How can clubs capitalise on the post- lockdown golfing surge?
The return to golf has seen a nationwide increase in overall play. How can clubs maximise membership intake from the current positivity surrounding the game?
his has been an unprecedented and challenging year, with many normal pastimes off the table for months. But, since May, golf has not been one of those prohibited activities.
In fact, golf was one of the first sports to return postlockdown and has successfully proven it can function in a responsible, socially distanced way, even with indoor club facilities now reopening.
As a result, golf enjoyed something of a boom in the second half of the year as people flocked back to the fairways.
Figures from Sports Marketing Surveys showed that June (the first full month of golf after lockdown) saw a year-on-year increase of 61% in total rounds played. Current members were delighted to be able to return to their clubs, with strong anecdotal evidence that many hadn’t realised what they had until it was gone.
Prospective members were shown the benefits of being a part of club life, as many private
Tclubs reserved their course(s) for the use of members in the immediate aftermath of lockdown. Clubs across the country reported an upturn in applications.
It’s been a shot in the arm for members’ clubs and a clear demonstration there are golfers out there who would consider joining. It is, therefore, a moment of great opportunity for clubs in this country to attract newcomers to their ranks.
With this in mind, England Golf has launched a campaign urging golfers to discover the allround benefits of being a club member. ‘Membership: Give it a Shot’ highlights how clubs are changing to accommodate modern requirements through equality, diversity, family and community.
Give it a shot
The campaign focuses on three key areas: 1) Golf is ‘flexible’ – there are more ways than many people think to enjoy the game, from practising on the range right through to competitive rounds; 2) Golf clubs are ‘sociable’ – a great way to meet people and to share experience in a safe environment; 3) Golf is ‘affordable’ – more clubs than ever offer membership options to suit different lifestyles and budgets.
“We want to support an opportunity to maximise golf’s current positivity,” said Jeremy Tomlinson, CEO of England Golf. “It’s an exciting time and we look forward to welcoming many new players.”
The Give it a Shot campaign will be promoted across
“It is a great opportunity for clubs in this country to attract newcomers to their ranks”
England, with support and assets to help English clubs attract and retain members. But the campaign’s central message is relevant to clubs outside England, too.
In order to maximise the potential intake of new members in this time of optimism for golf, clubs must focus on the right strategies to attract the modern golfer.
Many clubs now offer flexible deals with monthly payments that are comparable in cost to that of gym memberships (a big area of competition for golf). Discounts for younger adults or academy memberships can also broaden the appeal of a club to a wider spectrum of society. Clubs could offer incentives for members to bring others into the fold, too. England Golf is providing assistance in this regard with the Give it a Shot campaign. Members who join a club, or current members who refer a friend who joins before October 31, will be entered into a prize draw to win four Country Memberships at Woodhall Spa, together with two rounds of golf, a two-hour group clinic at the National Golf Centre and an overnight stay. Various secondary prizes are also available.
A blueprint for success
In a competitive leisure market, golf clubs must be proactive and innovative to make their offering attractive. It’s essential to recognise that golf in its traditional members’ club format does not appeal to everyone. Simply providing a golf course with rules and restrictions to the fore and an old-school dining room just doesn’t cut it anymore in the vast majority of circumstances.
Families should be catered for and those with less time to spare need to feel there’s something for them at the club. The younger generation needs to feel welcome and that the club environment is relevant to their lives.
Clubs should consider what has appealed to so many in the postlockdown period and seek to build on that going forward. Players enjoyed the physical and mental health benefits of exercising in the fresh air, across a wide-open space in a safe and well-managed environment. They also enjoyed quicker rounds, more structure around the process of playing, less single-sex slots meaning greater integration between the sections and options to play competitively or socially on weekends. Importantly, with people playing more golf and clubs vying for custom, people felt they were getting value for money.
England Golf is absolutely right that our sport must aim to be flexible, sociable and affordable to attract new members. It’s a strong message and clubs should strive to promote it and ensure its accuracy.
here’s no question that power is playing an increasingly important role in professional golf, with established players and up-andcoming talents dedicating more time to the pursuit of extra distance. This is a physical skill and thus can be learned, developed and improved. The mental side of golf, however, is a slightly different story. Sports psychologists and performance coaches will claim the mental game can be taught – and their increasing numbers on tour suggests there is some validity to this argument – but even the best
in the business will struggle to coax good results out of someone who lacks confidence in their own ability. This isn’t an affliction that befalls Matt Wallace.
The 30-year-old has never been short of belief, but even someone who’s as self-assured as the
Englishman isn’t immune to dips in form and frustrating spells where hard work doesn’t yield the desired results. Wallace freely admits the lockdown came at a good time, and now he’s out the other side, he’s firmly focused on adding to his four European Tour titles and competing with the game’s very best players on the PGA Tour.
“My game wasn’t where I wanted it to be before the lockdown,” says Wallace. “The break couldn’t have come at a better time for me. I was working hard but I just couldn’t see any improvements. I wasn’t hitting
it how I wanted to and I wasn’t playing how I wanted to, so I needed that time off to understand what I wanted to do with my game, and I’ve gone after it.”
The lockdown didn’t just provide an opportunity to work on the physical side of the game – it allowed Wallace to reflect philosophically on the nature of top-tier professional golf and what’s required to enjoy success at the highest level.
“On the golf course, it’s all about scoring. I’ve figured that out a little bit better since lockdown. I’ve been guilty of trying to be too perfect and shoot six- and seven-unders all the time by playing perfect golf. It’s just not about that out here.
“At last year’s British Masters, it was the first week I started working with Dr Steve Mcgregor. I remember him saying ‘it’s not about this week, it’s about one, two, three years down the line’. I had that mindset all week until the final nine holes on Sunday, when I went back to trying to win the tournament, rather than thinking about the bigger picture. I tightened up a little bit and didn’t play the way I wanted to. I had a chance on the last and it just didn’t fall my way.
“That gave me an insight into how my mind should work. I just have to play my game and that will be enough sometimes, and sometimes it won’t, but that’s okay.”
On Harrington’s radar
His third-place finish at the 2019 British Masters was one of five top-threes last year – a good, but not great, return for a player who’s developed a happy knack of winning golf tournaments over the last few seasons. Wallace won five times in a row and six times total on the Alps Tour in 2016, before a victory at the co-sanctioned Portugal Open the following year earned him full European Tour status for the next season.
His 2018 sprung into life with a play-off victory over Andrew Johnston in March’s Hero Indian Open, before another triumph in June at the BMW International Open. At this point, his bid for a
“Now I’ve been on the PGA Tour for a while, if I play in the Ryder Cup next year, I’m ready to go”
wildcard pick in Thomas Bjorn’s Ryder Cup team was picking up momentum. His campaign built to a crescendo at the Made in Denmark – the last event before Bjorn made his selections – when the Dane watched Wallace birdie five of the final six holes to enter a four-man play-off and then go birdie-birdie to oust his peers. It was quite a statement, but Bjorn opted for experience three days later when he picked Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey and Ian Poulter for the contest at Le Golf National.