A RE-CAP. Scottish Golf Roadshow

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Iris Morgan
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1 A RE-CAP Scottish Golf Roadshow A seminar to explore what the future holds for your golf club

2 Introductions Iain Evans John Kemp Claire Middleton - SG Development Officer (East) - SG Development Officer (North) - SG Development Officer (West) Kevin Fish Andy Salmon - SG Club Development Manager - SGU Deputy Chief Executive

3 How is it going out there? The seminar started with a discussion with delegates which established that membership numbers at golf clubs in Scotland are in decline and many experiencing severe reductions in membership numbers.

4 What do the national stats tell us in Scotland? Firstly participation taken from government statistics, this graph shows those who have golfed in the last 12 months and consider themselves to be golfers, but not necessarily members.

5 Participation level are fairly level 16% 14% 12% 10% 8% 6% All Male Female 4% 2% 0%

6 What do the national stats tell us in Scotland? Now membership numbers provided by the SGU & SLGA

7 Scottish Golf Clubs male members Male Playing Male Playing %

8 Scottish Golf Clubs women members Female Playing Female Playing -26.8%

9 What do the national stats tell us in Scotland? By combining participation levels, and membership levels, you are left with an alarming picture

10 More Members / More Golfers? Scottish Golf consumer trend projections Adult Members exc. Social Domestic Golfing particpants Domestic Nomadic Golfers

11 With participation levels holding fairly steady, and membership numbers in decline, this tells us that golfers still want to golf, but not necessarily as members of Scottish golf clubs. If this trend continues, within a few years, nonmembers will exceed members.

12 Two extensive surveys have been carried out in the last year, with their findings revealed by Scottish Golf at this seminar. Sports Marketing Surveys kindly provided the following information, from interviewing over 2,000 golfers.

13 2013 Golf Participation in Great Britain Source: Sports Marketing Surveys Inc., 13 August 2014

14 INTRODUCTION SMS DEFINITIONS Adults: People aged 15 and over (Over 2,000 interviewed) Infrequent golfers: Adults who have played golf on a full length course less than 12 times in the last 12 months. Core golfers: Adults who have played golf on a full length course at least 12 times in the last 12 months. Within the core golfers category fall: Regular golfers: Adults who have played golf on a full length course between 12 and 51 times in the last 12 months. Avid golfers: Adults who have played golf on a full length course at least 52 times in the last 12 months. Full Length Course: 9 or 18 holes (not pitch and putt).

15 SMS UK RESEARCH How old do you think the average golfer is? How old do you think the average golf club member is? Does your golf club offer a category of membership to suit the lifestyles of a variety of ages?

16 Average Age Of Golfers Golfers only The average age of golfers in Great Britain in 2013 was 45. Avid golfers (playing once a week or more) and golf club members were unsurprisingly likely to be older and to have more leisure time. Members also tend to be older on average than non-members. Getting younger golfers to join and retain memberships at golf clubs is an ongoing challenge.

17 SMS UK RESEARCH Of the typical age categories used in such surveys, which age category of golfers do you think is the largest? Does age affect how often you play golf? How so? Does your golf club offer any category of membership to help different age categories?

Participation And Rounds Played By Age Golfers only Played at Least Once on a Full Length Course The average number of rounds played per year increases sharply with age, with over 65s

18 Participation And Rounds Played By Age Golfers only Played at Least Once on a Full Length Course The average number of rounds played per year increases sharply with age, with over 65s playing almost eight times as many rounds as golfers aged Increasing the frequency of play of this group is crucial, since they have a higher rate of participation than any other age group.

19 SMS UK RESEARCH Does having a child in the household affect the number of times that you play golf? Does your golf club do anything to help this category of golfer with the membership it offers?

Participation And Rounds Played By Children In Household Golfers only Played at Least Once on a Full Length Course Unsurprisingly, children have a huge impact on both overall participation of golfers

20 Participation And Rounds Played By Children In Household Golfers only Played at Least Once on a Full Length Course Unsurprisingly, children have a huge impact on both overall participation of golfers and their frequency of play, with childless individuals twice as likely to play golf as people with children and likely to play nine more rounds on average over the course of the year. The impact of children may explain why just 6% of people aged play golf, the lowest of any age group.

21 SMS UK RESEARCH How frequent a golfer do you have to be to commit to a golf club membership? Do you think that a regular golfer playing at least 12 times is attracted to a golf club membership? (blue box overleaf) If not, why not? What does your club offer to appeal to a variety of golfers with different approaches to how often they wish to play golf?

Golf Club Membership Golfers only On average golf club members played just under once per week, recording over 50 rounds per member compared to 12 per

22 Golf Club Membership Golfers only On average golf club members played just under once per week, recording over 50 rounds per member compared to 12 per nonmember. Non-members clearly outnumber members in comprising the total number of infrequent and regular golfers but are dwarfed by members in terms of avid golfers.

23 SMS UK RESEARCH Are there more people who describe themselves as tennis players than golfers? Are there more cyclists than golfers? Whatever your answer, why do you think that is? What does your club do to mirror success in other sports?

24 Sport Participation Adults who have participated at least once in the last 12 months. Cycling, still benefitting from the glow of Olympic and Tour de France success continues to be the most played sport in the UK, whilst more than 7m people participate in running. Football has slightly higher participation than golf, which continues to have more participants than tennis, although the latter, fuelled perhaps by Andy Murray s Wimbledon win, has increased participation in 2013, unlike golf.

25 SMS UK RESEARCH Is there a greater proportion of tennis players that are women, than golfers who are women? Whatever your answer why do you think that is the case? What percentage of cyclists are women? What does your club do to mirror success in other sports?

26 Gender Of Participants Adults who have participated at least once in the last 12 months. Of the major sports, only football is more male dominated than golf, whose participants are composed of 11% women and 89% men.

27 SMS UK RESEARCH Do you think that golf is an elitist sport, played predominantly by more affluent people? What does your club do to appeal to a range of different household incomes?

28 Income Of Participants Adults who have participated at least once in the last 12 months. Of the five leading sports, golf has the lowest proportion of respondents earning less than 25,000 per year and the highest proportion of players earning more than 75,000, although it must be remembered that a high proportion of respondents chose not to reveal their income.

29 SMS UK RESEARCH Do you think that golf is dominated by older people? What does your club do to appeal to a range of different age categories?

30 Age Of Participants Adults who have participated at least once in the last 12 months. Golf has an impressive cross section of participants in each age group. A higher proportion of its respondents are aged under 30 than cycling, whilst it is the only sport to enjoy more than 10% participation among people aged over 65. Tennis and Cycling both have reasonable age splits, with the more high impact sports, running and football, unsurprisingly dominated by younger players.

31 Thank you Scottish Golf is grateful to SMS for the use of their research within our series of 2014 Roadshows.

32 Consumer Behaviour With such a decline in golf membership numbers, Scottish Golf engaged a world leader in the subject of consumer behaviour, and shared a video which revealed some of the reasons why customers are no longer as loyal to their local golf club than used to be the case. A summary of the findings were explored and debated, and are summarised overleaf as a reminder.

33 Consumer Behaviour Greater choice surplus society - More information digital age Actively choose = less loyal & therefore more likely to change choice Spoilt for quality more subjective values and preferences Clustering collective decisions Expect flexible options service to adapt to person

34 Consumer Behaviour With this trend at the forefront of our minds, we asked the question what other industries have done to reflect that the modern customer wants much more choice than they were once willing to accept. The seminar explored the airline industry, and the fact that airlines charge the most for their first class seats, but can not fill their whole plane with these customers, because there is not enough demand for that product. Therefore they create a range of products on the same plane, that are tailored to suit the different demands from the different consumer groups. What does your golf club offer as its first class seat - and do you fill your plane with those customers?

35 HOW FLEXIBLE ARE OTHER INDUSTRIES?

36 UK RESEARCH (2) The second piece of research was conducted by Syngenta, who also kindly permitted Scottish Golf to share this information with Scottish clubs.

38 UK RESEARCH SYNGENTA Within this research are the views of golf from over 2,500 people. The research begins by establishing some customer views on why golf may be struggling.

39 No time for complacency

40 UK RESEARCH SYNGENTA What 3 things do you think golfers are looking for from their course or club? Write these down, and then compare your answers with the facts provided overleaf. Then reflect on whether your club is focused on providing what customers are telling us that they want.

41 What Is Important To Golfers

42 The beauty of this research is that someone is taking an external view as to what the customer is really looking for in terms of the game of golf and how we grow it. Bringing professional research to that is something the industry has not been very good at historically. Stephen Lewis Chief Executive, Crown Golf

43 UK RESEARCH SYNGENTA What 3 things do you think that female golfers said about their experiences? Write these down, and then compare your answers with the facts provided overleaf. Then reflect on whether your club is focused on providing what customers are telling us that they want. In addition, write down 3 things that you think may attract more female golfers. The answers are also overleaf.

44 Female Golfer - Portrait

45 This is an important piece of research as it articulates what women want in a golf facility, underlines their important role in nurturing players.. that represents a significant opportunity for the golf business. Alison Root Editor, Women & Golf Magazine

46 UK RESEARCH SYNGENTA The best source of new members, are members. What 3 things do you think would make a current member recommend your club to another potential member? Write these down, and then compare your answers with the facts provided overleaf. Then reflect on whether your club helps your sales force. Interesting to also note what would specifically put your members off from recommending the club. Give that some thought first, then the answers are overleaf.

47 Advocates Of The Game

48 UK RESEARCH SYNGENTA A lot of people have given up golf club memberships in recent years. Why is that? What would get them back? Is it worth trying? What would you recommend doing about it at your next committee meeting?

49 Lapsed Golfers

50 UK RESEARCH SYNGENTA If you cast your mind back to the day you were introduced to golf, you may have a good feel for what you were looking for to make you try it, and stick with it. What do you think non-golfers are looking for these days? The same things you were looking for, or something different. Write down your thoughts, and then look at the facts overleaf. After reading the next page, reflect on what you may recommend doing to attract the newcomers to the game at your next committee meeting?

51 Non-Golfers * - Portrait

52 The research identifies that there is more than one type of golf customer and we need to be providing different products for people who have different needs at golf clubs. Anabel Sexton Board Member, England Golf Partnership

53 UK RESEARCH SYNGENTA This research concludes with what might be called the four f s. Have you identified them throughout this review of the research findings? After reading the next page, reflect on whether your club provides the four f s, and if not, what you may be able to recommend doing about that at your next committee meeting.

54 In Summary

55 There are a lot of people out there who are predisposed to play the game and I think in some cases the game gets in the way of letting them do that. The findings of this report underlines that point. Jim Croxton CEO, BIGGA

56 UK RESEARCH SYNGENTA Our thanks go to Syngenta, who permitted us to use this research to help clubs in Scotland.

57 UK RESEARCH SYNGENTA Many clubs believe that they are family friendly, but reluctantly admit that they are perhaps simply family tolerant at best. The seminars explored what family friendly might mean at a golf club. Write down 5 things that may help attract two of those f s, Family & Friendly. The next slide reveals it may not be as complicated as you think.

58 What does Family Friendly really mean? Membership categories and pricing to attract a family unit as a whole Tee time availability for us all to play together Good coffee Relaxed and healthy eating with no restrictions based on age, gender or dress code WiFi so kids can use devices when bored with my chat Adult & junior coaching available on group basis Opportunity to play at weekend as a family we work during the week!

59 What are some trailblazing clubs trying? Our website contains some case studies of Scottish Golf Clubs who are trialling a flexible membership product. These can be found at

60 WHAT IS THE FUTURE ECONOMIC MODEL AT YOUR GOLF CLUB? Generally speaking, when a Scottish Golf Club is formed, the bulk of its income has come from what we call the traditional membership category, often called Full or Ordinary Membership, which asks for an up front fixed payment, and unlimited use of the course. This is shown in the chart overleaf, with a typical Scottish Golf Club from 100 years ago.

61 What is the economic model at your club? Traditional Membership income 1914 Other forms of Membership income Visitor Income

62 WHAT IS THE FUTURE ECONOMIC MODEL AT YOUR GOLF CLUB? In the last 40 years we have seen a greater willingness for clubs to open their doors to non-members, or visitors, and the reliance on traditional membership income has diminished, as visitor income has been harvested.

63 What is the economic model at your club? Traditional Membership income 1980 Other forms of Membership income Visitor Income

64 WHAT IS THE FUTURE ECONOMIC MODEL AT YOUR GOLF CLUB? With the last 30 years we have seen forward thinking clubs create different categories of membership to satisfy a section of their existing customer base, making transfers in to 5-day, country or overseas membership available. The willingness to admit junior members is a positive sign, and coupled with more focus on social membership of the club, we have seen a further shift away from reliance on the income generated by traditional membership model, as shown overleaf.

65 What is the economic model at your club? Traditional Membership income 1995 Other forms of Membership income Visitor Income

66 WHAT IS THE FUTURE ECONOMIC MODEL AT YOUR GOLF CLUB? After only five telephone calls to private members clubs willing to share this data, it is clear that the economic model has shifted in this direction.

67 What is the economic model at your club? Traditional Membership income 2014 Other forms of Membership income Visitor Income

68 WHAT IS THE FUTURE ECONOMIC MODEL AT YOUR GOLF CLUB? We would ask you to plot your position on this chart, and then ask the question, which direction has it been heading in, and which direction do you believe it needs to head in to satisfy the research findings explored today. Are you comfortable with that direction? What can your national governing body do to help you exploit the position in the market that you need your club to be in?

69 What is the economic model at your club? Traditional Membership income 2024? Other forms of Membership income Visitor Income

70 Thank You Thank you for all of your contributions to the latest round of seminars. We hope that this research has helped you to make informed decisions about the future economic model of your golf club. For further help from your local Scottish Golf Development Officer, contact details are provided overleaf.

71 Contacts Iain Evans John Kemp Claire Middleton - SG Development Officer (East) Mobile: i.evans@scottishgolf.org - SG Development Officer (North) Mobile: j.kemp@scottishgolf.org - SG Development Officer (West) Mobile: c.middleton@scottishgolf.org Kevin Fish Andy Salmon - SG Club Development Manager - SGU Deputy Chief Executive

THE IMPACT OF DOING NOTHING Stewart Darling Non-Executive Director

THE IMPACT OF DOING NOTHING Stewart Darling Non-Executive Director The golfing landscape is a challenging one The golfing landscape is a challenging one Membership Decline Full Golf Members - Actual Members