What we learnt about golf club management in August

The top 10 things we learnt about golf club management and the golf industry in the last few weeks.

10. Andy Murray’s mother is currently a bigger sporting icon in Scotland than Colin Montgomerie.

Judy and Monty co-announced the creation of a unique tennis and golf complex in Scotland, but according to the Scottish press, it appeared that Judy was fronting the announcement.

9. Croatia has no registered junior golfers.

It is the only European country to have adult members of golf clubs, but no children. Turkey, on the other hand, has more junior members than adults – the only country in Europe where this is the case.

8. The largest continuous green roof in London is on a golf club’s (Richmond Park) clubhouse.

Probably. Or to quote the club’s spokesman, “quite possibly”. We don’t know how many green roofs there are in London, but this seems to be more good news for golf’s eco-credentials.

7. Slow golfers are not just a problem in the UK.

It’s also a big issue in the USA – and they’re even doing something about it. Stars ranging from Tiger Woods to Clint Eastwood have agreed to appear in an advertising campaign to help speed up amateur golfers, while one golf club operating group now educates, punishes and rewards golfers in its bid to increase the pace of play.

6. Some golf clubs are trying to sell parts of their courses for housing.

But they’re not being very successful – the problem is that local councils are not granting planning permission to most of the clubs that want to do this. Strangely, a club that wanted to close its course down so that the whole area could be converted into housing had far more success.