Recommendations

The research findings highlight the importance of golf clubs actively managing the pathway to participation.

We recommend that golf clubs adopt a strategic approach to integrating new members. Helping new members to settle in and form strong social relationships should improve member retention. Helping new members settle in should also create a larger and more diverse membership. It is from among this pool of members that golf clubs can activate new volunteers.

Golf club actions

Reduce uncertainty for new members

• Provide a great welcome. Offer an induction meeting and a tour of the club’s facilities. Give new members the opportunity to ask questions.

• Hand out a welcome pack with essential information including the club’s history, vision, strategy, policies, rules, cultural practices, course information and personnel.

• Relax club rules and cultural practices , thereby creating a less daunting environment for new members.

Activate volunteering

• Encourage engagement in club affairs. Consult on strategy and major decisions. Reach out to all members to let them contribute and feel involved.

• Find out more about the skills and experiences of your members. Ideally, do this face-to-face and talk about how they could contribute to the club. Especially reach out to members on the periphery of the club.

• Ensure everyone has access to information about volunteering by advertising role vacancies via noticeboards, newsletters, social media. Include strong messaging around inclusivity.

• Where volunteer roles appear unattractive or overly demanding, redesign role requirements to make them more manageable and appealing (e.g. dividing the role and sharing out responsibilities, stripping out unnecessary activities).

Helping new members settle in and form strong social relationships should improve member retention. Helping new members settle in should also create a larger and more diverse membership.

• Emphasise the support that is available to volunteers (e.g. from management and other volunteers, availability of training, support from England Golf).

Help new members to settle in

• Provide an orientation programme for new members

Sustain this over several months and beware overloading them with information.

• Help new members form relationships with other newcomers so that they can support each other in learning about golf club life (e.g. create new member groups).

• Provide on-course coaching and support for inexperienced golfers, ideally in new member groups, as this helps members develop confidence in playing the course.

• Establish a buddy scheme that pairs up new members with established members who can provide informal advice about the golf club.

• Help new members find a playing group with like-minded members.

• Establish a ‘New Member Champion’ role and/or a working group of volunteers to design and coordinate an orientation programme.

• Find out why new members leave. Do this by speaking to them individually or asking them to complete an exit survey. Reflect and then act on your findings to improve new member retention.