‘Dress codes do not boost clubhouse profits’
By Seamus Rotherick
A survey of UK golf club members has found that just 11 per cent believe relaxing a dress code at their clubhouse would detrimentally affect bar and restaurant revenues.
The HowDidiDo poll of 1,181 members of clubs asked: ‘If your club were to relax the dress code in the clubhouse, what effect do you think it would have on bar and restaurant revenues?’
Nearly half of all the respondents (547 – 46 per cent) said it would have no effect, while 501 members (42 per cent) said revenues would increase. Just 133 golf club members said a change in their club’s rules would hurt the business.
A spokesman for HowDidiDo, a golf club members’ competition results service containing Europe’s largest online golfing community, which is used by the majority of golf clubs in the UK and Ireland, said: “The dress code debate arouses passions on both sides, but there has never been a survey to back the arguments until now.
“These results show that nearly four times as many golf club members believe relaxing the dress code in the clubhouse would be good for food and beverage business as opposed to those who think it would have a negative impact.
“Food for thought for committees and golf club managers who might be looking at ways to increase revenue, particularly if they are thinking of relaxing dress codes to appeal to nomadic golfers who might be put off from joining a golf club by them, but are worried about the opposition they might face to doing this from existing members.”
By Seamus Rotherick
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What is more pythonesque than the erroneous assertion that because a majority of members polled believe a relaxation of dress rules would have a positive impact on business, it therefore must be so? This argument is a “stiff, bereft of life” etc etc.
It is more likely that the majority simply wish it to be so. Thats a different thing entirely.
Every time I see a dress code rule, I just think of the pointless Monty Python dress rule:
“Will those of you who are playing in the match this afternoon move your clothes down onto the lower peg immediately after lunch, before you write your letter home, if you’re not getting your hair cut, unless you’ve got a younger brother who is going out this weekend as the guest of another boy, in which case, collect his note before lunch, put it in your letter after you’ve had your hair cut, and make sure he moves your clothes down onto the lower peg for you. Now if you’re not getting your hair cut, you don’t have to move your brother’s clothes down to the lower peg. You simply collect his note before lunch, after you’ve done your scripture prep, when you’ve written your letter home, before rest, move your own clothes onto the lower peg, greet the visitors, and report to Mr. Viney that you’ve had your chit signed.”