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Why Golf Clubs Need to Get Passionate About Their Purpose

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When you look at the corporate world, there is an abundance of mission and vision statements providing a clear sense of purpose for customers to identify with and follow. It would appear the very few golf clubs in the UK have a mission statement. I believe the reason for this is because they are currently struggling to identify their true purpose and have lost their passion for the true values they uphold.


My particular focus here is on those clubs that are in that dangerous middle ground. Typically these clubs may have been around for 100 years or so, in a competitive golfing area, offer nothing particularly unique and have been forced to compete on price in recent times.


When referring to an identity, it is the reason the golf club exists, who are they there to serve, what they are renowned for and is there a purpose for their members, staff and management to buy into? For many of the clubs who fall into the category mentioned above, they have lost their way, they have lost their identity, they have lost their passion and it has facilitated a decline in revenue. This is clearly apparent in the soulless way these clubs market themselves with mindless offers and discounted prices.


The purpose and identity of clubs have continuously changed over the centuries that the game has been played. But most recently it would appear that clubs have lost their way more than ever. The outdated nature of club governance means they are struggling to find a modern-day purpose in a very noisy modern world.


In years gone by, the purpose of the golf club would have been to provide a status symbol, a show of social class, a club for the gentleman to relax and unwind. Exclusivity was the key to success for many of these clubs and continued to be so until membership waiting lists started to disappear and the first cracks in the traditional membership business model began to appear.


To be honest this sense of purpose may have still been relevant in many forms up to maybe 20 or 30 years ago, however, society has developed at an unprecedented rate since. It is a fundamental issue that the club members who bought into that sense of purpose all those years ago are now the ones charged with running these golf clubs. The notion that their club has to become more business savvy is almost in direct contrast with the outdated values they are trying to uphold.


I have no doubt that anyone who has worked in the golf club environment will have heard “the good old days” conversation. For some this conversation is still being had at board or committee level and rather than looking forward, they are desperately looking back to how they can bring back those “good old days”. Not only is the conversation being had it is actually driving business decisions and this is where the real issue of a lack of purpose impacts the golf club more than anything.


Golf clubs absolutely have to get clear on their mission and their purpose. By having a genuine purpose golf clubs can start to shape decision making, shape the experience they want to deliver and plan for the future around a set of values. That mission should be something for the management of the club to be passionate about and in turn, the staff and members should be passionate about as well.


The constant short term decision making with no real sense of direction, no purpose, simply leads to constant firefighting which is stressful and soul-destroying. By having that sense of purpose it can drive the club in a clear direction and every decision can be accompanied with a couple of simple question, “Is this decision in line with our mission or purpose?” and “is this decision moving us closer to achieving it?”


So what should your golf clubs purpose be? How can you identify it? And how can it shape your business strategy?


If you want to be open to everyone then focus your purpose on equality and inclusion.

If you want to be an elite and exclusive club then focus your purpose on high-quality member experience.

If you want to play a part in your local community then focus on bringing people together, charity and events.

If you want to be seen as the club for elite golfers then focus your purpose on your competition structure and playing facilities.

If you want to be seen as a modern club then focus on the use of technology, membership categories and make your purpose to be innovative.

If you want to be known for providing a healthy lifestyle then focus your purpose on just that.


As you will probably see from reading this list, in some form golf clubs try and cover most if not all of these purposes. There is nothing wrong with making strides in all these areas but when none of the areas gets a specific focus, the club simply has no true purpose. This inevitably leads to clubs drifting along not knowing what to do next in their battle to stay afloat. 


Membership retention is a significant issue right now and one of the key reasons I believe is that golfers have no purpose in which to identify themselves at a club that is just drifting along. We talk about deal hoppers jumping from club to club but perhaps it is not pricing that is the main driver, perhaps they do this simply because they have not found a club that aligns with their own purpose and identity. Perhaps the lack of passion that the club has for itself and its purpose is more of a factor. 


The key to delivering your purpose is to ensure that your staff, members and most importantly your board don’t just buy into the idea but are equally as passionate about it. Better still have the staff and members involved in creating the club's purpose, mission or vision. This will lead to a sense of ownership and will ensure they look to deliver and enhance that purpose at every opportunity with the passion it needs and deserves.


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