12 Ways Your Golf Club Can Improve

Clubs are under pressure to stay in business like never before. Jeremy Ellwood highlights 12 areas where increased investment can pay big dividends

- Jeremy Ellwood

Even before we were hit by another incredibly wet winter, and Storms Ciara and Dennis had stamped their full devastating mark on February, things had already been proving tough for many golf clubs up and down the country.

Club closures have been gathering pace over the last few years, and tales of those that are struggling to balance the books have become commonplace. The reasons for this are many and varied, but most oft cited are the greater competition for leisure time from other sports and hobbies and changing family dynamics.

So, faced with a situation where competition for business and new members is getting ever fiercer, what can golf clubs do – bearing in mind that money, manpower and resources are all in limited supply.

Over the next few pages, we look at 12 factors any club looking to improve should consider. Obviously, not all clubs have the budget or resources to tackle or implement some of the suggestions, but others cost very little and are more a case of fresh thinking than any significant financial outlay. The results of implementing even one of them might help take your club to the next level.

1 UNDERTAKING COURSE IMPROVEMENTS

Taking the view that the course is a golf club’s prize asset, it should always be at the top of the list when looking to invest or improve. That improvement can take many forms. It may be a matter of trying to get the course in better condition for as long as possible each year, and that may mean improving the drainage, taking steps to improve the quality of the greens or investing in equipment for the greenstaff.

It may be a matter of improving certain holes via course alterations or, as many heathland clubs in particular have been doing, clearing out trees and scrub to take the course back closer to its roots, opening up views and vistas, reawakening its original character and often improving conditioning too as a result.