6 Major Challenges That Golf Clubs Are Facing

The health of golf clubs remains the truest way to assess the current state of the game. While traditional forms of membership aren't for everyone and many prefer a nomadic existence, ultimately, the majority of us engage with these established venues throughout any given season, whether that be as a member or visitor.

And things are generally looking rather positive as we enter the peak months of this year. Confirming that judgement, England Golf CEO Jeremy Tomlinson revealed that membership numbers across the nation rose slightly in 2023, edging closer to the incredible levels witnessed during the height of the pandemic boom in 2021.

Speaking to The NCG Golf Podcast, Tomlinson said: "Nobody would ever have wished for a pandemic. But the effect that it had on golf club membership, the effect that it had on people actually wanting to have playing rights, was incredible. Golf club membership had stagnated.

"What happened was through the pandemic, through Covid times, people really became a lot more self-aware with regards to their own health.

"It became, ‘how can I improve my health?’ and, of course, golf is the most wonderful game, both mentally and physically, from a health benefit perspective.

"People really grabbed hold of that. The great thing to see is they’ve continued to want that and the desire is still very much there."

While that is all undeniably - and gratefully - true, it would be remiss not to reflect on the continued challenges that golf clubs are presented with, all of which have a potential impact in the shorter, but particularly longer term.

There is no time for complacency. Golf is generally in as strong a place as we can remember, but the work to ensure that remains the case should have already begun.

Here are some specific issues that clubs - and the sport more widely - are being forced to address.

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

Cost of Living

Throughout 2021 and 2022, the UK experienced a deep cost of living crisis as the economy sought to recover from the pandemic and the impact of conflicts around the globe. Official figures reported that the annual rate of inflation reached 11.1% in October 2022, which was a 41-year high.

Consequently, many golfers had to determine whether their memberships remained a worthy investment, but clubs themselves faced the same concerns surrounding energy costs and bills, making it even more difficult to make ends meet.

Things have improved - thankfully - with the inflation rate falling to 3.2% by March 2024.

However, during this period, a significant number of clubs made the decision to increase membership prices, which is something that concerned the thousands of golfers who responded to our survey on the subject.

Ultimately, golfers simply want value for money, which a membership can offer if used regularly. Ensuring that members - both current and prospective - continue to feel that the cost of being a member is beneficial to them is a test for clubs to manage for the foreseeable future.

Climate

If you live in Great Britain & Ireland, you don't need us to tell you that it's been a horrendous few months of weather, with waterlogged courses being commonplace throughout these islands. When we ran a snap survey earlier in the year, 89% of golfers said that venues had been closed more frequently this winter with 82% playing less golf as a result.

Records showed that it was the wettest July-December across the UK since those numbers started being kept in 1890, with the last 18 months in England specifically being the wettest on record, dating back to 1836.

Why does that matter to golf clubs? Well, more closures mean less opportunity for those who have annual memberships to play and justify the expense. 

The occasional bad year won't present much of an issue, but as the climate becomes more severe, these spells of extreme weather are only anticipated to become more frequent, meaning that more golfers could begin to question the point of paying for a membership that they regularly cannot use. 

Whether it be the installation of improved drainage or other maintenance works, this is a difficult and costly issue for clubs to tackle, but there is every possibility that it will become increasingly hard to present the best possible product to golfers.

Coastal Erosion

Related to the above, an increased number of storms and rising sea levels are threatening many of our most historic and beloved coastline golf courses.

The unique Fortrose & Rosemarkie Golf Club, located in the Scottish Highlands to the north of Inverness, was damaged by Storm Ciaran, while the revered Montrose Golf Links is being faced with the prospect of disappearing entirely during the coming decades, having already lost a significant proportion of land in the past 25 years.

Alnmouth Village Golf Club - the oldest nine-hole links in England - is another notable course worried about the future. Golfshake Ambassador Matt Holbrook visited last year and it would be incredibly sad to lose this golfing jewel.

Elsewhere, we've seen rock armour and the rebuilding of dunes being deployed to combat the impact of erosion, but even at places such as St Andrews and North Berwick, the task to address this will be an ongoing one.

Attracting The Next Generation

It's clear that golf memberships are currently robust, but how do we ensure that stays the case in the future? Given their nature - rewarding those who have time to justify the cost of them - standard memberships will likely always favour older golfers who don't have the same family and work pressures as younger players, and on the face of it, there is nothing especially troubling about that.

Golf's suitability for older people is something to be embraced rather than rejected. The fact that this game can be played for life is a unique selling point and is a huge positive. This demographic will likely always be the most sizeable at clubs unless the very system of memberships was to be upended. 

That said, we should still be doing the absolute most to attract younger generations, whether it be partnerships with schools, fully accommodating junior programmes and balanced memberships for young adults.

We believe that flexible memberships have a place - there is certainly demand for it - and introducing those widely alongside the stripping back of nonsense rules and regulations will make the game even more inclusive and welcoming.

Balancing Needs of Members & Visitors

The healthiest golf clubs have a burgeoning membership aligned with a regular cohort of visitors who leave happy and want to return - but keeping everyone content is a challenge. 

Whether it be tee time access or offering affordable green fees that don't step on the toes of members, it's rare to find somewhere that every golfer is left satisfied.

In previous surveys, a growing number of respondents have reported that they believe green fees are too high, which is arguably a sustainable arrangement for clubs if the membership population is strong and they don't require many visitors.

That said, if members were to decline in numbers, then green fees may have to be reviewed again.

Slow Play

Whether you're playing the strongest golf club or a bustling municipal or resort venue, the one thing that more or less unites everyone is a disdain for slow play and rounds taking an interminable period of time to complete.

We love spending a few hours on the course, but you have to draw the line somewhere, and it's something that can frustrate both members and visitors.

It's an everlasting question to answer. The solution is likely multi-faceted and will involve educating more people about playing Ready Golf, increasing tee-time intervals, improved marshalling and tracking of time.

Standing back from these issues that we have raised, the picture for golf clubs is an overall positive one, but these topics are rumbling under the surface and mustn't be ignored if a potential industry earthquake of the future is to be avoided.

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