[PCCraig]

I was recently asked by my club's membership director and committee chairman to be a part of a group discussion for ways to attract young(er) members. As it stands today, I would say that it's a fairly typical country club (golf course, pool, tennis courts, etc) and is mostly geared toward families. However, like most clubs across the country, its average membership age is starting to rise and those in charge would like to see more young members.

Does anyone have any similar experiences with their respective courses/clubs? Have you seen anything in particular that attracts new young members and increases their usage of the club? Do you have any ideas as to how you would attract more young people to join a golf/country club?

Thanks in advance for any help or ideas.

[jeffwarne]

junior programs that think outside the box

[Adrian_Stiff]

The rules of the club are important. Younger people will want to have their phones with them, if Club A allows mobile phones and Club B does not, it will be very important in a younger persons decsion. More relaxed dress codes, plenty of competitions, friendly pro's and staff and a general non snobotorium attitude will attract.

[PCCraig]

junior programs that think outside the box

Jeff,

I don't follow? Junior golf? Or dues structures?

[jeffwarne]

junior programs that think outside the box

Jeff,

I don't follow? Junior golf? Or dues structures?

Junior golf programs

[Jud_T]

Junior Memberships with drastically reduced downstroke and lesser dues, with no restrictions on play or guest privileges.  Early group drop-in matches on weekend mornings, no tee-times, no food and bev minimums.  Allow guys to carry their own bag.

[Carl Nichols]

Junior Memberships with drastically reduced downstroke and lesser dues, with no restrictions on play or guest privileges. 

I think this is the best idea.  IMHO, it's hard to change much about a club's culture, how games get set up, etc.  But you can eliminate or seriously reduce what I think is the single biggest impediment to younger people joining -- the downstroke.  Most people I know who are involved in country club finances would trade some initiation fees for a full dues-paying membership that covers all operating expenses and then some.

[David_Tepper]

How about paying 1/2 the initiation fee upon joining the club and paying the balance upon turning 35 or 40 years of age?

[Chris_Hufnagel]

Junior Memberships with drastically reduced downstroke and lesser dues, with no restrictions on play or guest privileges.  Early group drop-in matches on weekend mornings, no tee-times, no food and bev minimums.  Allow guys to carry their own bag.

I think Jud hit on the major ones and is right-on in most cases...I would add that I think a reduced initiation fee is probably more important than lesser monthly dues. I would guess regular cash flow isn't as big of an issue as coming up with a significant downstroke for younger members...

[Scott Sander]

Child care available for couples golf and social events.

Clinics

Social memberships that Also encourage the member to play and fall in love with the course - inclusion in couples events, opportiunities to play the course a fixed number of times at a reasonable rate below full guest fee.

Mixers specifically for new and prospective members

What I'll call 'mentoring' - pairing up enthusiastic longtime member families with potential newbies to help them feel comfortable and excited about the process.  A lot of the potential young members are first-generation - they didn't grow up in a club environment and while they may not admit or openly acknowledge it, the club experience can be intimidating.

[JLahrman]

How about paying 1/2 the initiation fee upon joining the club and paying the balance upon turning 35 or 40 years of age?

David, I thought I was young until I read this! I'm just in denial.

[Geoffrey_Walsh]

Allowing golfers to tee off shortly after dawn on weekdays and weekends.

Prior thread with some good comments:
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,52699.msg1209741.html#msg1209741

[J_ Crisham]

Pat,  
                My hope is that someone from Olympia Fields will jump in and answer. In Chicago they have the most innovative Junior membership structure. As a result they have a very high number of young guys(under 30) who have joined the last 4 years. A decreased initiation and a portion of monthly dues that are applied to the future remaining downstroke has been their key to success. Far and away the best 36 hole club in Chicago, possibly the Midwest. Great family club as well.      
                                                                                 Jack

[Terry Lavin]

They pay 10% of the downstroke upfront and half dues. The dues they pay until coming "of age" all reduce the remaining downstroke.

[Dan Herrmann]

Ideas:
1. Relaxed dress code (keep it neat, but don't worry about shorts with velcro pockets or a cap put on backwards)
2. Don't sweat the cell phones.
3. Let them bring their girlfriend to play for $0 (or boyfriend, for that matter)
4. No food minimums
5. A gym (weight and aerobic machines)
6. Reciprocity with other clubs so they can play elsewhere from time to time.
7. Let them bring out more than 3 friends at a time to play golf.
8. Don't make them take a caddy.  Too expensive for most younger folks.

PS - If you want some good ideas, ask Chris Johnston. 

[Brian Colbert]

I'm currently in the process of trying to join a club in the Chicago area as a junior member. While I haven't entirely been briefed on the details of the pricing structure of this particular club, they have made it known that it will be very affordable. Many of the ideas which have been posted on here are part of the program that this particular club is running.

As a young professional, some things which I think would be fantastic at a golf club:

Close to work
Non compulsory caddie program
Don't nickel and dime- i.e. charge me a cart fee to play 4-5 holes after work
Nice range
Low or no food minimums
Reasonable guest fee
Peter Millar in the pro shop
Relaxed dress code around the clubhouse
Other young members
Strong playing membership

However, the most important thing to me would be the course and I'd gladly give up a few of these attributes for a great one.

[Scott Warren]

Adrian S,

Younger people will want to have their phones with them, if Club A allows mobile phones and Club B does not, it will be very important in a younger persons decsion. More relaxed dress codes

Maybe some of them, but to me and the massive influx of 20-something members at my club, this could not be further from the truth.

Young golfers are a varied group with many different wants and needs.

I am sure what you say is true of some young golfers, but IMO the reason there are many different types of club is that there are many different types of golfer.

For mine, a graduated joining fee structure that increases from 18 to 40 in four or five age-groups is a wonderful idea and has played a big part in my club in Sydney now having a waiting list where others are advertising for members and prostituting themselves to keep the ones they have.

[Ulrich Mayring]

Here in Germany initiation fees or other long-term commitments are on the way out. The world has changed.

Young professionals cannot expect to live and work at the same place for many years to come. The company that you join as a young man or woman and that allows you to settle down with family does not exist anymore. In fact, nowadays most companies are younger and will die sooner than most of the people working there.

There is your answer for attracting younger members. Don't tie them down. Make it possible for them to leave on reasonably short notice.

Ulrich

[Ross Harmon]

Peter Millar in the pro shop

I don't think of Peter Millar as a "young" brand... I would more suggest Adidas / Nike / Puma for the younger guys.

Another one to add is to have Facebook and Twitter pages that get updated regularly.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Pcraig,

Do you want to lower the bar in order to attract younger members or maintain standards ?

[Carl Rogers]

I am not a younger person but have resisted the temptation for private golf because where I live the price point is higher and the golf is no better (in some cases worse) than the daily fee option.  If the daily option was worse or a lot worse, then that changes the equation.

Is or can you make your course more interesting or special relative to what is in the neighborhood?

[Josh Tarble]

As a young professional who went through this process all summer and just joined a club within the past month here are some thoughts of mine...

First and foremost, the course. I was most concerned with finding a course I enjoyed and would continue to joy. It was really nice to have a couple preview plays and get out with a couple members as well.

Pricing.  I did not want to pay a huge initiation fee and didn't want huge monthly fees. I'm a bit backwards in this aspect because I would much rather pay a bit more food and bev than monthly fee.  We eat out a lot so that's kind of already a cost I have.

No tee times.  This is one of the main things I wanted.  Show up join a group and play.

Included range.  A lot of clubs were charging range fees which was a big turnoff...kind of like Brian said. I don't want to be nickeled and dimed.

Weeknight leagues.  I don't and I'm guessing a lot of younger people don't have quite the freedom to get out weekdays so I wanted to be sure I had a weeknight league.

Plenty of competitions.

Couples events. I'm married and my wife plays so we wanted to make sure there would be some events for both of us to play.

I think a key thing would be flexibility. I think it would be good to create a program that you kind of "name your price" where maybe some want more upfront some more monthly and some want more food and bev and less monthly. That would have been very attractive to me.

A couple cool programs i found as well.

2 for 1. At one club if you joined with a friend you split the monthly charge for the first two years and each had a minimum food and bev.

Tiered program. The first year was A lesser monthly fee with an increase the 2nd year and finally reaching the full junior membership fee in the 3rd year. Only downfall was a 3 year commitment .


The one thing thats probably the hardest is letting potential members know about the specials. I know referral programs worked for several of the clubs around here.  Hopefully this helps some, feel free to send me a direct message if youd like any more specific details

[Ben Kodadek]

Ideas:
1. Relaxed dress code (keep it neat, but don't worry about shorts with velcro pockets or a cap put on backwards)
2. Don't sweat the cell phones.
3. Let them bring their girlfriend to play for $0 (or boyfriend, for that matter)
4. No food minimums
5. A gym (weight and aerobic machines)
6. Reciprocity with other clubs so they can play elsewhere from time to time.
7. Let them bring out more than 3 friends at a time to play golf.
8. Don't make them take a caddy.  Too expensive for most younger folks.

PS - If you want some good ideas, ask Chris Johnston. 

1.  Terrible idea...let's get a few young guys who act like douches, stick around for a year, discover their monthly bill is really about $900 instead of $425 and piss off the longstanding members who have played by the rules for 5-20 years.  Backwards hats...seriously?
2.  A relaxed cell phone policy is a must.
3.  What if they have a flavor of the week?  You need some type of policy in place.  Every club in the country would be teeming with homosexuals if their buddies could play for free. 
4.  A small food minimum isn't going to kill anyone.  Allow alcohol to be put towards the minimum.
5.  Young members don't want to work out at a club where there is a 90 year old woman in grey sweats on the nautilus.
6.  Agreed.  What club doesn't offer some type of reciprocity. 
7.  Another terrible idea.  3 guests are plenty, particularly if they are not members at another club.  Ask John Kavanaugh.
8.  Agreed.  The idea of paying a caddie who is older than me on my home course is a bit uncomfortable.


Pat, I think a key may be to allow some guest rounds (within reason: 4-6 X a season or so) to be allowed at very affordable rates.  Often, guys join a club and then drop out because it costs them $150/round to play golf with the same guys they've been playing with for the last few years.  This would be a great way to show the club off to prospective members as well.   

[John Kavanaugh]

I agree that high guest fees are a huge problem. Pat lives in a cold climate and one thing I used to do more of when younger is play in very cold weather. One program I would like for winter play would be guest fees equal to the temp outside. Covered carts included of course.

[Mac Plumart]

Pcraig,

Do you want to lower the bar in order to attract younger members or maintain standards ?

Great point!

Lower the initiation fee and/or stretch it out over a few years.  Lower the normal dues until a certain age.  I'm unsure I'd look to change anything else. 

To me, the allure of joining specific clubs is that I want to be a part of that club...that is something about that club appeals to me.  If you start changing things to attract members, you might change the precise thing that makes people want to be a member.

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