Golfers reveal what they’d change about their golf club

Golf club membership in the UK and Ireland is in an interesting place right now.

Whilst participation rates continue to ride the post-pandemic wave, recent studies have found membership to be in decline.

Indeed, a report published last April found that clubs had collectively experienced a drop of roughly 6,000 members in the first three months of 2023, whilst a separate piece of research around the same time estimated the average resignation rate at around 6%.

A number of contributory factors have been suggested for the downturn, amongst them the ongoing cost of living crisis, the weather, and a return to pre-pandemic habits and behaviour.

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The fact that membership fees are going up – almost half all golfers (43.5%) now pay more than £1,000 for their annual membership, compared to one in five in 2018 – has likely had an impact, too.

But what is the actual word on the street?

To get a better understanding of what the average club golfer is thinking we posed a question to our 66,000 Facebook followers.

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The question was simple: what would you change about your golf club?

The responses were predictably varied. Here’s a snapshot of what was said…

What would you change about your golf club?

1. “Someone to organise golf for juniors.”

2. “Clubhouse update, it’s been the same since I was a junior 20 years ago.”

3. “Transparency and communication to members.”

4. “Better drainage. It gets really wet over winter and is a hard slog at times.”

5. “A better bar.”

6. “Pace of play: set time limit, and adjust tee times accordingly to prevent queues on tee boxes.”

7. “Car park members are a pain in the backside. I used to be one so I should know. They turn up, play and go (bit harsh i know). It’s your club. At least try and show some interest in it.”

8. “The cliquey demographic of the membership.”

9. “Scrap committees.”

10. “Proper putting/short game practice area that stays open all year round.”

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