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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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