same format) on modified courses in half the time!!

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  2. Peter November 4, 11:33

    Electric cars is a good one ! Never thought about it, but it is a new practice ! I often tell clubs club managers to make friends with Pastors, afterall we have lots in common ! Membership ! For some strange reason( not really ), I find myself signing new members because I’ve made friends with local pastors, ministers and rabbis’ , help support their causes and advertise in their local community newsletters ! People laugh when they hear that…let them!

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