Here’s the top three things I learnt while editing Golf Club Management in September

Here’s the top three things Alistair Dunsmuir learnt while editing Golf Club Management in September:

3. Clubs should set aside some of their budget for staff training

A review of TripAdvisor feedback for golf clubs over the last year has found that customers’ biggest issue wasn’t the quality of the course, as you might expect, but the service they received from staff. The quality of the food on offer came a close second, with the state of the golf course a distant third.

“Golf club staff are in need of a little training,” said a spokesman for the research, as many reviewers said they were so bad that they would not return to the venue.

2. The golfing world needs to shout about how healthy golf is for you

The government agency responsible for public health has advised doctors to offer ‘green space’ prescriptions that particularly involve walking outside. Meanwhile Jim Blakey, an 85-year-old man, who in the 1960s feared he would never walk again due to a slipped disc, has won a golf tournament and has set a target of winning another in his 90s. And a leading Scottish doctor has said the game offers such impressive social and health benefits that it can lengthen your life by five years, but added that “golf has been substantially undersold”. It’s time the industry marketed it more effectively.

1. Golf isn’t fun if it’s too difficult

That seems a pretty obvious thing to say but, as new data shows that the average number of rounds played in the UK decreased by 12 per cent between April and June compared with the same three months in 2015, it is also incredibly important. The designer of Castle Stuart Golf Links says the layout of courses must be more geared to golfers who don’t want to spend their time looking for balls. And even the best golfers agree – Phil Mickelson said “it should almost be a pre-requisite to play Castle Stuart before you are allowed to design golf courses”.