USING ‘GET INTO GOLF’ TO INSPIRE ADULTS TO LEARN
TO PLAY GOLF
Through England Golf’s ‘Get into golf’ campaign we have been successful in attracting adult
beginners to golf coaching in support of our strategy to grow club membership numbers.
“
The Starting Point
We have been very encouraged
by the strong take up of the
England Golf ‘Get into golf’
programme, with help from the
County Golf Partnership.
Increasing participation from
beginners in golf is having
positive benefits for our Club
and is vital for the future of our
sport.
Alan Plumb
Captain - Strawberry Hill Golf
Club
“
Strawberry Hill Golf Club (SHGC) offers a friendly and welcoming
atmosphere for beginners and improvers. The Club prides itself on being
‘family-friendly’, with both a thriving ladies and juniors section, and works
hard to promote golf within the local community.
In 2010, in common with many other golf clubs, we had experienced a fall
in adult membership numbers and it was recognized that new strategies
were required to address this decline. We achieved GolfMark with ‘high
achiever’ status in 2011/12. Subsequently, we were successful in gaining
an ‘Inspired Facilities’ award (as part of the ‘Places People Play’ Olympic
Games legacy funding) from Sport England to upgrade our practice
facilities through the installation of an all-weather practice teeing area
and a double-bay caged practice net. These developments helped us to
become a centre for ‘Get into golf’, with the objective of inspiring more
adults to learn to play golf and introducing them to the golfing options
available at our Club.
Action
The Club developed a formal marketing strategy, in which the ‘Get into
golf’ programme was promoted to attract adult beginners/ near beginners
to the Club.
More than 150 adults have
participated in ‘Get into golf’
coaching sessions at SHGC
since mid-2012, of which
almost two-thirds were
female. We have grown the
‘Get into golf’ programme and
in 2014 had over 70 adults
receiving a four week course,
a year-on-year increase of
30%.
www.englandgolf.org/clubhouse
In addition to a targeted advertising/ publicity campaign, including use of
digital media, we established a range of local networking initiatives. At
our annual open days we focused on involving the local community
though taster coaching sessions for beginners, on course play for existing
golfers, and generally providing an opportunity for visitors to experience
what we have to offer. For business, we worked to promote the Club
through Richmond Chamber of Commerce, local networking groups,
‘Richmond Expo’, the local town business associations and Richmond
Community Links. To attract more female golfers, we networked with
local women’s groups.
We advertised beginners coaching on the ‘Get into golf’ website, which
was particularly successful in attracting participants to the Club from
outside our immediate catchment area.
31st March 2015 Ref: MAR.01
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We found that it was very effective, where possible, to meet and talk to people to tell them about our Club and
golf offering - whether this involved running a small stand such as at the Expo event, addressing groups or
networking with individuals on a one-to-one basis. Our experience also revealed a latent demand from women
keen to participate in golf, when it is presented in a relaxed, friendly and inclusive environment.
To build the ‘Get into golf’ programme at the Club has required the support and hard work of proactive
volunteers to coordinate the planning, timetabling and booking of the courses as well as the dedication and skill
of our professionals in delivering the coaching.
Results
We have been successful in attracting adults to golf coaching at our Club. More than 150 adults have
participated in ‘Get into golf’ coaching sessions at SHGC since mid-2012, of which almost two-thirds were
female. We have grown the ‘Get into golf’ programme and in 2014 had over 70 adults receiving a four week
course, a year-on-year increase of 30%.
‘Get into golf’ coaching has provided beginners/ near beginners with the opportunity to experience golf at SHGC
in a non-intimidating environment and, importantly, to have fun.
Participants were encouraged to undertake follow-on ‘improvers’ lessons (‘Play more golf’) , recognising that
most were not near to being ‘course–ready’ after only four introductory group coaching lessons. Consequently,
they would not have reached a proficiency level where they would contemplate committing to membership. A
key challenge has been to build on the enthusiasm of participants from ‘Get into golf’ and to retain their
involvement in follow-up activities with the potential eventually to develop/ attract them to membership. This
is an area where we shall be continuing to focus and we are exploring better ways to achieve this.
We have been successful in gaining new members through ‘Get into golf’ (although the conversion rate to
membership is still under 10%, which is in-line with our experience from previous taster sessions). We hope
that more of the current cohort will choose to join us as members in the future.
Running the ‘Get into golf’ programme at SHGC has led to other direct benefits – an increase in coaching
activity/ income and equipment sales for our Professional, as well as other ancillary income for the Club (food
and beverages). The goodwill generated has also helped to reinforce our reputation as being a communityorientated golf club.
www.englandgolf.org/clubhouse
31st March 2015 Ref: MAR.01
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