As part of the phased reopening of golf, PGA Partners' the 59 Club carried out a survery with Members. This formed the basis of the 'Post lockdown trends and survey results' PGA Live webinar.
The 59 Club recently carried out a survey of PGA Members and golf facilities to review the impact of COVID-19 and the reopening of golf on their businesses.
The results are based on submissions from 340 venues of which
66% were located in England, 16% in Scotland, 15% in Ireland, 2% in Wales and 1% based overseas.
View the headline statistics from the survey below.
Venue status
To what extent is your venue open?
98% of venues are now open to some extent
37% of venues which are open are still operating with restricted capacity (this includes 33% of venues within England)
Despite Restaurants and Bars being closed, 28% of venues are providing golfers with a food and beverage service
Are you currently accepting visitor bookings?
48% of venues are now taking bookings from visitors
½ of all venues have had to introduce a booking system for golf
Facilities and services
Is your driving range open?
65% of Driving Ranges are now open
Have you started coaching at your venue?
77% of venues have commenced Coaching
Safety measures introduced for practice facilities include:
Signage, restricted capacities, booking systems, removal of holes on putting greens, cleaning schedules & sanitiser, staff supervision, issuing safety protocols to pupils via email prior to them attending lessons
Retail
Have you introduced a "Click and Collect" retail service at your venue?
57% of venues are offering “Click & Collect” retail services
Are you allowing hire equipment such as buggies and trolleys to be used at this time?
74% of venues have hire equipment available
Membership
How many members have resigned their membership as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic?
45% of venues have experienced no members leaving
15% of venues have had more than 20 members leave
How many members have joined your Club since reopening?
71% of venues have joined more than 10 new members
25% of venues have joined more than 40 new members
Financial
Have your Golf Operations and Greenkeeping teams returned to work?
55% of venues still have some staff off work on Furlough
Have you applied for financial support during this period in addition to the Government Job Retention Scheme?
67% of venues have sought financial support in addition to the Furlough scheme
Examples of financial support accessed:
Bounce back Loan / Hospitality Grant / Self Employment Grant / Deferral of loan payments / Rates Relief / Universal Credit
Communication
Have you attempted to communicate to your audience with regular online content e.g. Golf Tutorials, Members Quiz, Course Updates, Fitness Classes?
85% of venues have attempted to engage their members through online content
Examples of communication used:
Online tuition / Quiz Events / Photo Competitions / Wellbeing Calls / Golf Course Updates / Trick Shots / Zoom Sessions / Community Activity (Shopping & Catering)
The Revenue Club works with over a hundred clubs in the UK helping with green fee revenue.
They have reviewed their statistics following the lifting of the lockdown restrictions to create inforgraphic in conjunction with The PGA.
The data from the 59 Club survey and the Revenue Club was used as the topic for episode five of the PGA Live Webiner series - Post lockdown trends and survey results.
Click on the image to watch the webinar now.
