In a constantly evolving industry, there’s no time to stand still. Fortunately for Portlethen, PGA Professional David Pocock has plenty of get up and go as he continues to drive female coaching and membership at the Aberdeen club. Here, he shares the secrets to increasing participation levels.
A forward-thinking and innovative operator, Pocock is well aware that golf clubs and his fellow PGA Professionals, must be pro-active now to ensure that the game continues to flourish in the future. There are bountiful and well-documented challenges facing golf but the efforts of Pocock and his staff continue to push Portlethen to the forefront of club development and participation in golf.
Flexible entry-level membership
On the female front, Pocock used a flexible, competitively priced initiative he had devised in his previous post at Bryn Meadows in Wales to help energise that particular area of the club.
“At the height of the season, we had about 60 ladies a week coming to structured coaching,” he said. “From that, I asked the club about creating a stepping stone membership which I had employed at Bryn Meadows and it was a great success there.
“It basically means that the ladies get a limited use of the course at the quiet times. We have a six and nine-hole loop at Portlethen. From experiences and evidence gathered, many ladies just want to play nine holes at a maximum.
“In my opinion, the seven-day full offering for women is dying. I don’t think it’s overly appealing, particularly for those who are not retired. Having flexible options is the way to go if we are to keep them playing. A lot of people simply don’t have the time. There is scope to change all membership categories.
“Thanks to that, we now have a core group of women who have really grown in confidence, and it has been a roaring success.”
Group golf programmes
Pocock has always been a resourceful and energetic PGA Professional. During his time in Wales, he co-founded the Valleys Golf Enterprise which was the first golfing social enterprise in the UK and helped deliver golf sessions to over 25,000 school children as well as adults in some of the most deprived areas in the country.
Back in his native northeast, Pocock’s recruitment drive goes on and he is urging more PGA Pros to lead from the front.
“I just get a real buzz introducing new people to the game,” said Pocock, who began his PGA training at Oldmeldrum.
“We need to bring a whole new tranche of people into golf but, in this country, there’s tendency to sit back and wait for something to happen. Initiatives like this must be driven by the pro. Someone has to take a lead and be hungry and passionate about it.
“This, of course, is my career. I don’t do it for nothing. It’s £10 a session. Normally, I have 120 people a week in coaching. That’s £1200 a week.
“That can often pay for stock and stuff for the shop but it’s a good money maker. Everybody can benefit from it.
“We have 15 hours of group coaching a week. That’s a lot of work. I have an assistant pro, there’s a junior leader for the older ones and a leader for the younger ones. We need another body. It’s always a challenge.
“But we are doing well in numbers. We are lucky here. Portlethen is bursting at the seams. We have three primary schools and a secondary school that are all rammed. There’s a stream of kids there so there’s lot of potential to get people in but, lots of clubs are standing still and not doing anything.
“Keeping girls engaged is the big challenge. It’s hard to keep girls playing unless they have a family member, like a mum or a dad, at the club. Very rarely does a girl, who hasn’t got a family member here, stick at it. That’s why the family aspect is so important for golf going forward.
“There’s a lot of good work being done at various clubs. But, as PGA Pros, we can always do more.”
