The Golf Club Manager: June 2020 by Golf Club Managers Association

THE GOLF CLUB

MANAGER ISSUE 37 | JUNE 2020

THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE GOLF CLUB MANAGERS’ ASSOCIATION

SPECIAL THE WORRYINREPORT: AS CLUBS EMEG STATISTICS RGE LOCKDOWN FROM

GCMA

BUILDING COMMUNITY DURING CORONAVIRUS

H O W T H E PA N D E M I C H A S S T R E N G T H E N E D T H E B O N D S T H AT B I N D O U R A S S O C I AT I O N TO G E T H E R

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E ‘

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CONTENTS ISSUE 37 | JUNE 2020

GCMA

BEST PRACTICE

Building community during coronavirus

36 Why two thirds of clubs feel concerned for the future

Meet your new National Captain

50 Skin cancer - golf’s silent killer

INDUSTRY

GRASS ROOTS

62 How clubs welcomed the return of golf

Is your club adapted for socially distanced golf?

THE BIG INTERVIEW 22

Prince’s general manager Rob McGuirk

THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE GOLF CLUB MANAGERS’ ASSOCIATION GCMA Bristol & Clifton Golf Club, Beggar Bush Lane, Failand, Bristol, BS8 3TH Tel: 01275 391153 | hq@gcma.org.uk CHIEF EXECUTIVE Bob Williams - bob@gcma.org.uk GOLF MANAGEMENT RESEARCHER Jim Cunning - jim@gcma.org.uk FINANCE ADMINISTRATOR Lianne Banks - lianne@gcma.org.uk COMMUNICATIONS EXECUTIVE Marie Taylor - marie@gcma.org.uk MEMBERSHIP SERVICES Julie Knight - julie@gcma.org.uk PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Gavin Robinson- gavin@gcma.org.uk BUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS MANAGER Craig Cotterill - craig@gcma.org.uk PRESIDENT JR (John) Jones 2019/20 CAPTAIN Ian Symington BOARD OF DIRECTORS Phil Grice, Amy Yeates, Andrew Rankin, Judy Barker, Stuart Leech, Brad McLean THE GOLF CLUB MANAGER IS PUBLISHED BY: SPORTS PUBLICATIONS LTD 2 Arena Park, Tarn Lane, Scarcroft, West Yorkshire, LS17 9BF, UK Tel: 0113 289 3979 | info@sportspub.co.uk PUBLISHER Tom Irwin - t.irwin@sportspub.co.uk CONTENT DIRECTOR Dan Murphy - d.murphy@sportspub.co.uk EDITOR Steve Carroll - s.carroll@sportspub.co.uk PRODUCTION EDITOR James Broadhurst - j.broadhurst@sportspub.co.uk CHIEF DESIGNER Andrew Kenworthy - a.kenworthy@sportspub.co.uk DESIGNER Emmi Parry - e.parry@sportspub.co.uk Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, but the publishers cannot accept responsibility for omissions and errors. All material in this publication is strictly copyright and all rights are reserved.The views expressed in The Golf Club Manager do not necessarily represent the views of the company or the editor. Every care is taken in compiling the contents but the publishers assume no responsibility for any damage, loss or injury arising from participation in any offer, competition or advertising contained within The Golf Club Manager.

THE GOLF CLUB

MANAGER ISSUE 37 | JUNE 2020

THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE GOLF CLUB MANAGERS’ ASSOCIATION

SPECIAL REPO RT: THE WORRYING AS CLUBS EMERGSTATISTICS E LOCKDOWN FROM

GCMA

BUILDING COMMUNITY DURING CORONAVIRUS

H O W T H E PA N D E M I C H A S S T R E N G T H E N E D T H E B O N D S T H AT B I N D O U R A S S O C I AT I O N TO G E T H E R

ED U C AT E | I N FO RM | I N S P I RE ‘

ON THE COVER: A GCMA Zoom meeting during the lockdown

WELCOME

ISSUE 37 | JUNE 2020

hat an interesting and intriguing time for me to be writing my penultimate welcome article. The continuing dilemmas in how we deal with the effects of Covid-19 seem to keep presenting themselves. After having to deal with getting two people playing once again, this has now been heightened by the further announcements of allowing three and fourballs onto our courses. By the time I write my final article in July who knows what developments will have happened by then? This time last year I was writing about Governance workshops and about to welcome all to the National Golf day, at Enville Golf Club. Twelve months on and we are about to enter a period of the Association’s 87-year history that could prove to be one of the most important ever. On June 22, we will undertake the very first virtual AGM but, just as importantly, we are fast approaching the changing of the leadership guard when a new Chief Executive and a new Chairman will be tasked with moving the GCMA forward. At the AGM we will be joined by two new Directors as well as the election of the incoming Chairman who will be elected from within the Board. All of the new appointments will certainly need to hit the ground running. The Association is now at a

critical stage where we need to build upon the camaraderie that has developed over the spring while we have dealt with the effects the pandemic has had on our world. But not only is the GCMA having to deal with Covid-19, we are now faced with the PGA actively pursuing the world of golf club management and developing their own brand of membership for golf club managers. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the members of the GCMA have become closer than ever before and, as the front page of this magazine indicates, our community has worked with one another, shared knowledge with one another, and been there for each other. It is now time for you, the members of our association, to stand together and resist the PGA advances – the GCMA is your community. Stay safe and well. Bob Williams – chief executive

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How we’ve all pulled together during

CORONAVIRUS

f you’ve heard chief executive Bob Williams speak, you’ll know there’s a mantra he likes to refer to frequently: building community. It’s always been about the bonds that are built – between the association and its members, through the connections made at regional meetings, and those constructed at the grassroots between members themselves. As the coronavirus pandemic has challenged the golf industry in ways never thought possible –

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whoever believed clubs would be shut down for some two months? – that community has only been strengthened and tightened by the adversity that has been faced. And while recognising the hardship and turmoil that the virus has brought, whether economically or in terms of health, it has revealed opportunities to work closer together in the future and take advantage of technology to spread the GCMA message even wider. It became clear, from the very start of the crisis back in March,

that the role of the association would become pivotal in guiding clubs through unprecedented times. “We recognised pretty early on, when it hit and lockdown was enforced on March 23, the effect that was going to have on general managers and their immediate need to understand the Government’s information,” said professional development manager Gavin Robinson. “It was about understanding that information and then being able to apply it within their own golf

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From connecting WhatsApp meetings to staging virtual webinars, the association community has become ever stronger during these unprecedented times

clubs. There were an awful lot of questions from members around ‘what’s the right thing to do?’ “We kicked into overdrive at that time. The decision was taken not to furlough our own staff because this was going to be an extremely busy time for us in supporting the membership. “From there, golf management researcher Jim Cunning had a huge role. We set up a Covid-19 section within the website, with all the up to date information coming from the Government and other organisations – ourselves

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included.” It was community at a national level. Driven by Bob Williams, the GCMA played a pivotal role, along with other professional bodies including the PGA and BIGGA, in producing guidelines and essential practices that would cut through the huge amounts of information out there and provide the most up-to-date advice. “There was a real togetherness from the PGA, GCMA and BIGGA,” Williams explained.“There was a real feeling that the professional bodies – the people that represent

the paid employees – had to work together. “Those meetings have been going on every week since. Jim Croxton, Rob Maxfield, Phil (Grice, GCMA chairman) and myself sat round a virtual room and discussed what needed to happen next. “That has been really positive.” “We understood very quickly that golf was a sport that could be played with social distancing and there were the physical, mental and health benefits of being able to get out on the golf course,”

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added Robinson. “There was a general acceptance from all the associations that golf was in a very good position to help coming through the crisis and help people get back to some sort of normality and get out and get some physical exercise. “That really drove the coordination and cooperation.” But it wasn’t just at the very top of the golf industry where those bonds of togetherness were being strengthened. It was happening within the GCMA itself, spurred on by the introduction of weekly webinars that became ever more popular by the week. Club managers were able to listen to the likes of England Golf chief executive Jeremy Tomlinson, and ask questions, in virtual Zoom meetings watched by hundreds. Said Williams:“The response from those webinars has been absolutely amazing. I kept saying, and it was really key, we’ve got to be topical, we’ve got to be fashionable to the moment, and it has got to have outcomes where people will walk away and go ‘now I know how I can plan to open a golf club, or ‘how I can plan to get the golf course cut’. ‘How many people can I get in? What’s essential maintenance? Who are essential workers? How can the pro work?’ “We had to really react very quickly. It was about sharing knowledge and sharing the bad points as well as the good. “All of a sudden, members were sharing that knowledge all the time and it made no difference if it was someone in the north of Scotland or down in Cornwall in spreading the message. “They were still sharing and that has been the value of Zoom, WhatsApp and the GCMA

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community.” “We obviously realised very quickly that face-to-face meetings were going to be impossible,” said Robinson of the innovation. “The first webinar we did was with BIGGA chief executive Jim Croxton and he was excellent and spoke very well about essential maintenance. “That was one of the first issues (arising for clubs after the lockdown) and was critical for the general managers to know. That was extremely successful. The second webinar was with Rob Maxfield and Joe Kelly at the PGA. “The third was with Kevin Fish and we had 270 members on that call. “Selecting speakers was a process. We had to decide what was relevant and react to the situation – what was a very fluid situation. We didn’t make any quick decisions on who to put in front of the membership until Friday or even the Monday of the week we were doing it. “It had to be relevant for the membership – otherwise there was really no point in doing it.” One of those webinars, for example, was about insurance. It was not the headline name of a governing body chief executive but instead, as Robinson put it, the “real nuts and bolts”. “It was something relevant and something where people had great takeaways and saved the managers on that call hundreds of pounds. “At the end of the day, when you are in a crisis, that is fantastic – to be able to go back to the board with that saving, plus, it’s adding value to the membership of the GCMA. “It has been great and the feedback we have had has been extremely positive. It’s relevant and

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keeps managers in the loop of what’s going on and who’s doing what. “It really has helped us build a community within the membership.” That communication has travelled down the pyramid as well. Outside of those webinars, regional managers across the 16 GCMA regions have been using Zoom to hold virtual meetings with their members. And at the grassroots, groups of managers in counties and towns have also used the same technology, or utilised WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams, or Google Hangouts, to plot their way through lockdown and what lies ahead. Such has the been the impact of technology in solidifying the links between members, it’s likely to play an increasing role in what the GCMA offers going forwards – whether that’s an online Principles of Golf Club Management education course or virtual conferencing. “The strength of the community has grown immensely during this period,” said Robinson.“It is a time of crisis, a time when people need to pull together, and there are positives to have come out of such

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a tragic situation. “It’s really brought the value of our association to the fore. We have more than 1,700 members but the community we’ve been able to build, and show the strength in that community through this time, has been key. “Technology is only going to help us continue to do that into the future. It’s going to help us bring more education to our members. “It’s a very difficult time for everyone and, obviously, we pay respects to the people on the front line in the NHS and care homes and understand the difficulties the families of the bereaved are going through. “But golf - as a sport and industry – needs to understand its role within the community and help build communities as clubs used to do when they were first set up all those years ago. “They were supposed to be at the heart of residential communities and I think we’ve gone away from that a little bit. “It’s time to build that back up again and we’re trying to do that within the association, through our members and getting that message to them, to build their communities as well.”

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GCMA AGM to

GO VIRTUAL Our Annual General Meeting will be unique this year as the GCMA responds to the coronavirus pandemic

nprecedented times call for unprecedented measures – and that’s certainly the case when it comes to this year’s Annual General Meeting. For the first time in the 87-year history of the association, the gathering will be conducted virtually as the UK continues to navigate the coronavirus pandemic. The board of directors will host the AGM via a weblink at 11am on Monday, June 22. The link, agenda, and reports, are all available in an AGM section of the members’ area on the website.

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Following last year’s meeting, one of the elected directors relinquished his nomination to serve on the Board and the directors took the decision not to co-opt a replacement. That means two directors will be elected. The first will fulfil the role of financial director, while the second will replace Phil Grice, who has fulfilled his second term of office and is not eligible for reelection. The nominees are Steve Armstrong, David Boyce, Gareth Morgan, Ed Richardson and Mike Robinson, and a bio and video introduction for each is available in the members’ area.

To attend the AGM, registration is required by June 18. Click the link in the members area. You’ll need your name and membership number. All voting will take place in advance and votes must be received by Jim Cunning - jimcunning@gcma.org. uk - by noon on June 18. They will be counted the following day in a process adjudicated by president JR Jones and Frank Clapp. Only questions submitted in advance to Jim by June 15 will be answered. Questions can be asked using the chat function. They will not be answered live, but by the following Monday (June 29).

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have been involved in the game from my teenage years playing regularly and, for one week only, achieved category 1 status - my highest achievement to date. A former police officer, I retired after 30 yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; service working in major crime, fraud squad, traffic and, towards the end of my career, in internal affairs. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very different, I might add, to how it is portrayed in Line of Duty. I served as a Hostage Negotiator for many years, being regularly oncall for a variety of very different incidents. In my final year with the police, I was Captain at my then home club, Elsham Golf Club in Lincolnshire, and progressed to working in the golf industry, starting at Sleaford Golf Club where I stayed for 12 months. Moving to Yorkshire, I worked at Garforth Golf Club and saw them through their centenary in 2013. I was very fortunate, with the support of the Committee, to become Golf Club Manager of the Year runner-up and, after five years, moved to Woodsome Hall, near Huddersfield. Woodsome Hall has one of the most magnificent clubhouses in the country, dating back to the 16th century. A recently opened Dormy House provides fabulous accommodation and, with great food and a warm welcome, achieved a 5-star rating on TripAdvisor. I retired in January of this year

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Dave Carlisle is set to be formally elected as the figurehead for the GCMA at a virtual AGM later this month. In unprecedented times, he looks ahead to his period in office to take up the National Captaincy - little did we all know what was about to face us as a country and organisation. Having previously served on the National Executive, representing the Yorkshire Region, I was interested to know the workings of the new Board of Directors and how this new style of Management that governed our Association worked. Having now been on the Board for several months it has highlighted how hard they, all of whom have full-time positions, work tirelessly for the organisation as well as having to cope through the crisis we all face. I was very surprised and honoured when I was nominated to become your National Captain. We had, after all, had a Yorkshire National Captain very recently in Cameron Dawson and to go down that route again must have meant he did a good job. Ian Symington, your outgoing National Captain, has been a stalwart this past 12 months and to achieve all he has in visiting all the Regions is remarkable and a very hard act to follow. It is a testament to his character and determination. I am aware the Board of Directors, and Chief Executive Bob Williams, have been working extremely hard over the last few months to put the GCMA in the position we are in now. The Association now holds a position on the All-Party

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Parliamentary Group for Golf, which has been invaluable in helping write the guidelines that every club nationally has taken on board to reintroduce the game back onto the fairways. It was a fabulous achievement, led by our outgoing Chairman Phil Grice, who has served for a number of years on the Board. There will be a lot of change in the organisational structure of the Board in the coming months and I’m relishing the opportunity to be involved at this level. During the coronavirus crisis, your Regional Managers have been meeting twice a week through video conferencing and the communication and togetherness of this hard-working

“I was very surprised and honoured when I was nominated to become your National Captain” group has been fabulous. Communication at all levels is at an all-time high and I’d like to pay tribute to them for their endeavours over the last few months. They should all be very proud of themselves. New staff at Head Office, led by Bob, have all played their part in progressing the Association forward and into the thoughts of the golf industry. There have been many struggles for our fellow industries, namely our PGA Professional and BIGGA members, with a variety of different initiatives and working practices taking place. To have adapted as they have is a

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tremendous effort. Social media has taken off in our industry like never before and becomes an ever-important medium to us. I was very much looking forward to leading the English managers in the International matches but, for obvious reasons, these have been cancelled for this year. I am hopeful that in some format the Regional meetings will commence, subject to government guidelines, in the autumn and I hope to visit as many parts of the country as possible. The golf industry and, in particular, golfers nationally have a huge responsibility on their shoulders, golf being the first sport to open up for everyone as we transition towards some form of normality. The physical and mental benefits of the game could never be more important than they are today, perhaps prompting a new wave of membership as we continue to demonstrate how open, inclusive and accessible the game is. Each and every club, whether private membersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, owner, or public facilities, have all had to adapt very quickly to the new guidelines and adhere to the restrictions that have been imposed. We will have shown social responsibility and adherence to the guidelines in order to further promote the sport. It is incumbent on all clubs and members to continue to act responsibly as they are the face of the sport at this moment in time.

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INDUSTRY The latest news, insightful opinions and in-depth features from the golf industry

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The news you need to know from the last month in the golf industry…

How to get golfers safely round your course It was one of the head-scratching issues for clubs as they began to plan to re-open their doors after the coronavirus lockdown eased – how they could get golfers on and off the course safely. With members now having to adhere to unfamiliar social distancing rules, many clubs had to look at employing signage to instruct players on their responsibilities and also to direct them where they needed to be.

“It seems likely that social distancing and other measures will be around for a while,”said Darren Moorhouse, head of sales UK and Europe for ARC. “We expect it to be a fluid process, as in other industries, and once we’re engaged with a club we see it as our role to help bring them back to normality, however long that takes, and without incurring significant repeat costs.” With safety measures expected

Welcome to our newest GCMA members Paul Kent, at Flempton,in East Anglia region Melanie Drake, at Kings Hill, in South East region Jon Pilkington, at Oulton Park, in Yorkshire region Owen Evans, at Chester, in North West region Rick Devine, at Woodsome Hall, in Yorkshire region Mark Allcorn, at Royal Worlington & Newmarket, in East Anglia region Michael Deller-Merricks, at Calcot Park, in London & Home Counties region Andrew Harrow, at Ballochmyle, in Scotland region Jon Hughes, at Wakefield, in Yorkshire region Ian McCairns, at Coventry Hearsall, in Midland region

ARC, a global signage company that had been providing safety and social distancing visuals for UK critical infrastructure services since the start of the pandemic, branched out and developed guidelines and materials for golf clubs. Prince’s, in Kent, was one of the first clubs where they installed their bespoke signs, and club chiefs reported they had a significant impact when the links complex re-opened on May 13.

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to be fluid, as Government advice changes, the service also offers compliant updates and revisions to be applied as and when required and in line with recommendations. For more information, contact Darren on 020 7582 9000 or email darren.moorhouse@e-arc.co.uk We want to hear from you! We want to hear from you! Send your correspondence, on any subject, to letters@gcma.org.uk

(Derek) Brian Coupe, at South Bradford, in Yorkshire region Alison Cavani, at Melton Mowbray, in East Midlands region Dianne Whittaker, at Chilwell Manor, in East Midlands region James Hare, at Hunley Hall, in Northern region Maria Nolan, at East Devon, in South West Carl Hegarty, at Moor Allerton, in Yorkshire region

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The interview...

ROB MCGUIRK After three years of big investment, Princeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s general manager discusses the impact of coronavirus and his optimism for golf in an uncertain timeâ&#x20AC;Ś

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e’re talking following the resumption of golf after a complete shutdown for nearly two months. How has coronavirus affected Prince’s? When it first started, before lockdown, we tried to keep everything open as far as was possible. We had a five-stage plan from going to single occupancy in the lodges through to moving F&B outlets from one point to another to give ourselves some room. It eventually got to the stage where it was becoming very serious and the Government imposed the necessary measures.

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The difficulty for us was that the end of March, and beginning of April, is basically the start of the golf season. We gave back over £100,000 of deposits and bookings to people. We had to pay staff for six weeks before we got the furlough money and so it was almost a double whammy. It was very difficult. We’ve managed to move some bookings to next year, but we were very fair with people. If they wanted their money back, we gave it to them. We didn’t hold on to it. We just said ‘we’d appreciate it if you could hold that for next year, we’ll keep the price for you’. Half of them did that, and the rest wanted a refund, so it was quite a

tough time from a cash flow point of view. One thing we were quite fortunate with was that our membership renewals were on February 28. We had taken almost all of our subscription money before it happened and that gave us a little bit of leeway. But coming off a tough winter, where we had a lot of rain, golf courses tend to make their money between the middle of March and the end of October.You lose money – and there is nothing you can do about that – between November and the end of February. The timing wasn’t great. Of particular relevance this year

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Rob McGuirk Rob McGuirk is a professional golfer and played full-time on the European Tour and Challenge Tour for eight years, after which he completed his PGA training. He became general manager at Prince’s in 2015.

was the arrival of The Open to Royal St George’s. I imagine you were planned to be very busy at that time with bookings and people wanting to play? We had a significant number of bookings in that week but most of those have moved to next year. I think we’ve moved over 100 bookings during Open week to next year in all. Nearly all of the corporate bookings are back in for next year already, which is great. Keeping members informed and onside during all of this could have been a challenge. How did they react to the enforced layoff and your response to it?

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They have been great. One thing they realise is that over the past three years we have invested significantly in the course and the facilities. At a lot of other members’clubs, such investments would have had to come from their pockets as well as the club, so I think they appreciate that all the money for the recent course improvements has come straight from our bottom line as a business. They’ve seen the club grow, they’ve seen the investment, and we saw very little complaint over the seven to eight weeks. Every week, or two weeks, we sent out emails and updated them on what’s happening on the course

and a little bit of history. We also had some press attention in Top 100s lists to celebrate and share with the membership – which has been a welcome distraction. They’ve had communication throughout the whole pandemic and, as a group, they’ve been great. How are you expecting the pandemic to affect what you can do at Prince’s over the next few months? My biggest concern is the hotel. Operating as a golf club, with the furlough scheme as it is, means we only need a certain number of green fees a week – plus members – to break even and cover costs. If the furlough scheme had dropped

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off and we had to be liable for all the staffing costs as well then it would be very difficult and we would have to make some very tough decisions. If it was golf only, and we could start including fourballs soon and some green fee play, we could pretty much get through a number of months. As soon as you are liable for those staff costs, and with no hotel, it could be very difficult. The other issue is the food and beverage side and social distancing. We are fortunate to have three outlets. We’ve got the upstairs clubhouse, a brasserie at The Lodge and a private room. You will need more staff to patrol more areas and that’s not going to be overly efficient for the bottom line. The irony, of course, is there’s probably never been a better time to visit Prince’s with all the work that has taken place. People who haven’t been a for a while perhaps wouldn’t recognise it for the changes that have been made… It is a shame but people will be back. We will be pretty patient with that. The investment has been significant in the last three years under the guidance of Martin Ebert, who has been brilliant to work with. We’ve changed every single hole now, including putting two new ones in. We’ve listened to a number of journalists, top 100 raters and people in the industry, about how linear Prince’s was and how we can break up the angles. We try to take all of those points on board to improve the facility and the course has really changed over the last three years. We’ve put a lot of the original features back in, with the blowout sand areas from the 1920s, 30s and 40s. We’ve found pictures, which

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show the huge sand dunes that had been blown through, and we’ve put a lot of those back into play. It has been a great three years and it is frustrating that people won’t be able to see it, but it won’t be long before we’re back. What was the process like with Martin and how did you work together? Going back to the first day, we spoke to Alistair Beggs, who at that time was an agronomist for STRI. We said ‘we’ve got to this stage and The Lodge is starting to work, the business is running well, but we need to move the golf courses to another level’. We weren’t in any of the top 100s in Great Britain & Ireland and that was quite important for us and we just said ‘we want someone who is a links specialist’and asked who he would recommend. He put forward Martin Ebert and we knew he had done a great job at Turnberry and it was very well regarded. We met with him and he went through a historic document, hole by hole on the Himalayas. He said what he wanted to do, presented it to my father, and that was it, really. He is very easy to work with. He’s a really nice guy and he’ll take your ideas on board as well as his. But if he doesn’t think it’s right he will stand his ground and he has been great. What has been the impact of the work he has done and the perception people have of Prince’s now? The Himalayas was almost like a blank canvas for Martin. He could do he wanted down there and we had to be slightly more careful on Shore/ Dunes. The feedback from 99 per cent of people was that Himalayas blew them away. Shore/Dunes has also

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improved significantly – and better than we would even have expected. It’s the attention to detail with Martin. If you look at our green complexes – any one of them – and there are several things he has changed. We’ve grown them out now so there are these huge run off areas. He has extended greens. It is difficult to put into words the changes across all 27 holes but if you had been here four years ago, and then came here now, you probably wouldn’t know where you were. It is having the results you were looking for. You’re back in those Top 100 rankings… I went to the National Club Golfer Top 100 awards in November last

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year and watched the presentations beforehand, talking about how many people look at rankings before they choose a course and that they are happier to spend a bit more money to play a top 100 course. We’ve got two really strong courses next to us – Royal St George’s and Deal (Royal Cinque Ports) – and we had to elevate ourselves to become noticed. We had to be different and that’s why we have the big sand areas and the big grass paths and the wetlands here and there. We had to be slightly different to those two courses to create the interest. Certainly we’ve seen business pick up. We do about 30,000 rounds a year, which isn’t a great deal for a 27hole course, but we are very strong

on the rate. We don’t do many discounts and, from that point of view, we can get the right amount of people playing, paying the right money, and it doesn’t feel like they are crammed in. Prince’s is a family-run concern but members seem to feel like an important part of the operation. How does that relationship work and how do you run your club? We try and make sure members can always play. We listen to what they would like and we try and accommodate them. Whether it’s ladies, men or juniors – there are no restrictions and they can play whenever they like. We have ladies’competitions on

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a Saturday morning and men’s on a Sunday. We run competitions throughout the week and there’s the flexibility that they can always get out and play. We don’t try and pack the course and that makes them feel like they are getting value for their membership. Having 27-holes means it is rare they can’t get out. We do look after them and we have got a very good membership and we’ve known a number of them for a long, long, time. They have

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grown through this improvement, from building The Lodge to the course, with us and they just love the place. And they feel their opinions and views are considered? That’s always one of the differences between proprietary and private members’ clubs. In the latter the members effectively own the club… Here, if they have an idea or something they are not sure about

they can always come and see us. Ultimately, people are here on their leisure time and they want to enjoy themselves. We do have a members’ committee and they discuss competitions. We run the golf and they can come down and relax. It is unfair to say that members’ club committees can be difficult but when you have one or two people making all the decisions, as is the case here, members can

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just come down, enjoy it and go home again, rather than getting caught up in all the politics. I think that’s one of the benefits of a proprietary club – you can get on with things. We’ve just completed the changing rooms, shortly before the lockdown. The members weren’t that worried about the changing rooms but we felt we needed to upgrade them. If that went through a members’ club, it could take six, 12, 18 months to go through. Here, we

make the decision and we get on with it. I think they appreciate that. We don’t scrimp on anything. Everything we do, we do it properly. It’s difficult to talk about the future during this pandemic, but this has been a period of significant development at Prince’s. How do you see the future of the business? We bought Chart Hills just before Christmas and it’s quite important for both us and them that, at some

point, we will be joined up. At the moment they are two separate businesses but the plan was to have another course in Kent that we could use that had similar quality – although it may have fallen on hard times. We wanted to offer a really good links experience but also a really good inland experience and to give the best of both worlds. That’s probably the most important thing for our future – getting Chart Hills back to where it

Prince’s Steeped in history, Prince’s is a jewel on the Kent coast and part of an incredible triangle of links courses that also includes Royal St George’s and Royal Cinque Ports. The club hosted the Open in 1932, when Gene Sarazen lifted the Claret Jug, and continue to have close links to the championship as a host of local final qualifying. The 27-hole complex, made up of the Shore, Dunes and Himalayas loops, has been the subject of considerable investment over the last few years – with esteemed architect Martin Ebert undertaking a renovation of every hole. Afamily owned business, the McGuirks added Chart Hills to their portfolio at the back end of last year.

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should be. It’s probably where we were five or six years ago and we need to bring them up to the same level that we are right now. It was quite a bold move to take on a second club, particularly with all the investment you had put in at Prince’s… I was a founder member there and the family has always had a soft spot for Chart Hills. We’ve had three attempts at buying it. It’s not too far away and there’s not many courses that would come up and we’d actually look at and would complement Prince’s. It is a bold move and it does need a lot of investment but we are not afraid of that. We just thought that Prince’s has turned the corner, can we do it somewhere else? It’s another challenge. The clubhouse is finished at Chart

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Hills and they have finished all the bunkers. It is a risk but we feel like we can turn it round. It is a course with a unique selling point and that is all of those bunkers. There is a point of difference there, compared with if you had taken on another facility… It has got a certain kudos to it, and its bunkers, but it is a great piece of land and we feel that it could be really special. Most of the really good clubs are member owned and you would do well to ever have a chance of purchasing those and then there’s nothing really else out there. It’s a good layout. We can make it work with the Lodge and our packages and we would look to bolt it onto our three Open venue package with Royal St George’s

and Deal. It makes sense to go for it. Obviously, the timing has not turned out to be great but we have started the renovations there and it will be great by the time we have finished. Do you feel optimistic? There’s a lot of uncertainty about but do you feel that golf has got a decent future ahead? I feel this is a good opportunity for golf, especially in this country. People won’t be travelling as much over the next two years and they will want to be outside. If you are going to be playing golf with a household it’s a great way of introducing your partner and children to the sport. I think there will be clubs that will struggle but those who are forward thinking and have a relaxed atmosphere, and are family based, will do pretty well.

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Two thirds of golf clubs feel concerned for

THEIR FUTURE

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As clubs adjust to life after lockdown, a survey of over 200 golf club leaders, conducted by Contemporary Club Leadership, revealed worrying headlines. We asked leading golf club consultant Kevin Fish to reveal the themes…

olf has just had a huge shock. Our clubs are emerging into a new world, having been closed for two months, and there is major uncertainty about what that future will hold. So perhaps it should be no surprise that a lockdown survey, conducted by Contemporary Club Leadership, revealed two thirds of clubs felt concerned about whether they would be able to survive the pandemic’s impact. The headlines were alarming as clubs fear resignation rates will top 10 per cent and respondents reported more than a third of green revenue up to the end of May will be lost. We asked industry expert, and CCL owner Kevin Fish, to interpret those figures and reveal how the sport can come through these unsettling times… These are worrying statistics. Why are club leaders reacting this way? Some clubs have just had a big wake up call. The lockdown has forced many to take a much closer look under the bonnet at what you might call their economic engine, and it has become clear that some wish they had done so much sooner. Before this crisis emerged, over 100 UK golf clubs had shared their full year-end accounts with us, so we knew from that analysis that the pressures on the industry were already mounting. We know

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that clubs make over 90% of their gross profit from just two sources – members’ subscriptions and visitors green fees – and, frankly, there doesn’t seem to be enough of either to go around. How hard has the lockdown further impacted clubs? The first responders on the scene certainly helped to stem the bleeding, but the Government’s furlough scheme won’t go on forever. The Lockdown Survey tells us that, on average, resignation levels are currently running at 8% - well over the yearly average of 6%. Those same clubs surveyed also estimate the resignation rate will rise to 11%, which really bites into club profits. With the “visitor stopcock”turned off, this also results in 37% of green fee income being written off this year. Is the lack of food and beverage options also punishing clubs? While there is no doubt golfers will be missing the opportunity to start or finish their round in the clubhouse, all the club managers can tell you that financially, very few clubs will be missing out on a meaningful contribution from food and beverage operations. CCL has the accounts of well over 100 UK golf clubs, and we can tell you that almost half fail to generate a profit from their clubhouse operations. It certainly doesn’t account for much of the club’s gross profit, which committees often fail to note is made up

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almost entirely by members’ subscriptions and visitors’ green fees. Committees should look at their food and beverage provision as a crucial social cement, which helps build a connection to a club and its members – and that is something clubs are missing right now.

2020 SURVEY OF CLUB LEADERS Fact – Resignations running at 8% Fact – Typical resignations at those clubs 6% Opinion – Resignation rates will rise to 11% Fact Fact Fact

– 37% of green fee revenue lost to the end of May – 23% of green fee deposits refunded – 77% of visitors intend to return to the club

Sample of data from CCL barometer analysis of 100+ club accounts Fact Fact Fact Fact

– Typical cash reserves at clubs – 4 months of trading – Typical level of commercial debt – 10% of operating revenue – Typical number of full voting members – 436 – Typical resignation rate – 6%

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What about the surge in demand for golf we are currently experiencing? Yes, I believe German football has had an unexpected boost too. GCMA members will remember that in the fortnight leading up to lockdown our tee sheets had never been busier and, as we gradually unlock, we are seeing the same surge. This is fantastic. It tells us that lots of people want what we are offering and, in our members’ eyes, we can clearly see that absence has indeed made the heart grow fonder. Managers are also telling me that membership enquiries are up, but so is interest in the Bundesliga, and god help the poor barman at the Auld Hoose in North Berwick when those restrictions are lifted! What is crucial is that clubs must work harder at wrapping their arms around those new customers because when this recession bites, and it will bite, there will be an awful lot of people calculating what constitutes a non-essential purchase. Next year could be even tougher for clubs and this is also reflected in our industry survey results, with over half of clubs still fearful for their future one to three years from now. What can clubs do to help their situation? Before Committees go blaming the lockdown for all of their woes, they must first take a much closer look at their economic model.

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LOOKING FORWARD CONFIDENCE LEVELS IN CLUBS Short Term = 2020

Long Term = after years

Medium Term = 1 to 3 years

Key: Very Concerned Somewhat Concerned Somewhat Confident Very Confident

Many of our clients are following our rallying call to remind their members that they are far more than just customers. They are owners, shareholders and custodians of the club, and if they want their communities and future generations to enjoy the same opportunities to play golf that they have enjoyed, then those members must do everything that is required to see the club not just through this challenging period in our history, but beyond. Is golf in trouble? We will lose some clubs in this crisis but, for them, the brushwood was already incredibly dry. But golf clubs also have an opportunity to use this crisis to review exactly

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why they are here. For some, they can satisfy a market of golfers who are “just passing through”. They want access to a golf facility and little else, and will respond well to a product that meets their financial as well as service level expectations. For others, while change is in the air, there is an opportunity for club leaders to re-evaluate why the club exists. What are the key ingredients, and how has the lockdown made people think of “club”? Those leaders can focus on putting club back into clubhouse, create a compelling purpose to be a member, and evidence that commitment with every decision they make. They can

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WHO IS KEVIN FISH? Kevin has over 20 years of experience in the golf club industry. A former club manager at the Glen Golf Club, in North Berwick, from 1999 to 2008, he was named the GCMA’s Manager of The Year in 2004. In 2008 he became the first club manager in Europe to be awarded the global designation CCM (Certified Club Manager). He went on to work for the Scottish Golf Union for seven years, selecting and leading a team that provided support to hundreds of Scottish golf clubs. He has been integral to the introduction of structured education for club managers throughout Europe and is now the go-to person in our industry for club governance, business planning and financial benchmarking. He has been invited to address the World Conference of Club Management on over a dozen occasions and now runs his own unique training, recruitment and consultancy business, Contemporary Club Leadership, whose aim is simply to help club leaders do the right things right. For more, visit www.ccl.services, email kevin@ccl.services or call 07398 155908

create a genuinely welcoming and contemporary club to meet the social trends in their area, and in doing so establish a conveyor belt of future members who see themselves as belonging to that club and attaching themselves to its style. What is the one thing that helps clubs the most right now?

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Clarity of thinking. Club managers and committees often say that our intervention feels like a trip to the Doctor, where we openly share the results of a thorough medical, and work with those leaders to improve the health of their club with a range of sensible life style choices. Managers know that their clubs have many brilliant well-

intentioned volunteers, but their love of the club, and the peculiar nature of club committees, means that quite often they can’t see the wood for the trees. My job is to help managers keep committees out of the trees, and find the fairway instead. However reluctant we may be, we all benefit from a swing check from time to time.

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0208 133 6751 www.albatross.digital james@albatross.digital

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The £2.9bn opportunity sitting

UNDER OUR NOSES Albatross Digital’s James Wilkinson reveals how you can get your slice of the pie through running profitable Beginner Golf campaigns

nprecedented, extraordinary, incredible are just a handful of words that have been used to describe the week golf clubs in England reopened their doors on May 13, 2020. While some clubs have seen membership numbers of over 100 sign ups in under a week, there will be many other clubs out there that aren’t feeling the fruits of these jaw-dropping numbers flying around on social media channels like LinkedIn. Essentially, bar a few more exgolfers potentially dusting off their clubs, or newbies trying the game for the first time, the underlying problems with golf participation are still very prevalent. The stats over the years are there to be seen and there have been so many column inches written about this I won’t waste anyone’s time regurgitating them. While membership might seem buoyant currently for some, I still see many cut price offers being advertised by clubs to attract new members. Offers such as these will leave a sour taste in the mouth of the members who stuck by their club during the lockdown. With the impending ‘recession

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like we’ve never seen’ around the corner, I predict that these underlying participation problems, particularly when it comes to traditional membership categories, will severely worsen over the coming years unless something is done to invest into the grassroots of the game. Once recession kicks in, people will not think twice about cancelling their membership Direct Debit when they’ve just lost their job and have no prospect for work on the horizon. THE LONG TERM - WEALTH Last month, I wrote about some short and mid-term marketing solutions in a post Covid-19 world. Now I write about how I believe the smart golf clubs can generate long-term wealth by tapping into a demographic of latent golfers (“non-golfers”who say they’re interested in playing golf) sitting under our very noses. A potential market that, according to Syngenta’s Unlocking Golf’s True Potential report, is worth £2.9bn in the UK. To put it into perspective, if all 2,500 golf clubs in the UK were to equally share just 25% of this reported £2.9bn, each club would generate £290,000 in new revenue.

And what is this magical market of untapped potential? According to Syngenta it is quite simply, female golfers. So why is it that the industry from the top down is failing to even scratch the surface when it comes to attracting female golfers into the game? With only 16% of golfers female in the UK*, how is it that we are so far behind the US (23%), Canada (30%), Sweden (29%) and South Korea (29%)? *as of 2016 according to Syngenta’s Unlocking Golf’s True Potential report With an encouraging latent demand of female non-golfers who are ‘very interested’ or ‘interested’ in taking up golf, I can only put the lack of take-up as one of three things: 1. Clubs are not interested or welcoming enough to female golfers 2. Beginner golf programmes and player pathways aren’t doing their job properly 3. The marketing strategy golf clubs use to attract and convert non-golfers into the game is not executed well enough Going on the success we have had with our clients, who are eager to

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welcome as many females to the game as possible, my firm belief is the reason why golf fails at attracting females into the sport is this… Expecting golf clubs to run complex and time consuming marketing campaigns to attract fresh people into the game is unrealistic and not sustainable. The vast majority of clubs do not have the expertise in house to be able to execute a multichannel marketing campaign that can generate beginner golfers at the level required to make any significant changes to the level of participation in the game.

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The governing bodies can hand out all the ‘do it yourself’ guidance in the world to clubs, however it is very difficult to execute a profitable, scalable, sustainable and trackable beginner golf programme unless someone at that club has the marketing knowledge or the time to learn how to set up a campaign that consists of: • Facebook ads • Google Ads • Email marketing • Landing page building software • Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) • Copywriting, and the numerous other digital marketing tactics it

takes years to master. Traditional beginner’s golf scheme For beginner golf schemes to work at clubs they have to be profitable to the club and the professionals long-term. Golf clubs cannot, and should not be expected to, make a loss on recruiting new players into the game. This appears to be the number one deterrent I hear when speaking with managers and owners on why they do not invest into the grassroots. Here’s what I believe are the fundamental flaws in most current schemes and why they have

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failed at scale in the past. The core marketing components to most beginner golf schemes I have seen executed are: 1. Print marketing - Put up some posters and leaflets around the golf course facilities 2. Email marketing - Send an email to your members and visitors databases (from our experience on average circa 1,000 contacts) 3. Social media - Organically post on the club’s social media accounts 4. Word of mouth - Talk to your members and visitors and ask them to spread the word 5. Offers - Request people pay £25 to £50+ to sign up a four

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to six week programme before they’ve even picked up a club 6. Duration - Run for a short period of time in the middle of summer The first flaw in this strategy is it is very difficult to scale campaigns like this. Once the initial flurry of attracting beginners has passed there is no way of getting more eyeballs (reach) on your promotion. Essentially this means most clubs can only run these types of campaigns once or twice per year before they fatigue. The second flaw is that the vast majority of latent golfers will have never considered playing golf before. Golf will not be for

everyone who tries it so, in order to convert as many people as possible, we need to get as many people trying the sport as possible. Asking people to invest £25 before they’ve even turned up to a lesson or picked up a club is a big commitment and will deter a significant percentage of potential golfers. The marketing adage of this is proposing marriage before you’ve even been on a date. You are jumping in the deep end with a ‘Buy Now’ message which can scare off a number of potential prospects. How to run a sustainable and

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profitable Beginner Golf Scheme I ardently believe the golf clubs that are able to generate more female golfers into the game and convert them into members through a well constructed player pathway will be the clubs that are able to come out the other side in the strongest position. I also believe this is a way that golf can breathe new life into the game. Having managed and studied a number of profitable beginner schemes, the ones I have seen that are generating over £100,000+ in new revenue each year execute the following rules. A successful beginner golf scheme needs to: • Generate beginner golfers consistently over a sustained period of time • Use a lead magnet to get people through the door and on site, undertaking at least one lesson before you pitch any sort of financial commitment • Consistently be generating leads through paid advertising channels like Facebook and Google Ads, attracting people who are searching for golf lessons as well as those just browsing social media channels • Have a successful and well structured player pathway programme that converts potential golfers into long-term members over a six to 24 month period Get this right and the maths adds up. Each club is different and so please take the following figures as a general rule of thumb. However, if you were to run this campaign over a two-year period and by the end of year two you received the following results, I predict many clubs could see a significant boost to their bottom line.

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A large club with a range and extensive practice facilities who were able to welcome 225 new beginner members a year:

Units

Monthly Revenue

High Tier Members £40 Per Month

£3,000.00

Low Tier Members £25 Per Month

150

£6,000.00

Range Ball Spend Avg £10 Per Month

225

£2,250.00

Secondary Spend £10 Per Month

225

£2,250.00

Monthly Revenue

£13,500.00

Annual Revenue

£162,000.00

A small - medium sized club with practice facilities who were able to introduce 100 new members a year: Units

Monthly Revenue

High Tier Members £40 Per Month

£1,200.00

Low Tier Members £25 Per Month

£2,800.00

Range Ball Spend Avg £10 Per Month

100

£1,000.00

Secondary Spend £10 Per Month

100

£1,000.00

Monthly Revenue

£6,000.00

Annual Revenue

£72,000.00

The Beginner Golfer Value Ladder I have called this whole principle the Beginner Golfer Value Ladder and it is born out of numerous Beginner Golf campaigns we have run for golf clubs over the past two years. Fundamentally, the golfer is led through a series of offers that increase in value at the right time depending on what stage the golfer is in their player pathway. From an initial awareness ‘Lead Magnet’ to their final decision to becoming a full member, it is a sustainable and profitable way for you to grow your beginner golf programme at your golf club and maximise the lifetime value of

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beginner golfers. Over the past month the news has been inundated with articles around looming recessions, serious rises in mental illnesses and obesity potentially causing disproportionate impacts on how people have been affected by coronavirus. The benefits of golf can help as a remedy to all of these issues while, at the same time, generating new income from the latent demand in the game. Now, more than ever, is the time for the industry to invest in the grassroots to grow the game. The question is: which clubs are willing to look far enough ahead to invest?

Albatross Digital founder James Wilkinson has helped over 100 golf clubs including Celtic Manor and Woodhall Spa succeed using digital marketing. He has also spoken and written about how to execute effective golf club marketing strategies for associations and partners including the GCMA, UKGolf Federation, England Golf, Wales Golf, 59 Club, Club Systems and more. Founded in 2015, Albatross Digital are on a creative and analytical mission to help solve the problems and navigate the challenges golf businesses face in a digital first age. With offices in London and Surrey, they use industry expertise combined with the latest digital marketing techniques to help clients grow, thrive and invest in their future. Their portfolio includes Woodhall Spa, Celtic Manor, GCMA, 59 Club and over 100 clubs across the UK and Europe. For more information about Albatross Digital visit https:// albatross.digital and follow them on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Email James at james@albatross.digital or call 0208 133 6751.

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Wherever you expose your skin, there is a

RISK OF SKIN CANCER

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The Golf Club Manager editor Steve Carroll thought he was vigilant when it came to the sun. Then he saw his face under ultra-violet light

teve Boothroyd has paused for dramatic effect. I’ve just lifted my head out of a contraption that looks like something they took pictures with 150 years ago and, if I’m honest, I’m a little bit apprehensive. Without protection, I can last about 10 minutes in the midday sun. Then I can just feel my skin heating up and I’m compelled to run for shade. Fair haired, and fairer skinned, I’ve used sun cream religiously all my life. From the start of March until the end of October, I won’t step on a golf course without it. I’m not talking about a brief sliver wiped across the forehead, either. I use it in volume and I use it often. I wear a hat constantly. I have wrap around polarising sunglasses that maximise protection from ultra violet light. And yet, as I wait to see the damage that 43 years on the planet has done to my skin, I’m not confident about the results. The picture is about to be revealed and, whatever it was shows, that image previously unseen will be a permanent fixture in my brain. “We want people to think about why, and how, their skin is getting damaged and what they can do about it,”says Boothroyd, the man behind the unusual looking camera and a volunteer at Skcin UK (The Karen Clifford Melanoma & Skin Cancer Charity).

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“It’s only education and what we want to do is raise the awareness of people and say ‘actually, the damage is being caused but you don’t necessarily always see it’. “You’ve got damage you didn’t know was there, it’s being caused by the sun, so what can you do about it? “That allows us to think about the five S’s of sun safety: slipping on clothing, slopping on cream, slapping on a hat, sliding on some sunglasses and seeking the shade wherever you can.” There has been a 45 per cent increase in the number of skin cancer cases in the UK over the past half decade. Some 250,000 people are diagnosed each year, a figure Skcin chief executive Marie Tudor actually believes to be an underestimation. SKCIN UK After Karen Clifford died on New Year’s Eve in 2005, her family set out to fill the void that existed in skin cancer awareness, prevention and early detection in the UK. They gained charitable status in 2006 and believe that, in order to reverse the soaring rates of the disease, education on a national level is paramount. They provide dedicated, bespoke and diverse national accreditation schemes and campaigns and initiatives. For more information, visit skcin.org

“The skin is the biggest organ in the body,”she says.“It is the only cancer you can see and 86 per cent of cases are preventable. So why don’t we do something about it? “It’s costing the NHS £350 million a year. All that money is being spent and it’s an absolute nobrainer that we need to be taking protection more seriously.” That’s clearly an imperative for golfers – a sport that takes place under the unforgiving glare of the sun’s rays. I’ve played the sport all of my adult life and a fair chunk of my childhood. My job takes me all over the country and I can be on a golf course, for hours at a time, three to four times a week in the height of the season. Which is why, even despite the precautions I take, I’m nervous. Steve shows me the first picture. It’s me as I am, a slightly unflattering image but it’s the face I see in the mirror every morning. Then he shows me the second portrait, this time of my face under ultra-violet light. I gasp. It’s covered in dark spots. “They look a bit like freckles but they are signs of sun damage,” explains Boothroyd. “The ultra violet is absorbed by a substance called melanin. That is your skin’s natural protectant and it’s a pigment that absorbs ultra violet really well. “If the melanin forms a continuous film and floats to the

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WHAT KINDS OF SKIN CANCER ARE GOLFERS AT RISK FROM? There are three main types… Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC) is a cancer of the basal cells and very common, accounting for around 75% of all skin cancers in the UK. Most BCCs are very slow growing and rarely spread to other parts of the body. Occasionally, some BCCs are aggressive and, if left untreated, may spread into the deeper layers of the skin and sometimes to the bones. That can make treatment difficult, so it is always best to catch them early. In some cases, a BCC may come back in the same area. That’s known as a ‘local recurrence’. Initially, a BCC can take the appearance of a small ‘pearly’ bump, similar to a flesh-coloured mole or a pimple that doesn’t go away. They can look dark, shiny pink or appear in the form of red patches that are slightly scaly. Another symptom to watch out for is a waxy, hard skin growth. BCCs are known to be fragile and can bleed easily. Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is our second most common type of skin cancer. It has a similar growth pattern and treatment outcome to a BCC but is more likely to spread to other parts of the body if left untreated. Occasionally they can also act aggressively and spread at an earlier stage. An SCC can appear as flat, scaly skin patches, open sores, raised red lumps or look like a wart. While some have crusty, bloody or oozing patches, this type of skin cancer can also resemble mostly normal skin. Melanoma is less common than the others and behaves very differently. It can grow quickly and therefore needs to be treated as early as possible. Melanoma develops from melanocytes that start to grow and divide more quickly than usual and spread into the surrounding surface layers of skin. When they grow out of control, they usually look like a dark spot or an unusual-looking mole. If not removed, these cells can grow down into the layers of the skin, reaching tiny blood vessels and lymphatic vessels which means they can to travel to other parts of the body.

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surface then you would call it a tan. You say ‘what a fantastic tan I’ve got’. “In reality, what you’ve got is very consistent damage. A dermatologist would say there is no such thing as a healthy tan. A tan is simply a sign of damage. “So what we can see here is damage that sits underneath the skin. You can’t see it at the surface but you can below. That’s the wow moment. “The reason you can see the little melanin spots is that your skin has detected that damage is being done, or detected there is UV around, and it starts to protect itself. “100% of people who are of a certain skin type will show some sort of damage. We don’t use sun cream all the time, or protect ourselves all the time and we don’t sit in a dark box all the time. “Going out in the sun is good, we like the warmth, we like being outside and it is really healthy for you. “It’s all good stuff but we don’t protect ourselves and, from an early age, we are encouraged to be outside and we don’t always wear sun protection. “Unless you are wearing sun protection 100% of the time, from the minute you walk out of the house to the minute you walk back in, you are going to get some level of damage.” If that was an eye-opener for me, then it should be for golf clubs too – a venue where plenty of staff, whether that’s greenkeepers, starters, or staff serving food and beverage to golfers lodged onto the terrace, can find themselves working outside a significant proportion of the time. It’s why Skcin have launched Sun Safe Workplaces, the first and only accreditation scheme of its kind, to try and prevent skin cancer

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through the promotion of sun safety in the workplace. Tudor explained:“It’s a national, annual accreditation scheme developed by Skcin to advise employers and educate outdoor workers on the importance of sun safety as a serious health and safety issue. “It is a free online tool available to all UK companies that employ any number of outdoor workers. The scheme gives them access to a comprehensive range of free resources to help them implement a suitable sun safety policy while educating their employees on all aspects of skin cancer prevention and early detection. “Golf greenkeepers and managers have a duty of care to educate their employees about the health implications the sun can have, the importance of appropriately protecting their skin and regularly checking their skin for signs of change. “In addition, employers have a duty to ensure the provision of appropriate protection from the sun.

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“Sun Safe Workplaces effectively addresses these issues and provides companies with all the necessary help and guidance to achieve their four step Sun Safe Workplaces Accreditation.” Golf clubs need to take four measures to gain certification: Risk assessment – carrying out a full solar UVR risk assessment that is used to identify employees who have a high risk of exposure to solar UVR and situations or work systems where high exposure to solar UVR occurs Implement sun protection control measures – Employers and employees work together to implement changes that minimise the risk of exposure to solar UVR Training employees about solar UV and skin cancer prevention and early detection – providing information, instruction, training and supervision of control measures Sun protection policy – producing and uploading a full sun protection policy as a written document that records why and how the solar UVR risk is to be

managed More than 600 companies have, so far, registered to gain their Sun Safe Workplaces Accreditation. “This is 43 years of sun exposure,” concludes Boothroyd as we scan the picture of my heavily marked face. “This photograph is unique to you. Nobody else has a photograph like this. “Now check your skin on a regular basis. Wherever you expose your skin, there is a risk of skin cancer or some damage possibly leading to skin cancer. “It’s checking your back, legs, soles of your feet, toenails. “If you see anything you don’t feel comfortable with go and see your GP, get taken to a dermatology clinic and they will then make an assessment using the tools, skills and knowledge they have.”

You can learn more about Skcin’s accreditation scheme by visiting sunsafeworkplaces.co.uk

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The importance of

BEING SOCIAL It’s emotions that tie people to a golf club – whether that’s staff or members. Gregg Patterson, former general manager of The Beach Club, in California, and founder of Tribal Magic!!!, explains…

re you a manager that greets the members, or one that’s too ‘busy’ to get away from the office desk? If you’re the latter, then you’re falling foul of Gregg Patterson’s Social KPIs and you may not be getting the best out of your club or members. Let Gregg explain the principle and why being a more visible presence in your clubhouse and locker room is so important… What are Social KPIs? Social KPIs are about the emotional side of the club experience. It’s not about numbers. It’s about the interaction between members and staff, members and members, staff and staff. I’m talking about gestures that can be identified – specific actions that can be taken that are reflective of a caring on the part of the people who are talking. Here’s an example. One of the Social KPIs I use, and will evaluate a club by, is how many hand-written birthday cards does the general manager send to the members? I send it to the member and to their spouse. With staff, we used to send what we called a ‘Birthday bear’. When one of our staff had a baby, or their spouse had one, we would

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send them a Beach Club bear with a T-shirt on it and I’d hand write a personal note saying ‘welcome into the Beach Club family’. Why is that important? If you do those things at a club, you get member and staff loyalty. What I emphasise is the emotional side of the club experience. These are tactics that allow emotional cement to be created. People stay at a club – sometimes it’s for the golf course, but most people stay for the people. I like to say ‘people join a club for the golf but they stay for the relationships’. One of the things that’s often neglected is the responsibility we as managers have to understand the emotional needs of our members. I tell this to all new employees: When somebody walks through that door, they are lonely and they are scared. They want dignity, status and the buzz. Those are all emotional issues. We’re not talking about food and beverage. It’s the emotional side of the club equation that generates loyalty both from members and from staff. I’m very big on Social KPIs. You have talked previously about having the manager greeting people as they came in

and being the visible presence. Could you explain? The manager is the symbol of that club and of that culture. So often, when people have a business background, they think the business they are in is the office. In fact, it is in people connection and the relationships that are developed. One of my Social KPIs is ‘how often does the general manager stand in the lobby and greet members as they arrive?’ Another is ‘how accessible is the manager’s office to the members and staff?’ My office was right in the lobby, with windows on three sides, and everyone would come in and wave to me. How many waves did I give to members during the course of a day? That’s a connection that you have with them – that physical act that affirms an emotional relationship. We often hear words such as ‘too busy’,‘too much admin’. I imagine you have strong feelings about that… One of the standards I often have is that I do paper at home, or in a private office, other than at the visible office at the club. In three hours in my private office, I could get eight hours of paper work

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done. It’s efficient. At the club it was all about people, connecting to staff and members, and to be a physical presence at the club. My job was also to transfer energy to those people, to give the staff an enthusiasm for the job and to give the members an excitement about being at the club. It comes down to productive efficiencies. One of the concerns I always have with managers is they default to ‘I’ve got so much work I can’t get away from the desk’. That’s because they prioritise that beyond the people side of the equation. You can do it. It’s a matter of organisation and how

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you handle it. Is that the missing trick then for clubs who may be struggling with, for example, retention? Say a member hasn’t been coming down for a couple of months. The question, one of those Social KPIs, is ‘does the manager have a requirement that they reach out to those members who haven’t used the club in two months to say hi? The simple call is enough to regenerate the emotional connection they have with the club. At the Beach Club, people obviously think of beaches, health, athletics and fitness. Our average age was 63. Nobody left the club.

When they left, they died. We only got 12 new members a year. What is it that welds people to a club? Do they care? These are gestures of caring. It takes time to do these things – and managers do the accounting. If you think the accounting is more important than the personal connection, you have a flawed thinking about the responsibility of a manager at a private club. Take Starbucks. They charge so much for a cup of coffee. But they put your name on the cup. They call out your name to the people there. You feel distinguished. They don’t even know you, but they use your name.

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So one of my Social KPIs is to have training programmes for my staff to learn member names. We have a saying called GEG – ‘greet, engage and goodbye’. That small gesture, which can be taught in about 30 seconds, has a profound impact on how people feel about you. Dignity and status are the two things that drive the human condition. Do I feel good about myself, and do I feel good being part of this community? This is all quite simple stuff. So why don’t enough of us do it? There’s a saying ‘a fish rots from the top down’. If the person at the top doesn’t have hospitality in their

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soul, then the others won’t. I give workshops. The manager won’t be in attendance but they Who is Gregg Patterson? Gregg Patterson spent 34 years as general manager of The Beach Club, the iconic private member owned club in Santa Monica, California, before setting up Tribal Magic!!! in 2016. He is now a featured speaker and presenter at club management seminars, and other global forums, and lectures on ethics, staff development, club sense and communications, among various other subjects.

assume that everybody else will do what I tell them to do. The fact is that the manager reinforces it through the example of what they do. If all of a sudden, they see that I, as a manger, greets everybody, knows a kid’s name, knows grandma’s name, then they will remember names themselves. But without that example it doesn’t happen – and it doesn’t happen because the guy or gal at the top doesn’t believe it’s important. It’s as simple as that. There’s nothing complex about any of the things I suggest you do. What is difficult is to make those ideas muscle memory and part of the culture.

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Grass

ROOTS All the latest news, views and interviews from across the GCMAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s various regions in the UK

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Packed tees and smiles as golf returned

TO ACTION

Sponsors of My Success Story

The ‘course closed’ signs finally came down across the UK last month as the easing of lockdown rules saw clubs able to reopen. We asked a trio of managers how opening day went

“

t’s a very different day at work where there are people around,” said Mick Thorpe.“It had been like a ghost town for the last few weeks. It was almost back to the ‘normal’ golf problems.” Even though, as Scarcroft’s general manager pointed out, there was nothing normal about re-opening day at the West Yorkshire club. Thorpe was there early – on site at 6.30am for a day where the tee-sheet was booked solidly for 10-and-a-half hours. When members did arrive, socially distanced, of course, as English clubs got back to business after nearly two months away on Wednesday, May 13, it was like a supermarket queue, with lines and a one-way system as members waited to retrieve their kit from lockers. There was a starter to ensure all the club’s new protocols were adhered to and, even though there wasn’t the buzz of a full clubhouse, there was still plenty of anticipation. “There was a fair bit of planning, on theirs and the club’s behalf, to get it (reopening) done but it was a nice day and they were all chuffed to bits to be getting out there. They were shouting across the car park at each other.”

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That it had proved such a success was not down to mere luck. Thorpe, and many of his fellow Yorkshire region members, had anticipated Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s lockdown announcement and started putting the wheels into motion. “The fact that we knew some sort of announcement was coming on Sunday meant we hedged our bets and covered both bases just in case there was something,” he added.“We almost anticipated we could be dropped in it and say ‘go from Monday’, which we didn’t want. The Yorkshire managers have got a WhatsApp group and it was absolutely manic on Sunday night. Right up until about 10pm, we were all up and exchanging texts and ideas and plans. That came together fantastically well for all of us to help each other a little bit.” Hundreds of miles away at Royal

“There was a fair bit of planning, on theirs and the club’s behalf to get it done but it was a nice day and they were all chuffed.”

Eastbourne, it was a similar scene at first light that greeted general manager Toby Anderson. “I was very pleased to be able to re-open our courses, but not as pleased as the membership, especially after being locked indoors for two months,” he said. Two-balls and extended 10-minute time slots were how members got back into action. “There is signage on the guidelines for safe golf around the clubhouse and leading to the tees and friendly notices for the general public to ask them to follow the public footpaths across the course, as they have become used to free roaming during lockdown when taking their daily exercise. “These signs seemed to work as there were no issues between

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Golfers at Oswestry get ready to tee off as the club reopened

them and the golfers.” Members were used to the safe play rules, Anderson added, as the measures had been in place in the run-up to the lockdown in March. But updating customers also proved key, with the office “in constant communication with the membership as things progressed towards opening up with the Government guidelines that would be in force”. Ensuring those who wanted to got the opportunity to play was one of the key aims for Oswestry secretary John Evans. “To manage demand we decided

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to put in place some restrictions, and this approach worked out very well as it has given everybody the chance to play,” he confirmed. “The first day back (went) very well, thanks in no small part to the small management group working behind the scenes so we were ready for any eventuality. “It would be remiss of me not to mention the tireless work put in by our Head Greenkeeper Gary Barnfield and his skeleton staff to ensure the course has been maintained to such a high standard for our return.” Back at Scarcroft, the resumption

was a relief for Thorpe, whose club had looked at a £100,000 loss depending on the length of lockdown. The immediate return brought – as it did for many clubs across the UK – an initial boost in membership. But no one is getting carried away. All are aware they’ve yet to experience the real sting in Covid-19’s tail. “You are fearing the worst but we had two new members join on the first day and plenty of enquiries,” he concluded.“We don’t want to get ahead of the game. We’ve got to be very careful and very sensible.”

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From the

HELPDESK This month: What membership details should we display and... can golfers opt out of union fees? I am looking for an article on Tour Operators Vat Exemptions first released 14th Feb 2018, are you aware if this still exists or are there any updates on vat exemptions applicable to tour operators? This is the link to the article: gcma.org.uk/members/news/ tour-operators-vat-exemption-ongreen-fees-confirmed/ Can the club display application forms for membership with personal details on the general notice board? Under GDPR you should not display any information that could personally identify an individual without their express consent. The best practice in the case of application forms is to redact all the personal information, apart from the name, before displaying on the notice board. Better still would be to have a page, which is password protected, on the members’ section of the club’s website where only members can see the applicants. We’ve received a letter from MPLC (Motion Picture Licensing Company) saying we need a licence through them (similar to PPL/PRS, but for TV). Having done some research, it appears we don’t require this

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as we are just showing sport, music and news on the TV. Have you had any dealings with this company or can give any advice? You are correct. If you are only broadcasting sports, rolling news or music channels, either terrestrial or subscription, then you do not need a licence. You need to write to MPLC to confirm this and tell them you have taken all necessary steps to ensure you are not broadcasting any other moving images. For further information, see our email article: gcma.org.uk/news/ motion-picture-licensing I am having an increasing amount of people query the golf union fee when joining. Although still not the majority, we have people joining who don’t wish to play competitive golf and don’t wish to gain a handicap. Sometimes they object to paying the union fees. I am of the understanding that as a club we need to charge all members this. Am I correct or can people opt out of paying the union fees and the benefits it offers? Yes, you are correct. As a club affiliated to one of the Home Unions, you must collect and pass

on a union fee for every playing member of your club. Otherwise the club will not be authorised to issue CONGU handicaps, hold qualifying competitions and administer those handicaps. Individual playing members cannot opt out of the union fee regardless of their desire to hold a handicap. The club has previously taken on students in the past for work experience, but I am not sure what legal and safety requirements are required. Could you please advise? Usually, the school supplying the student will have policies in place to ensure you are suitable for the placement. As I remember, there were quite a few forms to fill in. As far as the club are concerned, you should carry out a risk assessment for the activities the student will carry out. You also need to confirm with the club’s insurers that cover is available. Other than that, as long as you induct the student as you would a new staff member, and treat the student as such, following the school’s guidelines there shouldn’t be a problem. An online helpdesk offers an advisory service to members. Visit gcma.org.uk/members to find out more.

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HEART TO

HEART

Steve Robinson visits Mid Herts Golf Club and speaks with General Manager Joy Pickard

oy, you have been using rijo42 for a number of years now, from your experience what is it that sets us apart from other coffee providers?

Having been a customer of rijo42 at my previous golf club, on joining Mid Herts as the new General Manager I was able to convince the Board of Management to dispense with the basic coffee machine from behind the bar. The selling points that sets rijo42 apart from other coffee providers that won over not just the board, but also the members, is the consistent quality of the coffee and the ease of use with the machine. Members and visitors alike enjoy the opportunity of selecting their coffee option and being in control. The 10oz serving combined with the attractive crockery was also a winner and from a customer point of view, the prompt delivery service and efficiency of the technical team plays an important part in being able to provide the level of service the members expect. I’m sure over the past few years you have witnessed a significant increase in sales of coffee, what’s your advice

to anyone when it comes to maximising the potential in this area and how significant is it in maintaining a busy clubhouse? To encourage people into the clubhouse they need a reason and the idea of meeting up with friends for a ‘coffee morning’ is something that rijo42 allows us to offer. By situating our coffee machine in a prominent position within the club, with easy access at all times, people are encouraged to make use of it. The pavement sign has proven a useful tool in attracting the local rambling groups to stop by the clubhouse for a coffee along the way and we are now offering a ‘cake of the day’ to accompany their coffee, giving our franchise caterer a small revenue stream. The Pilates and Yoga groups who attend daily/weekly sessions at our purpose-built studio on the upper floor often finish their morning with a coffee knowing that it is only 55 calories a cup, meaning they don’t feel guilty after a hard workout! The ‘take out’ cups are very popular with the early morning golfers who will purchase a few tokens in advance and can pop in and pick up a coffee – some even forgo the take out cup and fill up their own Thermos!

You have recently taken delivery of the new RSD Touch Brasil and cup warmer. Having used our equipment for many years, what’s the stand out features that impress you about the new model and how has it gone down with your members? The new RSD Touch has given the option to offer decaffeinated coffee, which is proving popular and the touch screen operation has been a real winner. With the addition of the Cup Warmer, members are finding their coffee stays hot for longer, especially in the winter months. The RSD screen has given us another opportunity for advertising and as we become more familiar with the functionality, we look to maximise the use of the display. There is no better way to capture the attention of someone than when they are standing facing the coffee machine waiting for their coffee to be dispensed!

CONTACT STEVE ROBINSON FOR MORE INFO: 07977 244621 / STEVEROBINSON@RIJO42.CO.UK

The Golf Club Manager: June 2020

Articles inside

Why two thirds of clubs feel concerned for the future

How clubs welcomed the return of golf

Skin cancer - golf’s silent killer

Building community during coronavirus

Prince’s general manager Rob McGuirk