‘Another nail in the coffin’

Chris Gray, general manager of Cottingham Parks Golf & Leisure in Yorkshire, argues that the proposal that giving ‘nomadic’ golfers an official handicap by attaching them to a local club, will lead to clubs closing.

As membership numbers have fallen over the last 10 years it stands to reason that the income received by England Golf from the amount of affiliation fees that get paid to them has also fallen. This decline must be giving some cause for concern to our leading bodies – but nothing like the challenge it is presenting to golf clubs, some of which have now closed.

Their view, and rightly so, is that these once-members, now ‘nomadic’ golfers, should in some way help to fund the future of golf by contributing to its governing bodies. This view, I believe, many will agree with but very few would agree with their proposals and their probable outcome. They are, in my mind, approaching the issues that need addressing but simply asking the wrong question.

As I understand it, their latest proposal to combat their falling affiliation fees is to give non-golf club members a CONGU / official handicap* which, in reality, is simply just another nail in the coffin for many clubs. The proposal involves nomadic golfers attaching themselves to a local club without being a member and for this club to control their handicap; they don’t even need to play at the course at any time during the year. England Golf will charge an affiliation fee to the nomadic golfer, which is to be collected by the club and shared equally between England Golf and the host club.

If we were to assume that an annual membership of this local golf club is £900 per year and that this new charge to the nomadic golfer was £60 per year to be shared equally between union and club, the sums are easy to work out. If one member were to drop out of membership now that he can retain his CONGU / official handicap* without being a member of a club, that club would need 30 nomadic golfers attached to them to recover their lost revenue. I am sure that most club secretaries / committees could identify ten members who play infrequently but stay as members to keep an official handicap who would soon switch to this option. This would mean 300 nomadic golfers would be required to recover lost revenue, which clearly is not going to happen.

The end result would be more courses closing.

Some clubs who are currently enjoying a relatively safe position with healthy membership may secretly welcome some local competitors closing their doors. This would produce a surplus of golfers wishing to join clubs, creating a demand that would then allow clubs to increase their fees (subscriptions and green fees) and so end the current discounted race to the bottom. This would certainly be beneficial to the future of some clubs, but would it be beneficial to the future of golf?

A far better question for England Golf and the other leading bodies must be: How do we help clubs attract nomadic golfers back into membership so that they can pay their affiliation fees and ensure the future of the individual club whilst contributing to the future of golf?

I am sure we would all agree that were we able to find the solution to this question it would be a win / win for everyone. Unfortunately, this is a much harder question to answer and probably the reason England Golf are embarking on their current approach. In many ways I believe clubs are contributing to their own downfall with the number of discounted green fees (2-for-1 and so on) and membership deals that reduce income to a point where it is almost impossible to balance the books. Raising green fees to a more sensible level and stopping the 2-for-1 option may well be the answer to resolving the question. This will make membership look better value for money than ‘pay and play’ but I fear many clubs will not agree or have the courage to see it through.

However, in my opinion, should England Golf continue with this approach, they will only be demonstrating that they see their survival to be far more important than that of the individual golf clubs. I would like to remind them that without the golf clubs they would not exist. This may seem a little extreme as I believe there will always be golf clubs around and they will always need someone to guide the way, but I am sure you get my point.

England Golf are carrying out a survey to gather feedback from various clubs. I feel certain that the questions will be asked in such a way to make you think this is the solution to all our challenges, but I hope you will consider the future of all clubs and recognise that, as I believe, this is not the way to go and reply accordingly.

* There seems to be divided opinion over whether an official handicap and a CONGU handicap are one in the same. My view would be that if an official handicap were issued following the principles of the CONGU system it would be one and the same (maybe one for the courts to decide?) and therefore acceptable as a valid handicap for the purpose of entering any type of competition. The same would apply when the World Handicap System comes into operation except that once you have entered your 20 rounds you would not have to submit another card for a long time, allowing non-club members the option to freely manipulate their handicaps.