Membership Categories

by Cashy Thu 12 Apr 2012 - 15:43

Recently, our club introduced a more ‘staggered’ membership fee policy.
Initially we had under 18 years of age (junior), then 18-21, 21-25 then it was full pay member paying nearly £700 per year.

This year, to try and attract a younger membership the committee have introduced further 25-27 and 27-29 age categories which has cause quite a stir with the more ‘senior’ members. They have also increased the full membership fee by £50 per year.

The 25-27 age category will now be pay £350 and the 27-29 £400.

As a 29 year old, I am saving the best part of £300 Very Happy

but if I was over 30 I guess I would be a bit miffed.

To cut a long story shorter, 10 full paying members have left the club in protest and joined other local clubs which I guess has proved that whole re-structuring has been counter-productive.

Does anyone else club have a similar membership structure and how would you feel if a similar thing was introduced at your club?

by GG Thu 12 Apr 2012 - 15:47

We have something similar where I play.

U12 - £80
U18 - £100
FTE - £120
18-21 - £150
21-25 - £250
25+ - £565

Works quite well as there are a fair few members in their early twenties. As an 18 year old student myself, there is no way I could pay full fees, so I obviously love the system! Never heard any of the older guys complain either.

by mystiroakey Thu 12 Apr 2012 - 15:50

my club did this as well, i think its fair to say that its rarer these days for peops under 30 to be completly finacially stablle and you have to get the ave age down a notch for longlivety of the gc.

However we are talking about 1400 for a full member and i will be honest i couldnt afford that when i hit 30 and have only just rejoined.

the barckets are free for all juniors(which i think is very good) 18-21, 22-25,26-29 then full member

the members that left your club really need to look at the future of the club over what they think is unfair!

by Cashy Thu 12 Apr 2012 - 15:53

Personally, I think that if I was 30 I wouldnt have complained too much and if they hadn't introduced the reduced fee (for which I get) I would have continued to pay the full fee this year.

by mystiroakey Thu 12 Apr 2012 - 15:59

the way things are going Cash i reakon another catergory is around the corner 30-35's!!!!

Golf clubs need to get the membership down in ave age- even with my clubs system it is going up, However i think it would have gone up much more if there wernt more age catergories

by McLaren Thu 12 Apr 2012 - 16:20

Why not base membership fees on wealth?

Maybe have

earn less than £20K category
then
20-25k
25-35K
35-45K
50k + category

Maybe with some tweaks for number of kids or something.

If someone is retired use a calculation based on wealth, pensions etc.

by dynamark Thu 12 Apr 2012 - 16:22

Pressure is still on for clubs to improve their structure.From my experience biggest problem was after the junior stage when they have been playing loads of golf for relatively little.The brighter ones are off to college,some start work ,others find other stuff to spend their cash on(beer/cars/girls)and all have less time to play.Very hard to keep them interested.Wish I could find the perfect system.
Fact is the older folk with bags of free time and the juniors get great value.

by mystiroakey Thu 12 Apr 2012 - 16:39

Some golf clubs try and keep the uni goers in with county memberships etc(about 4 times less membership), however its just not a good time for golf is it- 18-30 you dont really get to play!

by dynamark Thu 12 Apr 2012 - 16:49

Not to mention footy/cricket/rugby.My friend s son is a 5 handicap 18 yr old who would much rather go to footy training on saturday morning.
The ones who stick with it are often part of a family group helps with costs and transport.
Most valuable members are the guys who pay up every year and play about 20 times but eventually the financial reality dawns

by mystiroakey Thu 12 Apr 2012 - 16:55

it did to me - i played of 4, didnt have any other sports to play however i liked going out to much , same with all my friends- however about 12 of us have joined back our original course- however we all still had to pay a joining fee!!(even if it was discounted).

The strange thing was what kept us there longer was probally the fcat we had a proper juniour club house andwe were such good mates- in fact my golf mates are my only long term mates. We used to go back and utilse the junior clubhouse as a place to stay the night after nights out! we destroyed the place and older members would raise an eyebrow or two- however in the long run kept us there..

These days there is no junior presence at my club, no kids getting upto mischief even if they get it for free..

by haystongolfer Thu 12 Apr 2012 - 17:12

My club has this year expanded the Youth Member Category to include those up to age 30. They get a sliding discount which reduces as age goes up. The truth is that my club is at least 5o members short and has no waiting list anymore. We need to keep the young members in so that they stay long term. Despite all this we managed to keep the rise this year to £17 or so. Not bad in this day and age.

by Diggers Thu 12 Apr 2012 - 17:14

Ive always thought it odd golf discounted for people in their 20's. Cant think of any other sports that do the same, its not like health clubs or gyms do it.
People in their 20's have plenty of disposable income, they just dispose of it on clothes and down the pub. You could be a thirty year old with a mortgage and a family....as you could be a 20 something with those things.
As far as Im concerned unless you are a student or retired you are an adult and should all pay equally.

by Fader Thu 12 Apr 2012 - 17:36

My club has only 3 brackets

(U18) - Juniors
(19-21)- Intermediate
(22+) - Full Member

Maybe I'm stuck in the dark ages but I think that's plenty of stepping stones for the price adjustments. After all if your a working adult it is likely you can afford it. My financial commitments are the same now as at when I was 25. I have a mortgage and 2 kids to pay for only difference is I have more time now.

Most people in their 30's have a lot more to pay out for so likely less dispoable than someone in their 20's. When I was in my ealry 20's my money was thrown away on clothes, girls, going out and lads holidays, if I'd budgeted those things correctly I could have still done all those things and played golf! Wish I had now.

Not sure at 31 I'd be happy someone just 2 years my junior paying 300quid less than me.

by Diggers Thu 12 Apr 2012 - 17:41

Fader wrote: When I was in my ealry 20's my money was thrown away on clothes, girls, going out and lads holidays,

.....and you wasted the rest.....

by Fader Thu 12 Apr 2012 - 17:49

Diggers wrote:
Fader wrote: When I was in my ealry 20's my money was thrown away on clothes, girls, going out and lads holidays,

.....and you wasted the rest.....

How very true. The girls, nights out and lads holidays were money well spent some of the clothes though I have to wonder about!

by mystiroakey Thu 12 Apr 2012 - 17:50

Diggers wrote:Ive always thought it odd golf discounted for people in their 20's. Cant think of any other sports that do the same, its not like health clubs or gyms do it.
People in their 20's have plenty of disposable income, they just dispose of it on clothes and down the pub. You could be a thirty year old with a mortgage and a family....as you could be a 20 something with those things.
As far as Im concerned unless you are a student or retired you are an adult and should all pay equally.

all about market forces though isnt it diggs. The good thing about golf clubs for me is that they dont work like a traditional business(like a gym or whatever) They have a soul, individuality and they mnake decisions as a club rather than someone in an office miles away from the reality of the situation.

If other sports had that same set up, then they would also work for themselves. Golf clubs arnt about making profit, there are about flourishing.. its a rare thing these days, possibly one of the reasons why we have more talent than any other sport combined!!

by No1yankee Thu 12 Apr 2012 - 18:10

McLaren wrote:Why not base membership fees on wealth?

Maybe have

earn less than £20K category
then
20-25k
25-35K
35-45K
50k + category

Maybe with some tweaks for number of kids or something.

If someone is retired use a calculation based on wealth, pensions etc
I dont think its very fair that I have worked hard all my life and to be in the 50k+ category and i would have to pay more than somebody who earned less than 20k a year.

by mystiroakey Thu 12 Apr 2012 - 18:17

is the 50plus catergory fair!!

i mean many people earn that - however many people at golf clubs are on 200 plus a year!!(well at mine there are)

however i wouldnt mind considering i only have a 5.5k salary Very Happy

, saying that though most of the big time earners dont either!- its all dividnends!

by Diggers Thu 12 Apr 2012 - 18:21

mystiroakey wrote:
Diggers wrote:Ive always thought it odd golf discounted for people in their 20's. Cant think of any other sports that do the same, its not like health clubs or gyms do it.
People in their 20's have plenty of disposable income, they just dispose of it on clothes and down the pub. You could be a thirty year old with a mortgage and a family....as you could be a 20 something with those things.
As far as Im concerned unless you are a student or retired you are an adult and should all pay equally.

all about market forces though isnt it diggs. The good thing about golf clubs for me is that they dont work like a traditional business(like a gym or whatever) They have a soul, individuality and they mnake decisions as a club rather than someone in an office miles away from the reality of the situation.

If other sports had that same set up, then they would also work for themselves. Golf clubs arnt about making profit, there are about flourishing.. its a rare thing these days, possibly one of the reasons why we have more talent than any other sport combined!!

I guess so but that said golf clubs aren't attracting young members by the sounds of it. I would think the stuffy , staid nature of a lot of clubs works against the discounted rates so it's swings and roundabouts really. Health clubs are more in tune with what younger people want to do to relax.

by mystiroakey Thu 12 Apr 2012 - 18:32

yep i agree with that- and it amazes me we have the talent at the highest level- well at the top 200 level anyway(we have loads) however the only thing i can think of is that it is a very accesable sport in this country and the facililties are out there because of the older members subsidies the younger ones not because of some lottery tax or sports funding at schools!

Golf is so different to other sports in its set up and yet about the only one we can be proud of at an international level(even if they dont win majors!!)

i do fear this may go downhill fast and i think many of our players came from faldos good work, the point is though the facilities are out there on there own merit. Every other sport in this country is pumped full of money and for what!!!! to fail basically- I find it very interesting that privately golf does so much better than all the other publically funded sports

by George1507 Thu 12 Apr 2012 - 18:42

mystiroakey wrote:it did to me - i played of 4, didnt have any other sports to play however i liked going out to much , same with all my friends- however about 12 of us have joined back our original course- however we all still had to pay a joining fee!!(even if it was discounted).

The strange thing was what kept us there longer was probally the fcat we had a proper juniour club house andwe were such good mates- in fact my golf mates are my only long term mates. We used to go back and utilse the junior clubhouse as a place to stay the night after nights out! we destroyed the place and older members would raise an eyebrow or two- however in the long run kept us there..

These days there is no junior presence at my club, no kids getting upto mischief even if they get it for free..

You destroyed the clubhouse. Are you surprised there are no juniors now?

Well done.

I had to deal with a situation where some juniors wrecked the junior room. It cost over £1K to fix it all up again, and I went out on a limb to get the work done in the face of great opposition. Thank god it hasn't been wrecked again, because it won't be fixed again, that's for sure.

It's all very well giving juniors discounted rates and junior facilities, but too often a mindless few wreck it for everyone.

by mystiroakey Thu 12 Apr 2012 - 18:46

George1507 wrote:
mystiroakey wrote:it did to me - i played of 4, didnt have any other sports to play however i liked going out to much , same with all my friends- however about 12 of us have joined back our original course- however we all still had to pay a joining fee!!(even if it was discounted).

The strange thing was what kept us there longer was probally the fcat we had a proper juniour club house andwe were such good mates- in fact my golf mates are my only long term mates. We used to go back and utilse the junior clubhouse as a place to stay the night after nights out! we destroyed the place and older members would raise an eyebrow or two- however in the long run kept us there..

These days there is no junior presence at my club, no kids getting upto mischief even if they get it for free..

You destroyed the clubhouse. Are you surprised there are no juniors now?

Well done.

I had to deal with a situation where some juniors wrecked the junior room. It cost over £1K to fix it all up again, and I went out on a limb to get the work done in the face of great opposition. Thank god it hasn't been wrecked again, because it won't be fixed again, that's for sure.

It's all very well giving juniors discounted rates and junior facilities, but too often a mindless few wreck it for everyone.

we didnt literally destroy it- we just had alot of parties in there- it was still usable- however now it is just a trolley garage!!

that is not the reason why there arnt as many juniours now- however being part of something is the main reason why we all stuck about- do you get it

by **navyblueshorts** Fri 13 Apr 2012 - 21:48

Diggers wrote:Ive always thought it odd golf discounted for people in their 20's. Cant think of any other sports that do the same, its not like health clubs or gyms do it.
People in their 20's have plenty of disposable income, they just dispose of it on clothes and down the pub. You could be a thirty year old with a mortgage and a family....as you could be a 20 something with those things.
As far as Im concerned unless you are a student or retired you are an adult and should all pay equally.

With you there although there are some very wealthy retired golfers around.

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