MUNICIPAL COURSES HOLD KEY TO MORE GOLFING BEGINNERS
One of the English Golf Union’s (EGU) responsibilities
is to look for ways to attract more people into the game and
clearly one of the avenues to achieve this is through municipal
courses and their associated clubs. This was the general conclusion
from a two-day Municipal Golf Seminar held at EGU headquarters
in Woodhall Spa and attended by over 70 delegates from local
authorities and golfing bodies.
It was felt that council-owned courses throughout the country
offered an excellent opportunity by which youngsters and adults
could be introduced into golf. Municipal courses offer accessibility
to beginners at a modest cost, can be less restrictive than
private and corporate clubs, and generally have vacancies
for membership.
The gathering at Woodhall Spa heard a series of addresses
from council representatives, heads of businesses within golf
as well as officials from the newly formed England Golf Partnership,
comprising the EGU, the English Ladies Golf Association, the
Professional Golfers Association, and the Golf Foundation.
All were enthusiastic about attracting more people into golf,
particularly youngsters and women who are currently underrepresented.
It was stated that only eight per cent of golf club members
in England are aged under 18 years of age while around 15
per cent are women, based on EGU and ELGA figures.
It was proposed that local authorities should use their clubs
and courses as a service to the community rather than a means
to subsidise other facilities; to adopt a child and family
focus; and to bring a wider interest in golf within their
population. This view was supported by the results of a recent
EGU survey that showed that non-golfers cited barriers such
as time, cost, difficulties presented by club memberships,
and having no playing partner as reasons for not taking up
the game.
Peter Howard, from the Birmingham City Council, told delegates
that his authority had a history of promoting golf. He said
a round on one of the city’s municipal courses costs
between £6 and £12, is free to under 11s accompanied
by an adult, while a yearly fee for under 18s is £75.
He also stated that 10,000 rounds more than the national average
were played over the city’s courses per year.
Richard Flint, the EGU’s Golf Development Manager,
said that golf clubs must address the barriers that exist
and should be made more accessible. He told the audience that
89 per cent of clubs completing the EGU’s recent survey
had vacancies for membership, which represented around 47,000
places.
The survey showed that municipal facilities appeared to be
addressing the low participation by juniors and women more
so that private or proprietary golf clubs. The percentage
of municipal clubs with an increase in boys and girls membership
is 51 per cent and 15 per cent compared to the national average
across all clubs of 44 and 34 per cent.
Municipal clubs are also less restrictive in requiring juniors
to meet a certain playing standard. These are 15 per cent
(boys) and 11 per cent (girls) against national figures of
49 and 47 per cent.
While the percentages for municipal clubs with playing restrictions
for juniors is 20 and 16 per cent against national figures
of 53 and 52 per cent.
Roger Moreland from Sport England explained the concept of
the ‘Whole Sport Plan’ for Golf, which encompasses
the development of the game from grass roots to elite level.
If England is to reach the vision set for 2020 “To become
the leading Golf Nation in the world” it appears that
Municipal provision will certainly have a role to play in
years to come.
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