A Schism between Old and Young in Blighty

[Bob_Huntley]

The young 'un calling the geezers nothing but "Leaches."


From The Telegraph:


See:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=HFKPONR2SZCCZQFIQMFCFFOAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2007/11/13/ngolf113.xml


ps. How on earth does one reduce the size of the link?

[Garland Bayley]

The young 'un calling the geezers nothing but "Leaches."


From The Telegraph:


See:

BobsReducedLink


ps. How on earth does one reduce the size of the link?

[Rich Goodale]

Bob

Japanese wives whose husbands are retired call them "Wet Leaves."  No matter how hard you try to sweep them away you can't get rid of them.

Same with senior golfers.

Rich

[Adam Clayman]

Bob,
Wasn't that the Secretary calling them leaches?
This is cause for real concern. The attitude expressed is simple not golf.

I hope those leaches go and spend their money elsewhere putting that secretary in his place. At home being called a wet leaf.

[Joe Perches]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=HFKPONR2SZCCZQFIQMFCFFOAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2007/11/13/ngolf113.xml
ps. How on earth does one reduce the size of the link?

use the [] keyword

Start the link with "[[url=http://" then the actual link, then "]]", next a description of the link, then lastly "[]"

example: []Link Description[]

[Brent Hutto]

Telegraph Story

[Jim_Kennedy]

What a pathetic position to be taking.

[Ken Moum]

The club I play at established a senior category of membership a number of years ago, and it was one of the things that caused its current financial woes. There were a large number of half-priced members who took a significant percentage of the prime Sat morning tee times.

I am now nearly at retirement age and I don't see why I should be allowed full privileges at a reduced rate.

If anyone "deserves" reduced rates it's the young couples with children we need to recruit into golf.

Ken

[Guy Nicholson]

As a journalist, my question is how on Earth this article merited a double byline. It's a seven-paragraph scalp of a newsletter article with zero original reporting.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Bob, you're upsetting me.  My sole aspiration is to hang around long enough be one of those crusty old gits who gets to play cheap golf 5 days a weak( ), whilst talking about what they read in the Mail or the Tory-o-graph that morning.

The story is wrong, wrong, wrong.   In every club I know of, those with leisure time leave the weekends alone because they are too crowded.  The system works. Ms Mair must have been desperate for something to print. (if they pay less it's because they choose tobe 5 day members (weekdays only)).

The happiest I ever saw these guys was when I emerged from the showers at 8.30 in the morning and put a suit on.  Then they realised that I had rushed a dawn round and was off to the office.  I bet their Wednesday pre round bacon 'sarni' never tasted so good.

[John Kavanaugh]

One of the things that has ruined Junior Golf in America is early retirement and healthy golfing men in their 70's.  These guys hate kids and are generally high waisted misfits who add nothing to the club except one sided self serving complaints.

Back in the late 60's when I was learning the game we kids had the course to ourselves during the morning hours with the one exception of ladies day.  It is impossible today for a couple of 8-14 year olds to walk a round of golf without letting at least one group of "old" men or work skipping young studs through ever two holes at least.  It sucks the fun out of the game having to put up with the very people you want to avoid.  It would be like us playing putt putt at Chucky Cheese.

[Jon Wiggett]

As a journalist, my question is how on Earth this article merited a double byline. It's a seven-paragraph scalp of a newsletter article with zero original reporting.

Guy,

obviously they didn't have anything better to write and needed something to fill up the paper.

I am amazed at what I can only discribe as the 'bitterness' expressed against seniors in some of the replies on this thread. Looking after membership is a long term stratergy in golf club management. Many clubs in the UK do not have waiting lists like they did 15 years ago and this trend will continue for a while longer. Many younger golfers don't want to tie themselves down to one club. Clubs would be well advised to look after the members they have.

[Brian_Ewen]

Follow Up Stories:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/portal/main.jhtml?xml=/portal/2007/11/14/ftgolf114.xml

http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1800512007

[Matt_Cohn]

Bob,
You can also visit http://tinyurl.com - often used on this site.



Check out the link about the guy who's half man, half tree. I'm not even making it up.

[Brian_Ewen]

Many clubs in the UK do not have waiting lists like they did 15 years ago and this trend will continue for a while longer.

Jon
This is not my experience here in Scotland , in fact I would say its the complete opposite .

[Jon Wiggett]

Morning Brian,

I am obviously not aware of the situation in every part of the country but, where I grew up, in the 90's nearly all members club had waiting lists this is no longer the case. Many clubs now are accepting new members and not all are finding the new members they need. I could imagine in the lothians that clubs have full memberships but is this the case as you go futher north?

[Brian_Ewen]

Jon , its definitely morning  

I am sorry I mistook what you wrote , and I totally agree with you .

There is a lot of clubs really struggling for members up here also .

Personally I dont think its the younger golfers that are missing from the memberships . Its the 30 to 50 age group that seem to be leaving clubs in droves .

With all the cheap 2for1 vouchers deals about , there is no doubt that many are finding its just cheaper to play society golf , but I am meeting a lot of Guys in that age group that are just giving the game up .

I would say this used to be the age group that was the lifeblood of the clubs .

[Tony_Muldoon]

Blimey that's like me saying my most frequent customers are my biggest pains. Do they get quantity discounts? Of course.  

(On one of the replies in Brian’s link “a member” says he plays every week but he’s unhappy that he has to have a “costly” 7 day membership (£400/52=£7.70 per round). He says he wants to pay a 5 day fee and then £10 a round. )

Here’s a link to a summary of the original article which not surprisingly is a more cnsidered and thoughtful piece.

http://tinyurl.com/2hvx8v


Must be an awful life being a Club Secretary


Frankly I think its societies that mess your course/club up.  But then customers are a necessary evil in this world.

[Jon Wiggett]

Any amount of play on the course will cause damage. It is just a question of what standard of course do you want and how much will the customer pay. It is finding this balance that is important.

Problems arise when you have a membership/committee that should be spending more money or are spending more money  than the membership is willing to pay but members not wanting the visitor traffic on the course to meet the deficit.

My experience is that visitors, especially societies that come every year often look to the course better than the members and there are very few golfers who knowingly cause damage to the course.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Some clubs in the Philadelphia area have a weekday membership at reduced rates in order to accommodate seniors and increase their cash flow.

Also, the senior weekday rates at many public courses are very attractive for those seniors who like to play a variety of courses.

[Jon Earl]

The entertaining Martin Johnson's take on this story.

More power to the old men of the tee

[Rich Goodale]

All

I'm one of those "wet leaves" I referred to and I wish they could find a way to sweep me away if and when I'm incapable of playing to a reasonable standard and unwilling to stand way for younger people to enter and enjoy my club.

You cannot argue the demographics and socio-economic trends.  It varies, but in the clubs I know of there is a huge bubble of baby-boomers who see golf as a cheap way to keep in touch with friends and keep a little bit fit in their later life, and a vast number of 25-40 year old people who would love to play golf, but can't find a place which will adequately accomodate the person with a young family.

Clubs know that the latter are critical to the future of the club, but do not have the cojones to tell the former that tjhey need to graciously step away.  The best clubs deal with this dichotomy in the favor of youth.  The worst deal with it in the favor of tradition.

[Brent Hutto]

You cannot argue the demographics and socio-economic trends.  It varies, but in the clubs I know of there is a huge bubble of baby-boomers who see golf as a cheap way to keep in touch with friends and keep a little bit fit in their later life, and a vast number of 25-40 year old people who would love to play golf, but can't find a place which will adequately accomodate the person with a young family.

Are you talking about course-use policies or dues or social events or admission? I've seen this sentiment expressed before and am never sure just how the old guys are keeping out the younger adults.

[Rich Goodale]

All three, Brent.

Dues should be lower for younger adults (as they are in a lot of US private clubs that I know); the club should actively encourage social activities that will bring young adults and their faimilies to the club; and if there is a waiting list for admission, preference should be given to younger adults.

Next?

[TEPaul]

"My sole aspiration is to hang around long enough be one of those crusty old gits...."

OLD GITS??

My God, I love the English language. Not the American English language but the English English language!

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