How to Turn Someone Into a Golf Club Member

We have written a great deal about the respective benefits of club membership and nomadic golf. I fall firmly into the membership camp. For me, it represents great value and offers me a great social life, as well as the opportunity to play some competitive sport.

And it got me thinking about what I would do if I was asked to try to persuade a golfing nomad to have a rethink.

So here goes….

Surely the first benefit has to be financial. If you are somebody who goes out and pays a regular visitor green fee and play only 50 rounds of golf every year then I am pretty sure you are not going to get much change out of £2,500. On top of that, at many courses you will be paying more than the members for food and drink. I pay about £780 a year for my golf and play twice a week - do the maths.

I understand that part of the attraction of being able to pick and choose the courses you play means that you get plenty of variety. I am an active member of my golf club’s senior section and we play a series of friendly matches throughout the year.

We play 10 away matches and we never pay more than £20 - for that we get 18 holes of competitive golf, coffee on arrival and a meal at the end. It is also a great way to meet people.

And that brings another benefit to mind.

As a nomadic golfer, my guess is that you would regularly play in the same fourball. There is, of course, nothing wrong with that but if you join a club and are prepared to immerse yourself then you will quickly build up a large social circle of like-minded people to play with.

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

I realise that competitive golf is not for everybody but being a member of a club is going to give you that chance to play in as many or as few competitions as you want. As a club member it is also easier to get yourself a handicap.

As a member you will almost certainly be entitled to some discounts, whether it be in the pro’s shop, bar, driving range or lessons. You will also have unrestricted access to all the facilities at your club.

Nomads will tell you how difficult it can be to get tee times. Many clubs supposedly welcome visitors but then make it really difficult to get access to decent times. As a member you will have access to a club booking system, and you will be able to pick and choose when you want to play, and who you want to play with.

Once you have got yourself established you will walk into the bar and the staff will call you by name and will quickly get to know what you want to drink even before you order it.

As a club member you can get yourself a county card. For the life of me, I do not understand why every golfer does not do this. As a nomadic golfer one of the attractions is the ability to play different courses. A county card will allow you to visit other courses in your area at greatly reduced prices.

As a member you can simply turn up and play a few holes after work or spend an hour or so on the driving range and then head out for a few holes. This is not something you would be doing as a non-member.

If you’re aiming to improve your game, there is no question that joining a golf club will help you on your way. For starters, you will have access to a PGA Professional. This means you can opt for individual or group tuition. Having recently returned to the game I found that I was struggling with parts of my game so booked a lesson. It cost me £50 and the benefits were immediate. I am not suggesting that nomadic golfers do not consult teaching pros but as a member you will get feedback from others at the club about the quality of the pro.

You will also be able to play against better players, and when you play the same course on a regular basis then you will be able to gauge your progress.

I fully understand that there are lots of people out there who simply have no interest in joining a golf club but if you do average around one round a week then I would seriously urge you to have a rethink. Did you know that 500,000 men, women and children in the UK are golf club members? They cannot all be wrong.

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