Duncan
Thanks for that. What's the demographics like locally ?
Niall
Buxton is a small spa town in the Peak District hills around 25 miles from each of the surrounding conurbations of Manchester, Sheffield, and Stoke on Trent.
Within our immediate area we have 25,000 people, within half an hour's drive we have 250,000 and within an hour we have 5 million.
It has always been a problem to attract sufficient members from the town itself, compounded by the fact that there are two golf clubs! We currently have around 300 members across all categories. It would appear from studying the history of the club that these issues are not new. Membership has always been small and more often than not over the last 95 years there has been no joining fee.
Age demographics of members are typical. Average is around 64.
The great potential for growing the membership is from that 30 minute radius rather than the more immediate area. I myself pass four golf other courses on my 15 mile journey every time I play at Cavendish, as do many of my regular playing partners. Our task is to convince more golfers that the regular Cavendish experience is worth more than the mere convenience of membership at their nearest club.
The fact that we are the only one of the 130 or so golf clubs within 30 miles of Manchester to feature in England's top 100 courses gives us something to work on.