The Golf Club Manager: May 2020

THE GOLF CLUB

MANAGER I S S U E 3 6 | M AY 2 0 2 0

THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE GOLF CLUB MANAGERS’ ASSOCIATION

ORT: SPECIAL REPLUBS C HOW OUR ITH ARE COPING WUS CORONAVIR

INDUSTRY

WHAT YOU HAD TO SAY ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE THE GOLF COURSE 2030 PROJECT REVEALS ITS FIRST S U R V E Y R E S U LT S THE BIG INTERVIEW

‘IT’S A VALIDATION OF WHAT YOU DO’

BROADSTONE’S GENERAL MANAGER ED RICHARDSON ON P U S H I N G T H E H E AT H L A N D CO U R S E U P T H E R A N K I N G L I S TS

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E ‘

Updating your Golf car fleet?

Introducing the new GCMA Business Partner.

Speak to Yamaha today about the unique GCMA Member benefits, and a lease or purchase plan to suit your business. www.yamaha-motor.eu/uk www.golfcars.co.uk

01932 358000

GCMA_Oct_2019.indd 1

business partner

17/10/2019 3:29:31 PM

CONTENTS I S S U E 3 6 | M AY 2 0 2 0

GCMA

BEST PRACTICE

08

Advice for the phased return to golf

50 How to market your club when lockdown is eased

10

How our clubs are coping with coronavirus

54 What you had to say about climate change

NEED TO KNOW

GRASS ROOTS

20

62 Meet Alnmouth (Foxton) GM Daniel Harrison

The British Isles club that is still playing golf

THE BIG INTERVIEW 36

Broadstone’s Ed Richardson

10

20

36

THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE GOLF CLUB MANAGERS’ ASSOCIATION GCMA Bristol & Clifton Golf Club, Beggar Bush Lane, Failand, Bristol, BS8 3TH Tel: 01275 391153 | hq@gcma.org.uk CHIEF EXECUTIVE Bob Williams - bob@gcma.org.uk GOLF MANAGEMENT RESEARCHER Jim Cunning - jim@gcma.org.uk FINANCE ADMINISTRATOR Lianne Banks - lianne@gcma.org.uk COMMUNICATIONS EXECUTIVE Marie Taylor - marie@gcma.org.uk MEMBERSHIP SERVICES Julie Knight - julie@gcma.org.uk PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Gavin Robinson- gavin@gcma.org.uk BUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS MANAGER Craig Cotterill - craig@gcma.org.uk PRESIDENT JR (John) Jones 2019/20 CAPTAIN Ian Symington BOARD OF DIRECTORS Phil Grice, Amy Yeates, Andrew Rankin, Judy Barker, Stuart Leech, Brad McLean THE GOLF CLUB MANAGER IS PUBLISHED BY: SPORTS PUBLICATIONS LTD 2 Arena Park, Tarn Lane, Scarcroft, West Yorkshire, LS17 9BF, UK Tel: 0113 289 3979 | info@sportspub.co.uk PUBLISHER Tom Irwin - t.irwin@sportspub.co.uk CONTENT DIRECTOR Dan Murphy - d.murphy@sportspub.co.uk EDITOR Steve Carroll - s.carroll@sportspub.co.uk PRODUCTION EDITOR James Broadhurst - j.broadhurst@sportspub.co.uk CHIEF DESIGNER Andrew Kenworthy - a.kenworthy@sportspub.co.uk DESIGNERS Emmi Parry - e.parry@sportspub.co.uk Becky Clark - b.clark@sportspub.co.uk Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, but the publishers cannot accept responsibility for omissions and errors. All material in this publication is strictly copyright and all rights are reserved.The views expressed in The Golf Club Manager do not necessarily represent the views of the company or the editor. Every care is taken in compiling the contents but the publishers assume no responsibility for any damage, loss or injury arising from participation in any offer, competition or advertising contained within The Golf Club Manager.

THE GOLF CLUB

MANAGER I S S U E 3 6 | M AY 2 0 2 0

THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE GOLF CLUB MANAGERS’ ASSOCIATION

RT: SPECIAL REPO HOW OUR CLUBS ARE COPING WITH CORONAVIRUS

INDUSTRY

WHAT YOU HAD TO SAY ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE THE GOLF COURSE 2030 PROJECT REVEALS ITS FIRST S U R V E Y R E S U LT S THE BIG INTERVIEW

‘IT’S A VALIDATION OF WHAT YOU DO’

BROADSTONE’S GENERAL MANAGER ED RICHARDSON ON P U S H I N G T H E H E AT H L A N D CO U R S E U P T H E R A N K I N G L I S TS

ED U C AT E | I N FO RM | I N S P I RE ‘

ON THE COVER: Broadstone general manager Ed Richardson

WELCOME

I S S U E 3 6 | M AY 2 0 2 0

W

e are now well into the second month of lockdown and, like many of you, I am beginning to struggle with the working from home scenario - though I do have to say that I don’t miss my constant battle with motorways as, in a normal year, I would be right in the middle of attending the Spring regional meetings.

As I am writing this, Boris Johnson has announced that we are now past the peak of the coronavirus, so one would hope that we will begin to see a chink of light at the end of the tunnel.

However, as we begin to look forward, we will all need to be aware of how we manage the member or customer expectations when they return to the golf course.

I am included in a number of regional WhatsApp groups and it is really encouraging that some managers will be ready to open for business almost as soon as we are given the green light.

We have now had over a thousand views for our regular members’ webinar each Wednesday afternoon. From these we have endeavoured to provide you with regular up to the minute information, which was this week complemented by the delivery of the guidance for reopening golf from the professional organisations and The R&A. All are designed to help as you make the preparations for when

your doors reopen.

Next Wednesday (May 6), we have invited David Shepherd, from The Scandinavian Club in Denmark, to share his experiences and the lessons he learned when reopening his club.

We will be continuing to host the Wednesday webinars until we are through the Covid-19 crisis and, while it appears that a number of golf club board and committee meetings are now being held virtually around the country, we have made the decision to virtually host the National AGM on Monday, June 22, starting at 11am.

With regard to the National Captain, David Carlisle will be installed, but it has been agreed that he will remain in post for the remainder of this year and 2021.

I will be issuing the AGM notice within the next two weeks and, as prior notice, the Board will be seeking nominations for two directors on this occasion.

Stay safe and well.

Bob Williams – chief executive

Get MORE advanced lightning detection with the BTD-200 Lightning Warning System

MOST ADVANCED SYSTEM EVER

The Biral BTD-200 Lightning Warning System is a complete, quick readyto-run design, self-contained sensor that reliably detects the presence of all forms of lightning to a range of 35km. reesinkturfcare.co.uk Get MORE from your turfcare partner this year: More products . More advice . More training . More finance

Reesink UK LTD is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Images shown for illustration only.

BI0008 GCMA May CS Biral 255x185.indd 1

01/05/2020 11:55

0208 133 6751 www.albatross.digital james@albatross.digital

ARE YOU LOOKING TO DRAMATICALLY INCREASE YOUR MEMBERSHIP, GROUP BOOKING AND EVENT ENQUIRIES ON YOUR WEBSITE?

INTRODUCING THE C H A T B O T

70% It is said that an astonishing 70% of visitors who abandon your website will never return.

Our brand new chatbot sits on your website 24/7 enabling you to communicate with customers by automatically handling detailed booking enquiries around the clock for your sales team to follow up with.

It’s more important than ever to be capturing visitors attention and turning them into quality leads.

210%

Can I help you?

Enquire now

Albatross clients who have used the Albatross Chatbot have seen an increase in website enquiries of over 210%

GET YOURS FREE SCAN TO FIND OUT MORE AND SIGN UP FOR YOUR CLUBS FREE CHATBOT NOW OPEN UP YOUR SMARTPHONE CAMERA, POINT YOUR PHONE AT THE QR CODE, CLICK THE LINK ON SCREEN OR DOWNLOAD QR CODE SCANNER FROM GOOGLE PLAY OR THE APP STORE. ALTERNATIVELY, VISIT THE LINK BELOW.

qrco.de/albatrosschatbot THIS IS A COMPLETELY FREE SERVICE UNTIL THE 30TH JUNE 2020 AND CAN BE REMOVED FROM YOUR WEBSITE DURING OR UPON COMPLETING THE TRIAL AT YOUR REQUEST. THERE WILL BE A SMALL FEE MOVING AFTER THE 30TH JUNE. PLEASE CONTACT US FOR MORE DETAILS.

GCMA Everything you need to know about what’s happening around the UK in the world of the GCMA

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

Guiding the way for the

RETURN TO GOLF The association worked in tandem with the sport’s professional bodies to produce a guide outlining how clubs could reopen once government restrictions have been eased

G

uidance outlining how clubs could consider operating when reopening after the coronavirus lockdown was released by the association.

Working in partnership with golf’s professional bodies, the advice gives clubs measures to

8 | GCMA.ORG.UK

consider as they prepare for life once government restrictions have been eased.

Titled ‘Operational Guidance For the Future Phased Reopening Of Golf Facilities’, it was produced by the GCMA along with the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA), British Golf Industry Association (BGIA),

British and International Golf Greenkeepers’ Association (BIGGA), Foremost, TGIGolf, and the UK Golf Federation.

The 2,500 word document covers preparing the course, starting a phased return to play, carrying out PGA professional services, clubhouse management, and resuming full services.

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

The purpose, it says,“is to offer practical advice and guidance across a number of areas to help golf clubs and courses, driving ranges, and their professional staff to prepare for re-opening when the government advises that it is safe to do so.”

GCMA members should have been emailed the full guidance and you can also review it in the Covid-19 hub on the website.

But here are some of the key points with relevance to club managers:

Playing on the golf course Facilities are “advised to begin planning for a range of procedures that may be insisted upon to allow safe play to take place”.

These include: Tee time booking should be done online if at all possible Consider increasing the time between tee times to allow for

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

easier social distancing Consider restricting number of players in a group Consider playing a reduced number of holes (eg nine holes) Any payment should be taken online or by contactless methods Clubhouses may initially remain shut so ask people to arrive shortly before their tee time (eg 10-15 minutes) and change their shoes etc. in the car park Consider access to toilets It may be necessary to employ marshals on the golf course to ensure that the social distancing directive is maintained between players Remove the flagsticks or ask golfers to leave the flag in at all times. If the flagstick is left in, use a hole liner system that means that the ball doesn’t drop and can be retrieved without touching the cup Remove the bunker rakes and cover or close ball washers and any other course furniture that would otherwise be touched Golfers should be asked to leave the venue as soon as their game is completed Starting clubhouse management and administration Whilst the clubhouse may remain closed for the initial period, there will be a need for the management of the club to be maintained. At this time offices and administration areas should not be available for golfers or visitors to frequent or visit. All members and visitors will need to be made aware of the alternative communication channels that are available to them Those responsible for overseeing the running of the club, Owners, Directors and Committee members, need to agree and adhere to a cohesive policy and set of procedures that are

delivered on a consistent basis The club administration areas and offices will need to be sufficiently arranged to ensure that either lone working (split shifts) or adequate social distancing is adhered to. Should there be need to provide a reception facility, then adequate protective screening will need to be deployed Hand sanitisers and only disposable hand towels should be used for staff toilet facilities regular cleaning procedures will be required for these areas In the instance of maintenance personnel being involved in clubhouse activities, they should be suitably attired with protective clothing and report in and out of the facility Should the decision be made to open the locker rooms and toilets, then there is a need to ensure they are cleaned and sanitised at regular intervals Ensure all safety measures are shared with all employees and that their health and wellbeing is the number one priority, encourage them to share any concerns and empower them to request that golfers adhere to social distancing measures and report any issues to managers.

OPERATIONAL GUID ANCE FOR THE FUTURE PHASED RE-OPEN ING OF GOLF FACIILIT IES This paper contains operationa l guidance for profession al staff engaged in the managem clubs and driving ranges that may be adopted when ent of golf courses, government COVID-19 of golf facilities. These guidelines restrictions permit the may be updated depending re-opening on further government guidance or amended social distancing measures.

INTRODUCTION The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the closure of golf facilities. At some basis, and golf will open point these restrictions for business once again. will be lifted, most likely on a phased It will be essential that golf re-opens in a responsible and safe way and that See the links below for government advice and the current guidance: policy are adhered to at all times.

UK link - https://www.nhs.uk/cond itions/coronavirus-covid -19/ Ireland link – https://www .gov.ie/en/campaigns/c36 c85-covid-19-coronavirus / The purpose of this document is to offer practical advice and guidance across a number ranges and their professional of areas to help golf clubs staff to prepare for re-opening and courses, driving when the government This guidance has been advises that it is safe to prepared and is supported do so. by key stakeholders in the wellbeing of golfers and golf industry with a view members of staff alike. to ensuring the safety and The guidance in this document

is split into a number of

areas:

Preparing the golf course

Starting a phased return to play Starting PGA Professional services Starting clubhouse managemen t and administration Resuming full services

PREPARING THE GOLF COURSE

Golf courses have been permitted to carry out essential maintenance increased maintenance during the period of course levels, then the primary closure. If government consideration should continue regulations allow to be ensuring staff safety.

Measures relating to staff should include but not be limited to: • Ensure suitable disinfectant and hand sanitiser is provided in all communal areas • Stagger working hours and break times • Limit or prohibit use of communal areas • Ensure there is a robust lone working policy • Encourage staff to bring their own food and drink for their breaks and for • Appoint a senior member this to be stored safely of staff to be responsible and separately for disinfecting / sanitising fuel pumps. The same member all surfaces that are touched, of staff should be responsible for example door handles, • Ensure team meetings, for opening and closing doors to the maintenance if they are necessary, are held outdoors or in large facility • Utilise modern communicat indoor spaces with physical ion methods, for example distancing implemented online systems, mobile briefings and job sheets phones etc. for team communicat ions rather than indoor • Ensure there is a high focus on hygiene and physical distancing • Ensure staff members work separately, not in pairs / groups where possible • Allocate individual machinery to one staff member only • Fully sanitise all machinery after use, focusing on all areas that the staff member has come into contact with N.B. Where this document refers to ‘sanitisers’ and ‘sanitising wipes’, please that these should be a minimum follow government recommenda of 70% alcohol based. tions; this would usually advise

GCMA.ORG.UK | 9

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

How have clubs been coping with

CORONAVIRUS?

O

ur golf clubs may have been shut as the coronavirus pandemic forced us into lockdown but that does not mean managers haven’t been thinking of innovative ways to keep their clubs going and engage with members.

That may have been using incentives to encourage renewals during one of the most tricky subscription periods we’ve ever seen or showcasing charitable sides by helping the NHS during its hour of need. There have been countless examples of GCMA members and their clubs stepping up during this unprecedented time.

We highlight a few of those stories here…

Knebworth – the club that refuses to give up “I’m only hoping there’s no plague of locusts coming to finish us off,” said Mark Bierton, half jokingly.

For Knebworth’s general manager, the pandemic has been the latest in a string of misfortunes to strike the Hertfordshire club over the past few months.

Their struggles read like something out of the Old Testament. Last August, a fire ripped through their clubhouse causing such extensive damage that parts of it remain inaccessible.

One of the wettest winters on record followed and forced repeated closures and blocked off two holes.

Then there was no golf at all as

10 | GCMA.ORG.UK

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

Whether it’s offering membership deals or helping the NHS, GCMA member clubs have responded to the crisis in very different ways…

Knebworth

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

the globe came to a halt in the face of a microscopic enemy.

This trio of fire, flood and pestilence might have finished off those of perhaps lesser will and determination.

In the face of such adversity, though, magical things have been happening at Knebworth that have stirred the spirits of everyone connected with the 112-year-old club.

It started with a membership offer – a discount on fees chiefs hoped would get some cash into the club with renewals on the way.

“When we first closed, we put a very positive statement out from myself and the board outlining our membership message going forward,”Bierton said.

“Members paid April’s direct debit to keep parity with the current full payers as, in our current situation, giving that money back would have been very difficult.

“Going into the new membership year, we actually offered an 8.5% discount on overall fees.

“We had already publicised a fees increase, which we removed, and brought subscriptions back down to the same as last year.

“I know these measures sound quite drastic but it works out that the direct debit payers will get their last payment next year free – April 2021 – and the annual payers received an 8.5% discount if they renewed by April 17.

“The idea was to get the cashflow of the club strong and get the members committed.

GCMA.ORG.UK | 11

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

Knebworth

“It worked in a way I didn’t expect it to. A lot of members came back, the traditional club members, and said,‘I don’t want a discount. I want to pay my fees, support the club and look forward to it reopening.’

“Others are very grateful for the discount and have re-engaged with the club because it has been offered.

“It’s heartening and we are very lucky with the membership we have. They are a very strong and committed bunch and, within the communications we sent out, it was about more than just the golf.

“We were asking people to perhaps think about what the golf club has done for them in their lives and what it has added to their lives.

“A lot of the members started to reflect and say ‘I’d be lost without

12 | GCMA.ORG.UK

it’. It’s a lot of their social scene.

“A lot of their friends – now lifelong friends – came from the golf club. They’ve used it as an opportunity to put back.”

The builders had just begun work to repair the clubhouse before the scale of the virus became evident. And Knebworth had only just fully reopened their course following the winter’s destructive impact.

“Winter was pretty tough,” admitted Bierton.“The rainfall stats suggest we had a year’s worth of rain in six months.

“Something is going to have to give somewhere and dropping down to 16 holes hinders your ability to sell green fees.

“We’d just got back to 18 holes,

the course was starting to really shine, maintenance was done and went down very well and the greens were coming back into spring play.

“The comments and feedback were positive. We were turning the corner into the season and then we were closed.”

So the club was faced with a scenario familiar to countless others up and down the UK. Fifteen staff members were furloughed, including all on clubhouse, catering, and food and beverage.

Three greenkeepers remained to carry out essential course maintenance and Bierton and his membership team stayed to navigate renewals.

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

GCMA.ORG.UK | 13

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

In the midst of such uncertainty, the response of the members cheered him and his team and leaves them hopeful about the future.

He explained:“This is a test of the strength of a golf club and it just shows that a club is only as strong as its members.

“Our captain for the year, for example, volunteered to pay full fees. Now captaincy is a lifelong dream for a lot of people and something that should be remembered so they get their year free and it costs them a lot of money on top of that.

“As a show of solidarity, he wanted to come forward and pay his fees. That is the general feeling among the club - that they want to do as much as they possibly can to make sure they have got the best club they can possibly have following this pandemic.”

Sutton Coldfield – the club that stepped up for the NHS Every second can count when treating someone with coronavirus. So when NHS chiefs asked Sutton Coldfield for help, officials at the West Midlands club couldn’t respond quickly enough. The club loaned three electric buggies to help the team putting together the NHS Nightingale Hospital, at the NEC near Birmingham, get round the massive site speedily and easily.

The vast new temporary field hospital at the exhibition and conference venue was constructed in just two weeks.

It was designed to treat people with Covid-19, while making sure there’s enough intensive care capacity in acute settings to help the most seriously ill patients.

But with 500 beds on site, negotiating the huge arena posed a challenge.

14 | GCMA.ORG.UK

Sutton Coldfield club manager Haydn Lunn said they were “absolutely delighted” to be able to help.

“The management team overseeing the development of the NHS Nightingale told us the difficulties they were having in covering such a huge site,” he explained.

“If you’ve ever been to one of the exhibitions there, you’ll know it is a massive area. They were being delayed by the inability to get around the site quickly enough.

“They were talking to a member of Sutton Coldfield, who got in touch with myself, and we rapidly got our COBRA committee together, as we call it.

“That’s the officers and the club manager and ex-captain and we decided it would be a fantastic idea to help out the NHS in their situation.

“We provided three electric golf buggies that were collected on a low-loader truck.

“The captain, Mark Howell, was there, along with the honorary treasurer, Stephen Rochester, and myself to load the buggies on and off they went to the NEC. “We were absolutely delighted to help. Everybody wants to be able to do something – whatever they can – for the NHS and this seemed a very practical and pretty crucial move, to help these guys get about the site quickly and get the hospital up and running as soon as possible.

“Everybody is massively appreciative of what the NHS are doing. There are very few ways you can help. This was just the one way we thought we could do our bit and we we’re absolutely delighted to be in that position.”

Close House – the club that gave members free video lessons

Sutton Coldfield

If the members couldn’t come to Close House, chiefs at the British Masters hosts decided to take the club to them.

The PGA coaching team at the Newcastle venue reached out to offer free video and online golf lessons during the period of lockdown.

Matthew Naylor, Sally HintonLewis, Tim Cockill and Will Robson studied video swings, answered queries and offered advice – keeping the club very centrally in the minds of members even though they couldn’t take to the two courses at the estate.

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

Managing director Jonathan Lupton said:“The pros have been trying to put some content online and we thought it was a nice option and we had a really nice response.

“We have internal groups of staff who feed back and give us ideas and we’re not scared to try and hopefully use the expertise we have to give the members an even better experience.

“If we can keep them in touch, post pictures and keep them informed about how things are looking, that just whets their appetite and makes them really want to come back – whenever it is possible.”

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

With many golfers paying fees monthly by direct debit, the club offered two options during this crisis, which gave those keen to support the club the opportunity to do so while also acknowledging the financial distress others may have been under as the lockdown hit. The first saw members continue to pay fees but be offered a payment holiday during corresponding months next year.

The second saw payments frozen until the club reopens.

“It’s been a balancing act – trying to find a solution where we can keep some valuable cash flow coming

into the business,” Lupton added.

“At Close House, we’ve spent a lot of time trying to get people on direct debits so we can manage our cashflow better through the season. That leaves you a little bit vulnerable when something like this does strike.

“We try to communicate with the members and explain that a golf course isn’t like a gym. It’s not like we can just close the doors and reopen in two months time and everything will look almost like it did when you left.

“We’ve got 400 acres to look after at Close House and the

GCMA.ORG.UK | 15

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

Close House

greenkeeping team have got to be there every day to ensure when we do reopen we look as good, or better, than the day we closed.

“We’re giving members the option of continuing to support the golf course, and then taking a payment holiday when we’re up and running and have more revenue coming in, and we’re supporting people at this challenging time and saying ‘we’ll suspend your payment but keep you a member of the golf club and show you the support you’ve shown us over the period of being a member’.

16 | GCMA.ORG.UK

“I know it’s much easier to retain a member than it is to find a new one. If we can do that and look after the membership, hopefully, if we can get playing again in late May or June or July, we’ll have happy members returning to the golf club and enjoying being part of the club again.”

Haydock Park – the club that saw members flocking to renew Renewals time can be worrying enough for a club without having the doors shut because of a pandemic.

But Haydock Park met the

challenge head on – by deciding to move their membership year.

Many clubs have had to appeal for the support of members while they are closed to ensure they have the cashflow to stay afloat.

Haydock Park’s year runs from April until March and the North West club had only received 15 per cent of their renewals for the 2020/21 year when the lockdown arrived.

So they decided to freeze the golfing year with their new 12-month term beginning only when members can get back out on the course. To further encourage commitment, business manager

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

Stephen Nicholson promoted a monthly scheme, run by Fairway Credit, and the club pledged to pay the interest on payments for all members during the period of closure.

Nicholson explained:“Our membership year runs April to the following March so the timing of the enforced closure could not have been worse.

“At that point we had only received 15 per cent of the renewals for the new membership year. The Board agreed that members should only pay for when we’re open, so that made the decision to freeze the membership straightforward.

“The problem with the move to us as a business would be the effect on cashflow. We considered members might not want to pay all the money upfront for their subscription, but the club didn’t want to have multiple and split payment methods.”

Their actions resulted in more than 80 per cent of renewals being processed. Haydock Park also extended membership deadlines and their respective club captains will see their years of office shift into the 2021/22 season.

“We had just about managed to stage our Captain’s Drive-In the weekend before the closure which was well attended given the social distancing measures and circumstances,” added Nicholson.

“Unfortunately, it looks as though a large part of our captains’ respective years will be wiped out and, as a result, we have already agreed with all respective parties that their years of office will run into 2021/22.

“We felt we needed to be decisive to help appease our members during this difficult time and that decisiveness looks to have paid dividends.”

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

GCMA.ORG.UK | 17

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

18 | GCMA.ORG.UK

018 GCMA Display Ads.indd 18

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

04/05/2020 10:53

Need to

KNOW All the relevant news, opinion, and expert insight from around the industry

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

The club in the British Isles where you can

STILL PLAY GOLF

T

hey’ve gone 120 years without enforcing tee bookings at La Moye but a pandemic will bring changes overnight. A round at the Jersey club is now strictly controlled. You play as a single, or a twoball if it’s with someone in your own household.

20 | GCMA.ORG.UK

You select whether you want to play off the 1st or 10th. And it’s nine holes only.

Everything else is shut: the clubhouse, locker room, changing rooms, pro shop, trolley room.

“The whole emphasis has been on getting people on the golf course, round the course and off

site as quickly as possible,” says general manager Richard Cutler.

If you’re wondering why the members at La Moye can still get a round in while your club has been closed then you need to remember that Jersey isn’t in the United Kingdom.

It’s part of the British Isles but it’s

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

La Moye are one of three clubs on Jersey open for play during coronavirus. General manager Richard Cutler explains how it works

a Crown Dependency and so the Channel Island territory makes its own laws and arrangements.

And while the doors have been bolted at UK clubs, as the governing bodies instructed their member clubs, authorities here took a different view. “As large open spaces, golf

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

courses can stay open as long as social distancing is fully observed and monitored, ensuring there is no congregation whatsoever on the course or in other outdoor spaces such as car parks,� said the Government of Jersey.

At only nine miles by five miles, or 45 square miles in total, the

opportunities for public open space are perhaps more limited for the 110,000 people who live on the island than across the water.

So La Moye, along with Les Mielles and Wheatlands on Jersey, have remained open.

Keeping the club accessible has proven to be a real lifeline for

GCMA.ORG.UK | 21

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

members.

“The first thing we thought we should do was concentrate on our members only,” explains Cutler of the procedures brought in to keep golf going, as well as ensuring players are kept safe.

“All the measures we introduced have been about providing as much control as possible as to who is here, and how many, at any one time.

“We have got 155 acres of golf course and felt if we could control the number of people who set foot on it properly, and those people behaved properly, then we could offer a relatively safe way to keep getting some golf and some light exercise.

“I’ve had a lot of feedback from the members and they’ve been delighted to keep playing golf.

“But not only to keep playing, but to come out and get their light exercise in an area that’s actually safer than the public parks, or even the beaches and public spaces on the island.

“It’s a more controlled environment.

“With these measures, there is a limit as to how many people can be on that land space at any one time, which isn’t the case if you go for a walk in a public space.”

Adapting to new circumstances has been key and nowhere, in Cutler’s judgement, has that been seen more from La Moye members than in the adopting of a tee booking system for casual rounds.

“Bear in mind we are a private members’ golf club that’s never operated a tee booking system before,” he adds.

“Our members don’t really want a tee booking system. As a private members’ club, they want to turn up and play at will.

“That’s what they can do under normal circumstances. They have adapted superbly well to the tee booking system.

22 | GCMA.ORG.UK

“They were used to booking tee times for competitions but not for general play.

“We’ve transitioned from a 120-year-old club that’s never had tee times to one that does overnight without any complaints whatsoever.

“It has been quite amazing how adaptable big groups of people can be if the circumstances call for it.”

That tee sheet has been full each day, from 7am until 6.30pm, but don’t imagine there are hordes of golfers milling around threatening social distancing rules.

It’s no more than two people, from the 1st and 10th, going off every 10 minutes.

“That’s a maximum of 36 people on the golf course at any one time, pretty much.

“We’re allowing members to book up to a week in advance and are urging them to cancel their tee times if it becomes clear they can’t play – so we are making best use of all available times.”

Perhaps in this crisis it’s in the small things where you can find hope.

For Cutler, that’s been in the unexpected combination of people who have come together to tee it up at La Moye.

“I’ve seen a lot more people playing golf with their kids than I ever have before – a father and daughter, mother and son, or similar,” he reveals.

“It’s happening so quickly and, frankly, we didn’t see a lot of 12-year-olds, 15- or 18-year-olds on the course.

“But when I look through the tee sheet, it’s a parent with a child so regularly now that it is tremendous.

“I’m hoping some of these young people will have a passion for the game instilled in them during this time that might last them a lifetime.”

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

GCMA.ORG.UK | 23

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

A matter of opinion: What is the

FUTURE OF GOLF?

Royal Norwich at the opening in 2019

24 | GCMA.ORG.UK

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

Coronavirus has changed the world and golf will not come out unscathed either. But what might the sport look like in the months and years to come? We asked three industry experts to consider what lies ahead

T

he lockdown continues as we stand, our clubs are shut, and who knows how they will look even when the coronavirus pandemic eases? What most of us can agree on, though, is that when the doors finally reopen the landscape for golf will look very different.

So how will clubs have to adapt and what opportunities exist for those that do? Phil Grice, GCMA chairman and Royal Norwich director, Tom Irwin, commercial director at publisher Sports Publications, and golf management consultant Eddie Bullock look at the world after Covid-19.

The landscape for golf is going to be very different compared to before this pandemic…

Phil Grice: Nobody is going to open the door and say ‘go on and crack on and go back to where you were’. It’s how are we going to manage a staggered return?

We were thinking ‘two months, maybe three, and we will be back to where we were’.That’s not going to happen. You are not going to be earning money from catering in the way we previously did, certainly in the short to medium term. There may still be some summertime left but how you manage that is going to be difficult.

When we opened our facility, the issue I didn’t ever foresee was how popular we were going to be.

I think golf is going to have that issue.

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

Everyone has been staying at home and everybody is going to want to get back out there.

In this first month back, we won’t suddenly be allowed into office blocks, or buildings, because of social distancing so you are going to have an abundance of people wanting to play on golf courses, see friends and exercise.

Clubs have got to be as creative as they can when thinking about how they are going to manage that. It isn’t going to be how it was and it’s fundamental people start thinking creatively and sharing ideas.

For the first few weeks after we re-open its unlikely golfers will play 18 holes.

I envisage we will be two loops of 9, and a separate loop of six that is our 6-hole course to help maximise opportunity for some golf. Would you rather get two loops of 9 across a week, or 18, or none? Golf clubs have usually got 600 to 800 members. If you’re sending them off in potentially two and three-balls, you can’t fit them all out there.

On the back of a really wet winter, we’ve begged members to pay their renewals. Are we now going to be saying “there’s no tee times available?”A fair use policy to allow everyone to get onto the course needs careful thought We’ve got to try and spread that love and make the loaves and fishes go as far and wide as we can.

Eddie Bullock: There’s no question we’ve got to sell the value of

GCMA.ORG.UK | 25

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

membership better than we did before and what the privileges are.

True clubs connect their members and the teams that are part of that club have got to embrace the membership and be great hosts.

That’s predominantly going to be one of the main factors: how you do that, how smart you are and what kind of games you play.

Phil has talked about the future of outdoor food activities and we may be miles away from that but at least what we are doing is making some plans to move forward. That will be crucial for the business and teams to take responsibility.

I also think that tourism is going to be a real opportunity, if planned correctly. I would think there will be a lack of confidence and possible restrictions for overseas family holidays for some time. This is an opportunity for modest clubs to get into the market of working with their local tourism boards and merging with other clubs to sell different packages. That’s one area I can see for the future.

How are you envisaging the first few weeks for golf when we resume? What kind of facilities might clubs offer?

PG: I don’t foresee clubhouses being open. Where we will have a real issue is toilets, shower and changing facilities.

The issue with creating two loops of 9 is you could potentially double the throughput of golfers.

People may not leave quite as quickly. Golfers are used to being out of the house for four or five hours, and you’re only getting two hours of golf. There maybe an opportunity to eat outside or socialising, which will need managing.

We’ll want to communicate having a cup of coffee and being with our friends outside. We’ll want

26 | GCMA.ORG.UK

to see other faces. People will want to normalise and that’s going to create problems, depending on guidelines.

There are those pinch points.

Locker rooms are going to be a pinch point, as will the 1st tee and putting greens when you’ve got people close together.

We don’t know what it will look like yet but we can look at Italy, and places like that, over the next couple of weeks and start to get a feel for how they’ve done it.

I think introducing 9-hole rates, when we’ve not had those before, is going to become imperative for the foreseeable future.

There will be a lot of challenges and I fear a lot of clubs won’t make it through this, because peripheral income is going to be impacted for some time to come and cash flow is going to hit home when winter comes.

If we see this anticipated golf boom, how should clubs – who’ve had no income for the past couple of months – market themselves?

Tom Irwin: Eddie’s point about tourism is a good one. The closest I have seen in my life to this was the recession in 2008 when running a recruitment company.

We went from 120 staff to 30 in about three months. The credit crunch finally bit in October and November of 2008 but it was building throughout that year.

Most just chose to ignore it. It feels like the impact of Covid-19 on golf is going to be very similar.

We have had all these existential threats people were talking about but not really doing anything to solve. So we have all been talking about being more flexible in terms of membership packages, having more divergent facilities, or golf clubs collaborating.

RoyaL Norwich director Phil Grice

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

GCMA.ORG.UK | 27

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

Royal Norwich director Phil Grice

28 | GCMA.ORG.UK

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

But it feels like the industry has just been playing at it and now we have a tipping point.

Out of the other side, it might look like fewer facilities and those facilities offering more to people in a more flexible way.

That might be how you pay, either through a membership or green fee model, what you are able to do while you are there (what you can wear, can you use your phone, can you work from there?) and clubs trying to offer crèche facilities, gyms, and looking at how they can use their facilities in more creative ways.

From a marketing point of view, domestic tourism is 100% the key for golf. The fundamental thing is people will still want to have holidays. But more will be inclined or forced to holiday at home.

Clubs and clusters of clubs should work together to create a little tourism area. I see tourism being a big thing for all British golf courses moving forwards.

EB: 2008 was a horrible time and a lot of clubs fell into a trap where they reduced their prices.

That created a lot of damage throughout the industry.

I think we must be very careful that clubs aren’t pressurised by club committees displaying poor judgement and going back down that line and finding themselves haemorrhaging yet again because they are failing to drive revenue.

The need is to develop a clear strategic plan and an opportunity to encourage marketing opportunities for the future.

There’s an opportunity here to encourage clubs to look at their marketing opportunities in 2020 and 2021.

TI: The price led argument is very interesting. The other trend, which has been pushed out of the news agenda, is worldwide

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

handicapping and the governing bodies’ approach to it. If what Scotland are doing, in offering the independent golfer an affiliation directly to the union and a way of tracking scores and offering competitive golf, becomes more widely seen that could trigger a very different approach to how people consume golf.

It ties into the point about how a golf club prices and presents itself.

Covid-19 will accelerate that change and we could very quickly end up with clubs that are genuinely private – where you can only get on the property if you paid a membership fee – and everywhere else will become what we would regard as a pay and play model.

That model doesn’t necessarily need to be cheap. There would still be a tiered system. The Grove have made a big success of that.

Clubs need to think really carefully about how they price themselves but also what they are pricing.

Is their future to become a premium pay and play venue or are they sustainable as a very private members’ club?

PG: The middle ground of people being able to buy into a points system is going to take hold and accelerate. The bigger thing, right now, is the capacity conundrum.

You’ve only got a certain amount of capacity on your course. When we opened the new site at Royal Norwich, our regular members – on average – went from playing 2.1 times a week to 3.1. That took up a huge amount of our capacity.

Your casual golfers, and that accounts for a big part of everyone’s membership, are going to want to play more because golf is going to offer one of the few opportunities to get your exercise.

Even the infrequent golfer is going to play more. It’s how you are going to maximise the

opportunities for all these people – bearing in mind all your members, who have paid their fees for the last few months, haven’t been able to get on the golf course.

That’s going to be difficult to manage during this peak period.

You could end up with your hardcore 5, 6 and 7-day members taking up every tee-time, your semi-casuals can’t get out there and also you won’t have the capacity to take green fee rounds.

We all need to get those green fees, otherwise we are all going to be a very busy golf course but we won’t be taking a penny in green fee income that fundamentally underpins all of our numbers.

TI: If we’re talking about a period of latent demand we’re hoping is going to happen in June, July, August and September, and we’re saying people need to be able to do other things at the golf club because there will only be capacity for them to play 9-holes, then that’s great. I hope it happens.

It also applies to the future as well. You have to have more divergency at the golf club. People will want to get value from their membership. At some clubs, the only thing you can do is play golf.

On big and small scales, clubs will have to offer more.

Somewhere like Cleveland, for example, will thrive because it’s a working man’s club with a golf club attached to it. You go there to play snooker, play darts, have a drink and play golf.

At the upper end of the market, what that means is a country club.

That will have a crèche for kids, you’ll use their gym, and clubs with the size, scale and capital to support that will benefit.

If you are a more work-a-day club, you need to think really carefully about how you turn your golf club into somewhere that people just

GCMA.ORG.UK | 29

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

go to hang out.

EB: You’ve also got to respect the location and be creative in terms of how you create those innovative ideas.

TI: Picking up on the point about inefficiencies in golf clubs is this notion of shared resources. Some clubs are starting to talk about sharing greens equipment, and other resources.

That will be a trend that’s accelerated. Clubs that are willing to work together, not just from a

30 | GCMA.ORG.UK

marketing and presentation but from an operational point of view, are the ones that will survive.

EB: It will require a totally changed mindset. It will require lateral thinking, and in some cases a radical change, as some clubs must free themselves from their currently narrow vision and consider the potential opportunities of club mergers.

TI: Going back to members versus visitor clubs. For years, you’ve had this uneasy shared facility, which is

on the one hand is trying to offer value to members and the other is trying to attract visitors. They are not natural bedfellows, are they?

In many instances, you are trying to offer different things to different groups of people and it doesn’t often work.

I do think clubs would be best advised to decide, whether in five years’ time or the nearer future, whether they are a private club or a visitors’ club and adjust their model accordingly.

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

Can golf to come out of this changed for the better?

PG: Massively. Someone talked about dress codes. A huge number of things are going to change in our lives and we’re going to look at the silly little nuances and the rules we live by and say ‘they’re not important anymore’.Our values will change.

A silly little one for me – why do so many clubs ban dogs from their courses? How many families now have a dog? When I’m allowed to play golf, why wouldn’t I ask my wife and kids to bring the dog along and they walk along with me? After this period that’s going to become important to some...

Golf courses that ban dogs are almost alienating themselves. It’s a bit like saying ‘you can’t have a mobile phone in the clubhouse’.

People need it for business and live by it. You can’t make those rules anymore if you want to stay relevant.

It’s how you change from a club where people ‘can’t’ to a hub where people want to come and get together. We had a heads of department meeting recently. For three weeks after we return, the pros will be on the range a lot of the time, there will be free golf lessons, there will be chipping and putting competitions. We will give you every reason – from half an hour to two hours – to be there and help soften the blow of what you have missed out on. This is an incredible opportunity to bond and sell our clubs as communities.

The online content golf clubs have created during this has been incredible. Hopefully it will continue going forward and will engage people. When we come out of this, why wouldn’t we carry on this growing engagement with our members and the wider public?

The creativity we are seeing at the moment across golf shouldn’t stop when we emerge at the other

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

end. It should keep growing .

EB: It’s ‘how to be with others when we can’t’. It’s something new and it’s keeping people and communities together. I don’t think the main media channels have been as supportive, as it portrays the game from an historical perspective, as there have been some clubs that have made a significant transitional cultural change for the good of the game.

We’re talking about wellness.

MEET THE PANEL

Phil Grice is a director at Royal Norwich and GCMA chairman

Eddie Bullock is a renowned golf management consultant

Tom Irwin is commercial director at publisher Sports Publications There will be many single people who will have been self-isolated and not seen anyone. You’ve got people advancing in years who have never used Zoom or FaceTime and now are doing that.

We need to offer good value to the members and it’s not always looking at the pedigree players. It’s getting everybody to feel a part of this community.

This is the game where you can play with an 8 and 88-year-old. We can go out there and have good

fun with our kids and grandparents.

I haven’t done enough research on handicapping, and I’m sitting on the fence at the moment, but I feel it’s going to be a positive.

You are going to be able to go to other clubs. We want independent golfers to get the feel of what club value actually is – irrespective of how they pay for it.

We need to create golf fans, club fans – the activity within clubs has to be more diverse and innovative.

Golf is a perfect social game, unlike other sports. You play golf, talk, share, there’s the camaraderie, you spend quality time with one another. It’s more than just playing golf. It’s societal relationships.

TI: Phil’s point of latency is very good and that’s what happens when people can’t do something – they do it a lot when they can.

Golf clubs need to understand that’s a short-term spike and the longer-term view is an industry that’s going to have to change quicker than it has.

Whether that’s around clubs working collaboratively, operationally or in terms of marketing and how they present themselves, they need to start realising those things.

Clubs will, ultimately, have to offer more to a broader range of people.

PG: Tom is talking about a spectrum. Our whole industry doesn’t have a common voice. It has nobody that speaks for golf.

Everybody is fighting for their little bit of corn and no one recognises we are all part of one family.

Who speaks up for us? Everyone manages their associations differently and there is no cohesion.

When do we go to a conference together, debate things meaningfully and come out of the other end and we’re all pointing in the same direction? It doesn’t happen in our sport. It needs to.

GCMA.ORG.UK | 31

WE ARE IN THIS

TO G E T HE R 59club will offer FREE use of customer and employee Survey Tools and a Business Metrics Platform amid the current COVID-19 emergency.

Golf, leisure and other hospitality operators may use the specif ic COVID-19 Survey Templates to communicate directly with their club members, pupils, retail customers, and employees amid the current crisis.

Business Metrics enables venues to access comparable data around payroll, gross prof it, revenue, purchasing rates, stock and staff ing levels and hundreds of other variables f rom membership revenue to attrition rates.

Gather feedback to monitor customer and staff needs and behaviours, during this challenging time, with the abilty to make data comparisons on a global scale.

59club are working hard to provide clarity and vision to support the industry, at a time when it’s needed most.

DID WE MENTION THIS IS FOR FREE?

SATISFAC TION SURVE YS

www.59club.com

MYSTERY SHOPPING

01827 908349

TR AINING & EDUCATION

INDUSTRY The latest news, insightful opinions and in-depth features from the golf industry

12 GREENKEEPers.

900 MEMBERS. 500 ACRES. 45 HOLES. STIHL LIFE. ƒ

BR 800 BLOWER

FSA 130 CORDLESS BRUSHCUTTER

Golf Club Manager_Groundcare_Golf Course_Pro Range_255x185.indd 1

Hard work is par for the course in maintaining Warwickshire Golf Club. But STIHL’s professional range of petrol and cordless tools provides everything the Grounds Team needs to get the job done right.

Built to make the toughest jobs as easy as possible, whilst being reliable and robust, you can count on STIHL tools whenever you need to use them.

With brushcutters, hedge trimmers, chainsaws and more, whatever challenges your team come up against, the STIHL professional range helps you achieve the perfect finish.

AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL STIHL DEALER. STIHL.CO.UK

HS 82 T HEDGE TRIMMER

30/01/2020 15:18

In the

LOOP

The news you need to know from the last month in the golf industry…

Sharp takes the reins after McKinlay “steps aside” Karin Sharp has taken charge at Scottish Golf after Andrew McKinlay stunned the industry by stepping down to help the organisation come through the coronavirus pandemic.

McKinlay, who had been discussing future plans for the governing body only last month in The Golf Club Manager, resigned as Scottish Golf said it “like all businesses and indeed golf clubs across the country, is having to assess its business model.”

chief operating officer, had been invited to “lead the organisation with immediate effect”.

Eleanor Cannon, Scottish Golf chair, said:“The Board and Executive Team have had to make very tough decisions in order to focus on ensuring we are in a sustainable position going forward when courses reopen. With many clubs feeling the financial strain, which in turn has had a knock-on effect on our income, we have prioritised expenditure

A statement added:“The governing body has had to make some very difficult decisions regarding income and expenditure, to ensure sustainability in the current circumstances.

“To this end, our Chief Executive, Andrew McKinlay, has decided that he should step aside in order to help the organisation come through this situation.”

Within hours of the announcement of his departure, Scottish Golf revealed Sharp, the

accordingly. Now more than ever we need strong leadership backed up by robust actionable plans.

“I am very pleased to announce that The Board has invited Karin Sharp to lead the organisation with immediate effect, from her current role as Chief Operating Officer.”

Sharp will be assisted by Iain Forsyth, the chief commercial officer, and Scottish Golf also announced both had volunteered to take a 20 per cent pay cut for the foreseeable future.“

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

Golf Genius offers Covid-19 package to help clubs A free package to help golf clubs manage the impact of coronavirus is being offered by Golf Genius.

When courses reopen in the future, and assuming social distancing measures will be strictly enforced, the leading provider of cloud-based software for organising and managing golf events is offering a mobile solution free to clubs until the end of June.

“In essence, we are promoting car park golf in the short term, where players turn up, change their shoes, get on the course and play,”said Craig Higgs, Managing Director of Golf Genius International.

“Organisers can run events and competitions remotely via the cloud and players can enter their scores on the Golf Genius app, taking the whole process away from physical scorecards and points of contact.

“We all feel a sense of duty to the golf industry and wider golf community to do our part for the health of the game, which is why we are offering this completely free of charge to any golf club until the end of June.”

To enquire, contact Higgs at craig@ golfgenius.com

We want to hear from you!

Sendwant your correspondence, any We to hear from on you! subject, to letters@gcma.org.uk

GCMA.ORG.UK | 35

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

The interview...

ED RICHARDSON Broadstone’s general manager talks rankings, the role of the GCMA and why the heathland course will be such a test when the English Amateur Championship arrives in 2023

36 | GCMA.ORG.UK

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

GCMA.ORG.UK | 37

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

Y

ou arrived at Broadstone in 2015 having spent most of your career at one club (Newbury & Crookham). Do you feel they took a bit of a chance on you?

I think I fitted what they were looking for. My predecessor, David Morgan, had made a few changes quite quickly and I think the club had seen the benefit of having someone who was a professional in the industry, who knew golf and understood it and was relatively young, keen to take the club forward and invest in the appropriate changes that were needed.

That had worked well with David and when he left for Gullane, even

38 | GCMA.ORG.UK

though we are different characters, they wanted someone who had many of his strengths to continue that work forward.

You started as a professional golfer and moved into club management 10 years ago.

That’s a common route now, but you were somewhat ahead of the curve…

Around that time, the old fashioned club pro role - the person who did a bit of everything - was starting to change. I loved that working environment but the number of roles were dying out and I was clearly not good enough to make it as a player! I found when I got involved in the club side of things it suited my skill set.

It was organic. It wasn’t necessarily something I set out three or four years previously to do but I felt it suited me.

I get a little bit annoyed that people pigeon hole others and say ‘this group of people can or can’t do the job’.

Back in the day, it used to be ‘he’s ex-Army or Police, he will be perfect for the secretary’. Now, it seems to be ‘pros – ‘can they do the job?’ It should be all down to whether someone has got the personality and skills to do the job, rather than what they’ve necessarily done before.

Someone is either suited to the role or not. Whether they are exArmy or ex-Pro, it shouldn’t matter.

I think pros can be very good

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

Your content partner

Sports Publications are specialists in digital and print content creation. With a portfolio of in-house titles and websites, including the industry-leading National Club Golfer, we have a growing roster of contract clients including GolfBreaks.com, BIGGA, Golf Genius – and your very own GCMA.

• VIDEO PRODUCTION • FLYOVERS • CORPORATE VIDEOS • COURSE PHOTOGRAPHY • MEMBER MAGAZINES • CONTENT WRITING

YOU CAN EXPECT TO DOUBLE YOUR CLICKTHROUGH RATES ON NEWSLETTERS

BY OFFERING VIDEO CONTENT

57% OF CONSUMERS SAY THAT VIDEO BUILDS CONFIDENCE IN A PRODUCT

Learn more at sports-publications.com or contact Tom Irwin on 07973 628 781 or t.irwin@sportspub.co.uk

WEBSITES WITH VIDEO ARE 53 TIMES MORE LIKELY TO RANK NO 1 ON A GOOGLE SEARCH

76% OF CONSUMERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO SHARE A SOCIAL POST THAT CONTAINS VIDEO

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

at the job and have a lot of skills, background and experience to do a great job but not all pros would.

It’s about that individual and the skills they have.

When you’ve grown up presumably wanting to play and then move into management, how do you develop your way of working? Does it come through experience?

That’s been the most difficult thing to learn. When you are a pro, you concentrate on playing and dealing with customers and the rest of it. But what I think you have, from working in a pro shop for that length of time, coaching and dealing with golfers day in and day out, is that you understand golfers and what they want.

Ed Richardson Educated at St Bartholomew’s School in Newbury, Ed Richardson became a PGAqualified professional in 1997 at the age of 19 and spent three years at Newbury Racecourse Golf Club.

He moved to Newbury & Crookham where he continued his role as a professional before becoming club manager in May 2010. Richardson spent nearly five years in that job before becoming general manager at Broadstone in February 2015.

Broadstone Set in the glorious Dorset countryside, Broadstone is one of the finest examples of an unspoiled Heathland golf course in the South of England and regularly finds its way into UK top 100 lists.

Described by Bernard Darwin as the ‘Gleneagles of the South’, Harry Colt turned the course into what it is today and its spectacular holes include the superb par 3 6th and the rolling, signature, 7th.

40 | GCMA.ORG.UK

You understand what makes them tick, what they like and don’t like. There are lots of different opinions and people on all sorts of spectrums. It’s that understanding that drives how you are going to manage the golf club.

What you have to build upon and learn is how you put that into place. That’s how you deal with committees, with staff, HR and health and safety issues. Those are the skills you have to add to what you know.

But that key understanding of golfers is how you drive it.

Then it’s adding the elements: leading a team, organising time and priorities, understanding the broadness of your membership and the range of opinions there.

I am still learning about how you deal with that.

We’re going through a period of great change in the industry, with managers at the centre of the whole operation rather than being the person in the office…

It’s a very different role. We’ve been going back through old committee minutes and you were the secretary – there to take minutes, to write things up – and the greens chairman or chairman of house and bar would make the decisions.

Now you are leading an organisation. You are a manager of a team of people. I’m very lucky here. We have a board structure.

It’s a thinned down committee. We don’t have a greens committee, or a house committee.

What’s interesting about this role is that it’s a top 100 venue, but it’s also very much like any other members’ club. It has the usual demographic. It’s neither a poor nor a hugely wealthy area.

So you have a typical members’ club with a top 100 golf course and it’s an interesting dynamic.

This club, like all others, has had

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

to change. It has had to streamline how it operates. It’s had to make itself into a business you market and sell to people.

My office has doors and windows straight out onto the 1st tee, putting green and 18th green.

I’m often the first port of call for both members and visitors: both when things are going right and when they are not.

Dealing with people – whether it’s a potential new member or a member who is apoplectic about something – is an interesting challenge but something I enjoy.

Tell us a bit about Broadstone…

Broadstone has always been thereabouts in the top 100 listings.

It’s a classic heathland course in an area that’s lucky to have other great layouts of that type. It has always struggled with whether to behave like a members’ club or a top 100 venue. It’s trying to marry those two. My predecessor, David Morgan, along with the new streamlined committee at the time, made a lot of changes in the four or five years he was here and I have essentially tried to carry that on. That was partly on the golf course, as it may not have had as much investment as it needed in the previous 20 or 30 years. It required a refresh in terms of its bunkering style, strategy, investing in many areas, alongside a greens sward conversion from mainly poa to bents and fescues.

Both of those things have some challenges as they take investment and time and you need to take the members with you on the journey.

It’s about trying to continue that over the next four to five years.

It’s not easy. While we are luckier than some clubs in terms of the resources we have, we haven’t necessarily got those of some of our competitors, whether

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

GCMA.ORG.UK | 41

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

that be locally in and around Bournemouth or some of the Surrey courses.

We are trying to do things on a slightly lower budget but still trying to do them to a high standard.

Members are paying £1,600 to £1,700 for their subs, and visitors £105 for a green fee.

That comes with a level of expectation as to where you need to be day in and day out in terms of conditioning and the quality of the work you do.

Our big mantra is that when we do something it has to be to a high standard and we’ve got to have a consistent path of where we are trying to get to and achieve it as and when resources allow.

42 | GCMA.ORG.UK

As a heathland site, you’ll be subject to lots of restrictions.

How do you push the club forward while ensuring you satisfy those who look after the environment?

We are SSSI status – we’re actually a Ramsar – and are very highly protected on virtually all of the golf course. That is overseen by Natural England and, over the last couple of years, we’ve worked with them an awful lot. We work together to try and balance their needs, protect the heathland and particularly wildlife, while sitting alongside the needs of the golf course.

It can be a little bit challenging at times, and there are things you might like to do but can’t because of the restrictions. But as long as

we respect what Natural England want, and they respect that we are a golf course and have a business to manage, we can make it work.

What are your ambitions over the next few years?

Our main thoughts are two-fold.

The first part is continuing the work on the golf course. We’ve now got seven holes on the course where we’ve completely updated the bunkering – reverting back to a more traditional Colt style – and we’ve got 11 to do.

We’re trying to complete those over the next two or three winters.

We’ve got the English Amateur Championship in 2023 and it’s the club’s 125th anniversary. That’s giving us a focus to work towards.

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

@RainBirdGolf

CONNECT to Upcoming technologies Simplified upgrades A partner dedicated solely to irrigation

the FUTURE

“One of the nice things about our 20-year partnership with Rain Bird has been the ability to evolve as we go. We can run our IC System™ and satellites with the same Central Control. They definitely give us the flexibility we need.”

Chris Dalhamer, Director of Golf Course Maintenance | Pebble Beach Golf Links Discover the benefits of a Rain Bird system at rainbird.com/TheFuture.

Rain Bird is the Official Turf Irrigation Supplier of Pebble Beach Resorts®. Pebble Beach®, Pebble Beach Golf Links®, Pebble Beach Resorts®, The Lone Cypress™, The Heritage logo and their underlying distinctive images are trademarks, service marks and trade dress of Pebble Beach Company. Used by permission.

strategic partner

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

We hope to get to a level where we’ve got all the bunkering done and some new back and forward tees to suit the needs of all abilities.

Off the course, the upstairs area of the clubhouse is overdue refurbishment and we’ve done some work in the dining room.

Our lounge and spike bars both also need updating.

We hope to have all that completed by the English Amateur.

44 | GCMA.ORG.UK

How big a challenge will the ‘refurbished’ course pose to those elite amateurs?

The difficulty doesn’t come from length. It has always been just under 6,500 yards. We’ve got some plans to put those new back tees in a few areas that will stretch it out a little bit. The majority of the challenge comes from the fact it has only got a couple of par 5s – there are hardly any easy birdie chances – and its classic Colt green complexes.

They are tough to hit, often slopey, and if you miss on the wrong side you are going to be in trouble. You are also often punished if you miss the tee shot.

While you can try and overpower it, if you stray off the straight and narrow you are not going to get away with it. It’s very rarely taken apart.

It’s a golf course you’ve got to plot your way round. It’s not fiddly or tricky. It’s very fair and in front of you. But you have to put

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

your ball in the right position.

It stands as a test. You can play this golf course in a number of different ways and it will be interesting to see how the players get on.

You are a very keen GCMA member. What opportunities and challenges exist for the Association?

I’ve always been a keen GCMA supporter and felt it was a massive benefit to me and to the club.

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

Like any organisation, it’s not perfect but it has provided me with support both on a national and regional level. I will always stay involved. In terms of challenges, it’s almost like golf clubs in a way. Trying to get people to stay involved and active, seeing the value in being involved, and finding time away from the office is always difficult.

The opportunities are there to develop the regions so they can give all members, whatever

their region, what some of the stronger regions are offering.

Another area is that we probably do very well in terms of members’ clubs and getting their managers to come along.

We’re maybe not so good in the proprietary sector.

That’s no one’s fault. It’s just the way things have developed.

I think that’s where the opportunity lies - to try and tap in to newer people coming into the industry, who may have been

GCMA.ORG.UK | 45

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

course managers or pros, and get them under that GCMA umbrella.

I’ve been very lucky. In my previous role I mainly attended Southern meetings and grew a network of like-minded managers and people who became friends and were a massive help and support to me. I go to every meeting I possibly can – they are almost the first dates in my diary when I get the calendar each year.

I know I will pick up lots of things and develop a network of colleagues who can help me.

Just spending a day with people who do the same job as you is

46 | GCMA.ORG.UK

massively beneficial. I’m officially in the Wessex region and enjoy hugely attending as many of those meetings as possible. It’s a well-run region, with great people. It just doesn’t get some of the numbers Southern does.

You talked about rankings and the club’s place in top 100 listings. How important is that for the club and you as a manager?

It’s twofold. It’s a marketing game in some respects. The keen golfer will pay more to play what they deem a top 100 venue. That allows

us to keep a premium on our green fee price.

It also helps from a membership perspective. It’s what encourages potential members to perhaps upgrade from another local club.

People will pay more to be a member of a top 100 venue and that enables us to invest more on and off the course and continue to take Broadstone forward.

Can you put a value on that?

It can be hard to pinpoint. I would equate it to something in the region of 20%. If I look at similar sorts of courses that don’t as

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

regularly feature, and might be only just behind us in quality, they are not able to achieve the same green fee price or justify the same membership price.

There is unquestionably a value from doing well in those lists and moving up them is important from a marketing perspective.

The second benefit is it’s a validation of what you do. If reviewers are very knowledgeable about golf course architecture and they’re telling you you’re going in the right direction then you are doing something right.

That helps give the staff, those

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

who are working hard day in and day out and the committee who are making those decisions, the comfort and confidence you are doing the right things.

When you are doing this job, you are going to get some flak from people who don’t like what you are doing. When you are moving forward, going up in rankings or getting into lists you haven’t been in before, it makes it easier to deal with that flak and know you are on the right track.

You’ve got lots of support behind you?

I’ve got a really good committee who are open minded and not resistant to change. They are not frightened to share their opinion but they’re also not frightened to change their views. They are very on board with the path we are taking, very supportive of the staff and what we are trying to do. Like any manager, you are only as good as your team. I’m very fortunate to have four or five individuals in key roles who are very good their job and we are all on the same page. The direction of travel has been really well received and we’re just trying to continue that and get it finished.

GCMA.ORG.UK | 47

The GCMA’s trusted payment solution for golf club membership fee collections

For over 25 years Fairway Credit has helped thousands of golfers play the sport they love. In the process, we have helped hundreds of golf clubs collect membership fees, removing the administration burden, allowing them to do what they do best, run a great golf club. have been using Fairway Credit for over 20 years now at a wide “ Irange of clubs. It provides a modern method of paying subscriptions that suits younger members who are used to monthly direct debits, as well as providing an affordable scheme for those on fixed incomes.

“

Ganton Golf Club

Come and join us now!

For further information about how Fairway Credit can benefit you and your members, simply; call, email or visit our website.

strategic partner

0207 191 2417 | leisure@pcl.co.uk | www.fairwaycredit.co.uk Fairway Credit is a trading name of Premium Credit Limited. Registered office: Ermyn House, Ermyn Way, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 8UX. Registered in England and Wales under company number 2015200. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. *Facility is subject to approval, terms and conditions apply.

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

Standing out from the crowd after

CORONAVIRUS

50 | GCMA.ORG.UK

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

Smart marketing tactics and campaigns can help you come out of COVID-19 ready to adapt to the new world. James Wilkinson, founder of Albatross Digital, shows you how

T

hey say, in the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity.

At the time of writing, like most sports and a lot of other industries, golf is in freeze mode right now.

The immediate future is very much out of our hands whilst we wait to see how the crisis unfolds.

However, with golf club’s reopening across the globe in cities like New York and countries like Denmark and Austria as part of the first stage of government’s COVID-19 reopening strategies, there is a huge opportunity for golf to stand out as one of the most influential and important activities in a post COVID-19 world.

More than ever, this is our opportunity to shine and seize the opportunities that will arise.

And more than ever I believe it will take smart marketing tactics and campaigns to stand out from the crowd.

Over the course of two articles, I’m going to break down the three stages I believe we will go through in this post COVID-19 world and how I believe clubs can use smart marketing and sales to come out the other side leaner, fresh-faced and ready to adapt to demands of the new breed of golfers in the market.

In this article I will be discussing the Short and Medium term stages and ideas that can be implemented by you and your team from today and over roughly the next six months.

THE SHORT TERM - SURVIVE Getting The Right Message in Front Of Your Audience Picture the scenario. The vast majority of golfers are currently sitting at home, there’s no live sport on the television, just reruns of the Masters and Ryder Cup (if you’re lucky enough to have Sky).

To make up for this rather large gap in their lives most will be on their tablets, smartphones, PCs and laptops looking for something to keep them entertained and waiting for the day they can get back out on the course.

And I think it’s a pretty safe bet to say they’re choosing which club they’re going to play once lockdown is over and the golf clubs open again.

This is why it’s vitally important golf businesses don’t go into their shell and shut up shop during this lockdown period and instead get out there engaging and entertaining these prospective customers with positive and fun messages.

This can be achieved through content marketing.

THE 3 STAGES

Time Goal Short 30-60 Days Survive Medium 3-6 Months Thrive Long 1+ Years Wealth

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

So what is content marketing?

Content marketing is a way of providing your potential customers with content that will educate, entertain and hopefully inspire

them to eventually purchase from you. It’s a vitally important part of a marketing and sales funnel that gets missed off more and more regularly these days.

Here are two examples of content marketing that you could take inspiration from and replicate for your golf club.

A Facebook post from John O’Gaunt Golf Club (pictured on the following page) captures the current situation brilliantly. It’s a light-hearted take on a serious subject matter, it’s also incredibly topical and unique which allows it to stand out from the other content clubs are posting. The amount of likes, shares and comments it received show just how popular a post like this can be.

Enville Golf Club ran a quiz which generated over 200 entrants. Each of which spent on average 6.5 minutes filling out the questions. Or put another way, 6.5 minutes engaging with Enville Golf Club’s brand.

What problems does content marketing solve?

These days, the traditional forms of marketing with offers and promotions are becoming less and less effective. More and more clubs are promoting the same offers on the same platforms making it harder and harder to stand out from the competition.

An analogy I often use is you’re asking for marriage (a sale) before you’ve even been on a date (content). It’s said that only 3% of your customers are ready to buy

GCMA.ORG.UK | 51

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

so what about the rest?

Consistent content marketing will keep your brand top of mind and build relationships and goodwill so when customers are ready to make a purchase, your business is the one they choose first.

How much does it cost?

The only thing that content marketing really costs is time. And that’s why it gets left behind so much. Today, those 3% of customers ready to buy is actually 0%, but in a few weeks’ time the number is going to increase significantly.

How do you get started?

First up you need to start creating regular social media content.

Try posting at least three times per week. You don’t always need to invest in expensive graphic designers or photographers.

Someone at your club with a keen eye, an up to date smartphone with a good camera taking photos of your course and facilities will do a better job than most agencies can. Better still, pass the job on to a greenkeeper or a reliable member and incentivise them. If

52 | GCMA.ORG.UK

you’re looking for further ideas and inspiration, I’ve created a guide on ‘Killer Social Media Post Ideas’. In this article you will find my email address where you can email me for this guide and any more tips or advice on marketing.

THE MID TERM - THRIVE We’ve encouraged our clients to maintain or even increase their advertising spend during the outbreak and through the oncoming recession. Our reasoning is that, although painful, recessions are short-lived and once things start to return to normality our clients will be in a far stronger position with more market share than their competitors because they kept engaging with customers.

Whilst I fully appreciate increasing marketing spend will be tough when operational survival is a priority, if you’ve ever considered trying your hand at online advertising at your club, there’s no better time than right now to test the waters.

Firstly, as mentioned in this article earlier, staying top of mind and building rapport during the

COVID-19 lockdown is key to ensuring your club is the one golfers choose when they can play again.

Online advertising is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to do this. Creating low-cost brand awareness and goodwill during the crisis could be the difference between a packed course and a half-empty one this summer.

Secondly, right now is the cheapest time ever to advertise on Facebook.

Many marketers are cutting back or entirely freezing their spending as uncertainty looms and millions of consumers stay indoors. According to an article in Bloomberg, Facebook ad spend is reported to be down by up to 50% across the board.

What this means is significantly cheaper advertising for everyone who is spending.

We’ve seen a drop in advertising costs of over 50% for our clients.

So effectively, an ad campaign that would have cost us £500 in February would now cost just £250.

So let’s get started and take advantage of these rock bottom advertising costs.

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

How do I get started with Facebook advertising?

Facebook and Instagram advertising is probably the easiest and most effective way to advertise online. So easy in fact you can be advertising your club to thousands of golfers in under an hour.

Golf is also one of the easiest industries to advertise using Facebook. All you need is beautiful, up to date course photos and videos backed up with some good copy. Every club should have beautiful images of their course.

If not, spring and summer is the perfect time to start shooting.

Boosting a campaign Let me walk you through a simple and effective way to boost a campaign to local golfers in your area.

Stage 1 - Engaging Posts Create a number of posts that engage, educate, inspire or entertain your customers.

It’s important these posts aren’t sales posts and there is little or no reference to making a purchase from your club.

Now try boosting the most successful posts, the ones that have the most likes and comments, by putting some budget into them. This will allow you to reach a greater proportion of local golfers.

For a video on how to boost a post visit this URL for our eight minute guide: bit.ly/albatrossfb Stage 2 Once you’ve started to boost your posts targeting local golfers they will start to be more familiarised with your course and services.

If you’re doing it right, they should now start to like, comment and engage with your posts. If they’re not, it’s back to the drawing

ED U C AT E | IN FO R M | IN S PIR E

board to create content that does.

If you are getting good engagement, you’ll have earned the right in the eyes of local golfers to post some of your promotional offers. But don’t go overkill. Two to three offers a month is more than enough and any more has the potential to ruin the effectiveness of your marketing.

How much does it cost?

You can start from as little as £1/ day. You won’t get too far with this budget but it’s a good place to start and then you can add more budget as you get more confident with advertising.

The maximum is up to you. We spend anywhere from £150 to £700 per month for our clients. The bigger clubs will spend multiple thousands of pounds.

Some tips Choose your promotional offers wisely. Here’s some we recommend: > Green fees - two-ball and buggy deals work really well during spring and summer. > Membership - We recommend running some one or three month trials once we come out of lockdown as we predict selling full membership will be harder. > Societies - Promote your society rates or deals but direct them at a slightly older audience.

We recommend 35+ works best.

Keep budgets low until you get more confident and don’t forget to keep checking the account daily for the amount spent and results so you don’t creep over budgets.

Try using video posts, it can be an incredibly effective content type to get results and sometimes works even better than photo posts.

Mix it up, try different types of posts until you find your sweet spot.

Albatross Digital founder James Wilkinson has helped over 100 golf clubs including Celtic Manor and Woodhall Spa succeed using digital marketing.

He has also spoken and written about how to execute effective golf club marketing strategies for associations and partners including the GCMA, UKGolf Federation, England Golf, Wales Golf, 59 Club, Club Systems and more.

Founded in 2015, Albatross Digital are on a creative and analytical mission to help solve the problems and navigate the challenges golf businesses face in a digital first age. With offices in London and Surrey, they use industry expertise combined with the latest digital marketing techniques to help clients grow, thrive and invest in their future.

Their portfolio includes Woodhall Spa, Celtic Manor, Altonwood Group, Maple Leaf Group, Hoburne Group, Hindhead Golf Club, Goswick Golf Club, GCMA, UK Golf Federation, 59 Club and over 100 clubs across the UK and Europe.

For more information about Albatross Digital visit https:// albatross.digital and follow them on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Email James at james@albatross. digital or call 0208 133 6751.

Facebook: facebook.com/ AlbatrossDigitalGolf/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/ albatross-digital-golf Instagram: instagram.com/ albatrossdigitalgolf/

GCMA.ORG.UK | 53

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

Golf Course 2030:Your views on

CLIMATE CHANGE

F

or those not familiar with The R&A-led Golf Course 2030 initiative, and as a reminder for those that are, it was introduced to develop a roadmap and a programme of research, education and communications to attempt to mitigate the impact of climate change, resource constraints and regulation on the condition and playability of our golf courses.

More information on Golf Course 2030 can be found at The R&A website, https://www.randa.org/ en/sustainability/golfcourse2030 As part of the initiative’s development phase, The R&A commissioned a questionnaire survey from Sports Marketing Surveys Inc. The purpose of this survey, of primarily club managers, course managers and PGA professionals in Great Britain & Ireland, was to determine their level of concern over the issues, whether their

54 | GCMA.ORG.UK

facility has already been impacted by them, and their facility’s state of readiness to address the challenges they pose.

The results from the questionnaire are helping to frame the development of Golf Course 2030 in Great Britain & Ireland (and further afield), and its research, education and communications programmes.

Over three articles, I will draw out some of the key findings of the questionnaire and, in a final article towards the end of the year, will reflect on how the research projects awarded Golf Course 2030 grants by The R&A provide a robust response to these findings.

This first article will focus on climate change.

Before delving into the climate change findings, it is worth noting that the 589 respondents (a valid number according to SMS Inc), from a good range of golf facility types and representative of the variety of courses we see in GB&I, were:

Generally supportive of Golf Course 2030 Felt there is a need for wide publicity for the initiative Believe that education of the issues is needed for facility professionals and golfers to manage the expectations of everyone involved in golf Want The R&A to play a leading role in providing direction, support and advice – perhaps not directly but as an information hub.

GB&I golf facility management professional’s views on climate change The majority responding to the questionnaire feel that golf is threatened by some of the climate change issues raised by the initiative (see Figure 1). All options available scored more than 3 out of 5, with the considered threat level increasing on a scale of 1 to 5. The greatest level of concern related to:

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

In the first of a series of articles, Steve Isaac, The R&A’s director of sustainability, outlines the results of a key survey looking at concerns over climate change

Flooding (significant rain events), scoring an average of 4.1 out of 5 Soil saturation/standing water, 4 out of 5 Coastal erosion, 3.4 out of 5 Drought, 3.4 out of 5 When asked if they were concerned about each of these climate issues in relation to their own facility, the percentage of the 216 club managers who said they were very concerned was: 28% Flooding (significant rain events) 33% Soil saturation/standing water 13% Extreme heat 20% Drought 6% Mild winters/late growing season 11% Storm damage 36% Coastal erosion (of the 78 responses from club management professionals at links).

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

GCMA.ORG.UK | 55

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

Figure 1. Overall attitude to climate change issues Interestingly, the level of concern specifically for respondents’ own golf facilities was generally less pronounced than their perceived level of threat to golf as a whole.

There were clear differences when the level of threat was broken down by region (see Figure 2).

Perceptions of threat were in line with recent climatic events, such as the threat of drought in south-east England and the threat of flooding in northern England and Wales.

Areas that had experienced less extreme weather in recent years were less likely to believe that action was needed at their facility, e.g. extreme heat and drought in Scotland.

When it comes to those whose courses have already seen the impact of the issues, we received the following responses from club managers: 51% Flooding (significant rain events) 59% Soil saturation/standing water

56 | GCMA.ORG.UK

31% Extreme heat 53% Drought 35% Mild winters/late growing season 25% Storm damage 46% Coastal erosion (response from links only) When asked if they were ready to address these issues, there was a very mixed response from club managers (Figure 3). These numbers do not add up to 100 as they do not include the proportion who said they didn’t think action was required, or those who responded ‘don’t know’.

What does the survey tell us about attitudes in golf in GB&I to climate change?

The survey has provided us, and the stakeholders supporting Golf Course 2030, with useful insights into the attitudes of the management team at golf clubs to climate change.

There is awareness of the serious nature of the challenge

though the level of concern tends to be limited to weather events witnessed by personal experience. Direct impact is well understood. If a course has been flooded or lost fairway grass during a summer drought, the management team know all about the consequences. However, the low scoring in relation to the potential challenge from mild winters or storm damage suggests that more education is needed in relation to the impact of these weather events once we add the impact of resource constraints and legislation.

Many have already witnessed the impacts of flooding, soil saturation/standing water and drought. Nearly half of links courses responding have been impacted by coastal erosion.

This awareness and personal experience of impacts is not necessarily reflected in action taken to address problems. Less than one third of clubs have

EDU C AT E | I NFO R M | I NS P I R E

Figure 2. Level of threat by region

taken action to mitigate for soil saturation/standing water, with around a quarter taking positive steps to combat drought and coastal erosion. A similar number of clubs are preparing to take action. We know these are serious issues but are we really ready to face them?

and accurate, and with extreme weather events likely to be seen more frequently, there is a need for greater awareness of not only the weather we will face but also of its impacts and implications for course condition and playability.

The survey in relation to climate

supports the need for the Golf Course 2030 initiative and the research, education and communication programmes it will deliver. Can the same be said in relation to resources and regulation? These will be considered in future articles.

Figure 3. Readiness to address climate change issues

Generally, there is a similar level of awareness across the golf club management team, i.e. club managers, course managers and PGA professionals. However, convincing owners and boards of the need to invest to mitigate against the impact of climate change may well fall on the shoulders of the club manager.

There will be times ahead when the club management team will have to work more closely together, and provide greater support for each other, than ever before. The club manager may well have to play the leading role in making this happen.

With the science behind climate predictions now more confident

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

GCMA.ORG.UK | 57

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

‘The impact of the refurbishment

WAS INSTANT’

T

here isn’t another club like Duff House Royal in the world.

While there are 66 across the globe that have received assent from the sovereign, the Aberdeenshire institution is the only one to use its Royal title as a suffix not a prefix.

But while their heritage makes them unique, they are now making waves for something quite different – a major clubhouse refurbishment which has given them much needed profile as well as income.

Taking on such a significant project is not for the faint-hearted.

You’ve got to bring along the membership – many of whom may be very comfortable in their present and familiar surroundings – and you’ve also got to make the plans and subsequent results appealing to a wider audience.

So what did they do to meet these very varied ambitions? And for those clubs considering taking on their own clubhouse renovation projects, what can they learn from both Duff House Royal’s experience and subsequent success?

We asked club vice-captain Barry Bertram to take us through the refurbishment…

What were the motivations for the changes and how big a difference have they made?

There was an acceptance among the membership for the need to complete a club refurbishment.

The last major refurbishment was completed in 2000. Since then,

58 | GCMA.ORG.UK

many of the furnishings had gone into disrepair, carpet became threadbare in places and the décor matched the late 90s.

Membership remains resilient but there had been a downward trend in utilising the clubhouse.

It became clear that many members didn’t feel it was a venue they wanted to spend much more time at than the post-match drink.

There are always several of the regulars who use it, which is the case in most clubs, but it solely wasn’t enough to sustain staff wages and utility bills.

In early 2018, we first had ideas of a clubhouse refurbishment. We spoke to a local interior designer, who was also a keen golfer.

The team immediately got our vision: a modern, yet traditional design that would remain faithful to our 100 years of history.

The plans were drawn up in March 2018. Due the season being just about to start, it was decided to put them on hold until the off-season.

In January 2019, work started and, in early April, the clubhouse was completely refurbished to the highest standard – using the finest furniture and décor, including Chesterfield sofa, tables and chairs, luxury carpets and a complete repaint.

The impact was instant with members returning to the club, aided by the appointment of a new caterer providing food created from fresh local produce.

Members came back, from spending afternoons with family and friends to socialising in the evenings.

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

Duff House Royal decided to completely renovate their clubhouse. How did the Scottish club do it and what can we learn from their efforts?

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

GCMA.ORG.UK | 59

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

This increased bar sales, club morale, and generally a feel good factor. There was a new positive attitude with many members volunteering to help with other projects around the club.

The return of a bingo night proved popular and got members reacquainted with the club – with 80 in attendance.

A professional photoshoot in May followed with an increased profile within the wider golfing community. This, along with positive social media posts on the refurbishment and the excellent condition of the course, saw the return of many visitors and society outings. Green fees for the season surged with a 58.2% increase.

The full refurbishment costs were recouped in the remaining six months of our financial year.

Was this part of a programme of modernisation? Did you, for example, relax dress codes?

60 | GCMA.ORG.UK

We recognised early on that a family friendly ethos was key. To begin with, we introduced some unobtrusive items, such as a children’s bead table, puzzles and games.

Although these were small, they allowed us to rebuild this ethos – showing families are always welcomed – simply by having the items around the clubhouse.

We also have staged very popular family fun days. Our dress code is relaxed. If asked, we generally respond by saying anything you can find in a pro shop is acceptable, but we wouldn’t restrict play if someone turns up in jeans.

We do request, and it is a request, that hats are removed in our clubhouse as homage to our Royal title.

How easy was it to bring the members along with you?

The membership was almost unanimously in favour of the

refurbishment. There were some options tabled such as: repainting only, recovering seats and generally freshening up.

However the instruction was clear – a complete clubhouse refurbishment to the highest standard and quality possible.

Duff House Royal Duff House Royal have a committee of seven members with ages ranging from the 20s to 60s and golfing ability representing scratch, low and high.

Their committee aims to give the broadest overview possible of opinions, social culture, trends and member needs, as well as supporting course improvement and maintenance decisions to suit all golfers and their abilities.

Duff House Royal opened in 1909 and was remodelled by Dr Alister MacKenzie in the 1920s.

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

Grass

ROOTS All the latest news, views and interviews from across the GCMA’s various regions in the UK

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

Meet the

MANAGER

Sponsor of the 2019 GCMA Manager of the Year award

Daniel Harrison, general manager at Alnmouth (Foxton), in Northumberland

The coast at Alnmouth

T

here are probably better times to start a new job but Daniel Harrison is still looking forward to the year ahead after taking on the general manager’s position at Alnmouth (Foxton) in Northumberland.

For when the UK finally emerges from the coronavirus pandemic, whenever that may happen, and people start to gaze forward again,

62 | GCMA.ORG.UK

he will properly get his teeth into life at what is the 4th oldest golf club in England - and one that celebrated their 150th anniversary only last year.

Harrison has taken over at Alnmouth from Peter Simpson, who had held the GM position since 2009, and he secured the reins in February - just a matter of weeks before golf came to a full stop as a result of the Government lockdown to stem the spread of

Covid-19.

A Sports Management graduate from Northumberland University, Harrison started his career in the sport at Longhirst Hall and spent a couple of seasons working at the Morpeth venue.

He then moved on to become general manager of Alnwick Castle, where he was in post for nine years and was pivotal in transforming the club’s fortunes with the help of a strategic plan and preparation

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

of an upcoming clubhouse development.

“I am delighted to be taking up this new role at Alnmouth (Foxton) Golf Club and see this as a great opportunity for me to develop my skills and experience at such a prestigious club,”he said.

“One thing which excites me about this position is assisting the club in delivering the ten year course development plan, which includes working with renowned course architects Swan Golf Designs and also Robin Hume Associates Ltd in regards to the installation of a £200k replacement irrigation system.

“I’m also looking forward to the challenges of carrying on the momentum of the club’s 150th anniversary celebrations in 2019 and also keeping the club in a sound fiscal position whilst creating the balance of putting the members first.”

The organiser of one of the UK’s most popular open competitions, the Northumberland Three Castles Golf Competition, Harrison also initiated Alnwick Golf Breaks, which attracts thousands of golfers into the area every year.

Believing that some of his best skills and attributes lie in marketing and event management, Harrison said he was looking forward to introducing himself fully to staff, committee and members in the coming weeks.

Harrison’s new club is regarded as one of the finest golf courses in the North of England - overlooking

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

“(What) excites me about this position is assisting the club in delivering the ten year course development plan”

Daniel Harrison

the splendour of both Foxton and Alnmouth Bay. The parkland layout was masterminded by Harry Colt and it has staged county, regional and national events - most recently accommodating the Senior Men’s Home Internationals last September.

It would have also hosted the prestigious Northern Counties Match Week, for the best women players, in June but the event fell victim to the virus, as have so many competitions and tournaments over the first half of the year.

Their clubhouse is the striking Foxton Hall, one of the historic

residences of the Percy family before it was offered by the Duke of Northumberland, then captain of the club, as a clubhouse for a proposed new course in 1929.

Richard Gee, chairman of Alnmouth (Foxton), said of Harrison’s appointment:“We are very pleased with our appointment of Daniel to this key role in the golf club.

“The club has ambitious plans to become the premier members’ club in the North East by developing the course and clubhouse and his experience in the local golf market was pivotal in him being chosen as our preferred candidate “He’s young, energetic and has the drive which will be required to be successful in such a demanding role” As well as an GCMA member, Harrison is also active in the Club Managers’ Association of Europe (CMAE) and is the only manager in the North East of England to have obtained the organisation’s Club Management Diploma.

Having achieved certified club manager status, Harrison stated he has future aspirations to “be at the pinnacle of the club management industry”.

Get In Touch To contact Alnmouth (Foxton), visit alnmouthgolfclub.com

GCMA.ORG.UK | 63

The Golf Club Managers’ Association delivers a recruitment service for golf clubs to advertise management vacancies.

HOW TO ADVERTISE:

If you wish to advertise a vacancy, please contact Marie Taylor today:

Recruitment

01275 391153 | marie@gcma.org.uk

“At the closing date we had 30 applications for the GM position.

We shortlisted eight for interview, took three to the final stage, and have appointed a worthy candidate to fill the position. We are delighted with the response generated via GCMA Recruitment.”

Director, East Berkshire GC

gcma.org.uk/recruitment GCMA Recruitment v2.indd 1

19/12/2019 10:45

‘

Partner Network

The GCMA’s Partner Network supports the association’s work to professionalise the industry and promote a culture of excellence in golf club management.

Thank you to all our partners who continue to support the association.

strategic partners

business partners

official suppliers

P r e m i e r A l l - We a t h e r S u r f a c e s f o r G o l f

gcma.org.uk/partners

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

From the

HELPDESK This month: Is honorary membership a benefit in kind... and should every visitor be signed in?

We’ve had a standard questionnaire from HMRC and one of the questions relates to benefits. Do you have any experience where managers stand in relation to receiving honorary membership of the club that we work at during the time we are employed and then having to pay tax on the Benefit in Kind?

It is understood that this should not be classified as a Benefit In Kind as it is part of a manager’s job to understand everything about the club and course and the argument is that to do that effectively they need to be able to play the course regularly. Some clubs will put that requirement into the job description and that acts as further evidence to HMRC that it is not a Benefit In Kind.

When a member is charged an annual fee, which is credited to their swipe card for bar and catering purchases, is it legal for the club to retain any unused credit at the end of the year (and informing the member that this is forfeit) or does any unused credit have to be rolled over to the next year?

My understanding is the law changed in this area some years ago but I can’t find any specific reference to it. Can you advise?

66 | GCMA.ORG.UK

As far as we know there have been no legal decisions on this.

Essentially, a private members’ club can make its own rules. However, there have been questions over the morality of doing this and some clubs have stopped because of that. Many, however, still see it as a levy on members who do not support the bar & catering and are happy to continue the practice.

We don’t have much in the way of documents for staff. We obviously have contracts and job descriptions but don’t have a list of items which would be handy for them to have in a handbook. Is this something where you can advise what we should provide them with? Also, similarly, is this information we should be providing to new employees?

With new employees, handbooks and HR, the GCMA recommend that you use an employment expert, such as a HR company, because keeping everything legal and current these days is a professional job, plus you need insurance against employment tribunals which you should ensure comes with any package you select.

Does a checklist exist of all the legal obligations a golf club

should carry out to help ensure they are?

The links included are for our checklist and Statutory Signage which should help: gcma.org.uk/library/2051 and gcma.org.uk/library/10031/ I am looking for an article on Tour Operators VAT Exemptions first released on Feb 14, 2018.

Are you aware if this still exists or are there any updates on VAT exemptions applicable to tour operators?

This is the link to the article: gcma.org.uk/members/news/ tour-operators-vat-exemption-ongreen-fees-confirmed/ I’ve been asked if it is a legal requirement that a club should have a visitors’ book. Should every visitor be signed in by a member?

If you are a private members’ club, with a Club Premises Certificate, then all visitors must be signed in - usually in the pro shop if they are playing golf but if they are guests of a member then the member must sign them in as they are responsible for them.

An online helpdesk offers an advisory service to members. Visit gcma.org.uk/members to find out more.

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

business partner

from A-Plan Insurance Are you looking for a solution to add value to your membership and provide protection for your members and golf club?

“Having been working with Alex for over 12 months, the take up for the Golfplan club membership policy has been fantastic.

Our members immediately recognised that what was offered was great value for money for a very comprehensive plan.

Members who have found themselves in the position of having to make a claim have reported it has been a hassle free process which is always great to hear.

I would not hesitate in recommending any manager to contact Alex and find out what Golfplan can do for them.”

Heather Mulley | Manager | Enville GC 2019 GCMA Manager of the Year • Take this policy out at your golf club today and cover your members as beneficiaries • Stand out from the industry and add these members benefits into your membership package PLEASE NOTE: Terms and conditions apply, for full details of policy cover/benefit limitations and exclusions, please refer to our policy wording and summary of cover, a copy of which is available upon request.

Call Alex and his team today to find out how: 01527 868160 | golfplan.co.uk Golfplan is a trading name of A-Plan Holdings, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Registered Office: 2 Des Roches Square, Witney, OX28 4LE. Registered in England. Registration Number: 750484 golfplanv4.indd 1

19/12/2019 11:07