England Golf’s 2012 Golf Club Membership Questionnaire will monitor membership trends and highlight the effectiveness of current development initiatives and resources.
Copies of the questionnaire have been sent to all clubs but it can also be completed online at www.gcmq2012.org. All clubs who make an online return by 11th May 2012 will be entered into a draw to win one of three Apple iPads.
Meanwhile, all clubs which return a completed questionnaire will be entered into a draw to win a fourball on the Hotchkin Course at The National Golf Centre, Woodhall Spa.
Since the first survey was distributed in 2002 the research has helped England Golf to identify significant changes and challenges facing clubs and to direct finances and resources.
The research findings have been used in a number of ways including:
- Providing golf clubs with statistics to compare and benchmark themselves, to better assess their business health and progress.
- The development of flexible membership packages and best practice examples for golf clubs.
- The production of the Recruitment & Retention Toolkit for golf clubs.
- Production of county and regional information to identify and support development of the sport at a local level through County Golf Partnerships.
- Specific support for women’s and girls’ golf.
- The production of the Junior Organisers’ Handbook to support and improve junior structures within golf clubs.
- Provision of data to Sport England to gain funding for the England Golf Partnership’s ‘Whole Sport Plan’.
Richard Flint, Development Manager for England Golf commented “Despite the pressures of the economic climate, golf inEnglandhas reacted to the challenges and changing golfing environment.
“This biennial research is a critical part of meeting these and future challenges and will enable us, along with our County Golf Partnerships, to establish recruitment activities and transform facilities and offerings within clubs to meet the demand of existing and potential golfers.”
Once all data has been collated a national results booklet will be produced in the autumn along with individual county breakdowns. Previous results booklets can be downloaded at www.englishgolfunion.org