Morpeth Golf Club scheme sees membership grow

Posted by The Journal on Nov 5, 09 09:21 AM in Sport

Morpeth are a club who uphold the best traditions of golf, but that has not stopped them making a success of a novel alteration to members' annual subscriptions.

Until the 2009 season, the difference between their junior rate and full rate was £341. As general manager Terry Minett put it: "Our members were starting to pay the full rate at the age of 22, so that was a massive jump.

"We were finding that the drop-off was dramatic. When somebody is 22, it is a significant price rise when golf is competing with many other financial factors such as rent, mortgages, student loans or bringing up a family.

"Also, our membership profile showed an average age of 55-plus and we had more members over 70 than between 21 and 31." In time for the 2009 season, Morpeth put a revised structure in place in terms of intermediate subscriptions for golfers between the ages of 22 and 31.

The crucial factor, as Minett says: "We decided to increase the junior rate by 10% of the difference between adult and junior over 10 years. So the rate increased by £34 per year."

The club are delighted with the outcome. Minett said: "We have had 15 new intermediate members join, a 79% increase in the number of intermediates. The new income has more than compensated for the reduction in revenue by reducing the fees for the 19 members who qualified for the new categories, even though some of them have been paying half of what they were last year.

"Our intention was to encourage juniors to stay on playing golf throughout their early twenties so that golf and the golf club becomes an integral part of adult life.

"I believe the initiative has been a great success and our initial aims have been achieved. The intermediate scale ensures a smooth financial increase from junior to full membership rate."

With the recession continuing to take its toll on the sport - this year's Open Championship venue, Turnberry, has recently made greenkeepers redundant and have been finding it hard to fill their hotel rooms - Morpeth's efforts are to be applauded.

Minett, who represents the northern region on the national executive committee of the Golf Club Managers Association, said: "A marked increase in our general takings can be seen.

"Like every golf club in the country, Morpeth are always looking at ways to retain existing members and attract new ones. There were several key aims behind the design and introduction of these intermediate memberships.

"We want to retain junior golfers through their 20s and make golf more affordable to them as they juggle the demands of first homes, families and first jobs following education.

"We also want to attract new members and to help reduce average age of membership and this scheme is a competitive tool against the migration of golfers to pay-as-you-play."

For details of the scheme, visit www.morpethgolf.co.uk and click on the How To Join section. If you want to know more about the Golf Club Managers Association, ring Terry Minett on (01670) 504942, option 2 or email to terry@morpethgolf.co.uk

Tim Taylor

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