One of Britain’s leading golf club managers has said ‘whinging and negative’ committee members are threatening the futures of their own golf clubs.
Tom Duke, who has managed three golf clubs in Norfolk and one in Worcestershire, and sat on the Golf Club Managers’ Association’s national committee, said that clubs struggle to be forward-thinking when “self-important and narcissistic” people “whose only purpose is to whinge, criticise and disrupt” sit on their decision-making committees, undermining the club’s manager.
Several golf clubs have struggled through the economic downturn of the last few years, and some industry professionals believe as many as 50 private members’ golf clubs could go bust this spring.
“Having managed four major golf clubs, lack of support, criticism and negativity is something I have personally experienced, as I would suggest have most of my colleagues,” he said.
“Such attitude and behaviour by and large stems from self-important minority groups and narcissistic individuals who do nothing for the game of golf, or their clubs, and whose only purpose is to whinge, criticise, disrupt and make life a misery for those who give their time freely.
“They also see the manager of the club as being fair game in their efforts to undermine all that is good, even though he or she is the most experienced and best qualified to manage the golf club.
“When will those self-absorbed people realise that the manager of the club is the best qualified to carry out such tasks and be allowed to manage? They are not the experts they think they are or make out to be, they are for the most part unqualified and should therefore be instructed to refrain from making biased, derisory and unwelcome comments which do nothing for the good reputation of the club or its environment.
“Golf clubs are intricate businesses where the manager has to be a strong personality, an expert in staff management, employment law, health and safety, IT, the rules and administration of the game of golf, accountancy, budgeting, agronomy, food and beverage, procurement and in particular, people management, and have a willingness and ability to do that which the management committee dictate and much more.”
Mr Duke implied that these ‘negative’ committee members even block measures that managers need to introduce to move their clubs forward.
“The game of golf is currently not in the best of places – clubs are experiencing difficult times and will continue to do so as memberships and visitor green fees diminish. The manager in particular, and committees, will have to prove that they are more than up to the job while convincing those disapproving negative members that they must renounce their lack of support and that change is necessary if their club is to survive.
“We must offer flexible memberships and encourage new members, particularly young men, women and children into a welcoming environment, not a situation for complainers and moaners who have nothing better to do.
“If this means that we have to move with the times and become less formal in order to attract more custom in the bar and dining room areas, so be it, if it means that tee times are not always readily available for those older, retired members wishing to play at the same time, same day, 365 days a year, or, more particular, that beginners are given preference at certain times and made to feel at ease on the course and in the clubhouse, so be it.
“When will they learn that the club does not belong to them exclusively?”
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