Should your golf club streamline its committee?

Experienced golf club manager Adrian Cooper argues that having boards with too many people on them holds many golf clubs back.

Does three hours to discuss the length of a sock sound familiar?

Large committees, in some cases as large as 17, are slow, hard work and more often than not unproductive. They start at 7pm but don’t finish because one of the committee members throws in a hand grenade at 9pm that means the dinner will be cold and you will be there until after 11pm.

Large committees are reactive and take an age to make decisions; if a club wants to be taken seriously in this modern, dynamic business world, it needs to change and change quick as members now have so many golf club options if they’re not happy. Moving clubs has never been so easy.

How do you make change happen?

The key words here are engagement and transparency.

Set out a clear business case around why the committee would perform better with five or six people and engage with the members through focus groups, for example, focus groups should consist of the following, but not limited, to this list:

• Senior section
• Ladies’ section
• Past captains ladies and gents
• Past presidents or chairmen
• General membership.

These focus groups should meet when the sections play, for example ladies’ day on a Tuesday – get them together at 2pm on the afternoon and make the general membership on a Saturday afternoon and one evening.

The best way to communicate this is via a PowerPoint presentation – and give out handouts of the presentation after the focus group (otherwise there will be a distraction while you are trying to engage the group). This is an opportunity to see what your members think and take on board comments and suggestions and amend if you feel necessary. Be very clear what the roles will entail and how they will work within the operation.

As well as this display the new structure on exhibition boards in the clubhouse to let the members see what’s being suggested; remember a large number of members will not turn up for these focus groups so you need to get the message out. Also use the website and email.

All the suggestions and comments need to be circulated to all of the members at the end of all the focus group sessions so members can be reassured you have not dismissed their input. This can be done through your website or a simple email to your members – whichever has the best route of communication.

One of the most important points to raise here is changes may need to be made to your Articles of Association to reflect the new business structure. This may also require you to hold an AGM to get the decision voted through. I have found that this is the first time for a long time a club would have looked closely at their articles so it would be prudent to form a small group of members from all facets of the club. Review your articles from top to bottom to make sure they reflect how your club operates today and how you would like it to look for the future.

So, going back to the committee, it’s important the new structure reflects how the club will operate now, and in the future, and these are my suggestions:

• Chairman / president (chair) and casting vote
• Course director
• Golf and social director
• Finance director
• Health and safety director
• General manager / secretary.

Each role would require a formal application with an explanation as to why they would be the right person for the job. You will notice that I have not included club captain (male or female) on the board as my preference is to leave the captain to enjoy the role of being the club ambassador and not to be burdened with club politics – they would be best suited to engaging with the golf and social committee.

I’ve used director but some clubs may just substitute this for a committee member. Each director or committee member can form their own subcommittee away from the main committee or board and put together a group of members of their choice, calling upon the expertise within the club, if required. It’s the result of these sub committee meetings that the chair of that forum will bring to the main committee meeting or board meeting.

This is no easy task and could take up 12 months to roll out so be prepared for the long haul! And good luck.

Adrian Cooper is the former manager of a number of golf clubs, including Harborne, Henley, Hinkley and Drayton Park. He now runs AMC Consulting and can be contacted on 07568 262101 or email adrian@amcconsulting.org.uk.