Of course, maintaining and growing a strong membership base is a constant challenge for golf club managers, and many operators struggle to come up with creative ideas to offer new and exciting membership types. However, many operators have seen their membership numbers decline over the years.
This trend can be attributed to generational changes, as golf clubs are slowly losing their old members, baby boomers aged 45 to 65. To make matters worse, millennials have so far not shown the same interest in the sport as the youth of the 90s.
Rethinking your membership strategy means rethinking how your golf club will attract younger people in the future, while continuing to meet the needs of existing members who have been loyal to you for a long time. It is also recommended that you have a powerful membership management software to facilitate this process.
Ultimately, your membership strategy should reflect the different markets you serve, your location, and the quality of your operation. For example, if your competing golf club focuses on 5-day senior memberships, you may want to target a different demographic instead of getting into a price war.
There are a number of strategies you can implement to get the most japan whatsapp number out of your members. Here are our top tips for offering more attractive memberships for your golf club.
11 Golf Course Membership Ideas
1. Monthly subscription
This strategy is currently being implemented by some of the largest and most successful golf clubs, with excellent results. Typically, these memberships allow players to purchase a monthly subscription that renews automatically, much like a gym pass. Also, players can unsubscribe at any time.
These memberships represent a much lower cost and are more attractive to younger golfers who prefer the freedom that these memberships offer rather than the rigidity of an annual subscription.
This strategy can also work well for seasonal golf courses like Florida, for example. Since attendance is more concentrated in certain months of the year, players are likely to want to sign up for a short period of time, so consider this strategy if you are in a seasonal market.
2. Weekend subscriptions
You need to offer a variety of memberships to suit the needs of each customer. Yes, those 7-day memberships work great for older players who have the time to come often, but for the younger player who works 40 hours a week, it doesn't make sense to buy 7-day or 5-day memberships.
Offering a weekend membership is a great way to cater to professionals who don’t have time to come and have fun during their busy workweeks. Of course, this type of membership would have to come at a premium since weekend slots are in high demand. However, if these memberships are aimed at young professionals with a decent income, you should be able to sell them easily.
3. Intermediate memberships
One way to address the economic reality of young people is to introduce intermediate memberships with different prices for different age groups . Consider offering discounted memberships for 21-29 year olds and 30-35 year olds.
If you're wondering why you shouldn't consider these memberships, consider the lifetime value of attracting a young person to your club. Building a relationship early is essential to generating loyal members for years to come.
4. Party coupons
Rather than offering unlimited access, this strategy gives players the right to purchase multiple rounds that they can trade throughout the season. Many golf courses use this proven and effective strategy. Sell these as "membership vouchers" to increase the perceived value and offer the prestige of becoming a member.
5. Weekly subscriptions
Weekly memberships are a very typical membership that you will find at many golf courses. Typically, these memberships are less expensive since there is less demand for early-week rounds. Again, you can scale these membership prices by age, but the most popular customers for these types of memberships are seniors and retirees since they are not tied to a job and have time to play during the week.