English golf clubs reporting 20k new members since May
SURREY, United Kingdom (Sept. 14, 2020) – Golf is booming on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, with clubs in the United Kingdom reporting a 40% increase in rounds and 20,000 new members, according to a feature in Golf Inc. magazine.
“We know how hard golf courses across Great Britain have worked to make themselves COVID secure and welcoming to members and visitors alike, so they more than deserve to reap the rewards of that now,” said Richard Payne, who spearheads Sports Marketing Survey’s Golf Research. “[We] believe that busy, thriving golf courses can become a part of that new normal, and the challenge for the industry is to keep up the good work and convert new players to the game to make that a reality.
He said to do that, golf courses must engage with new audiences.
England Golf CEO Jeremy Tomlinson told The Sunday Times that English golf clubs have collectively seen 20,000 new members join in the three months since most venues reopened following coronavirus-imposed shutdowns.
One of the clubs that’s thriving is in Scotland. Moray Golf Club reported it has attracted 320 new members. The club is also seeing the course become extremely popular, with nearly double the number of people playing it this August compared with a year earlier.
“When the country went into lockdown, we predicted that we would be out of money by July,” Derek Ramsay, Moray GC’s PGA professional, told The Golf Business. “However, things are even better now than usual, and it’s been amazing to see such a significant improvement in memberships, especially with young people.”
He said the club has new members who never played before and had never been members of a club.
“We had to figure out a new method of scheduling tee times to make sure everyone got their time on the course,” Ramsay said.