‘36% of golf clubs were well prepared for the pandemic’

A surprising new survey of private members’ golf clubs in the UK and Ireland has found that more than a third were ‘well prepared’ for the coronavirus pandemic.

The virus, which has led to a lockdown in which golf is currently not allowed to be played in the UK, has resulted in several clubs issuing emergency appeals for donations.

However, according to a survey of 1,800 golf, leisure and private club leaders across the UK and Ireland by global consulting firm GGA Partners, 36 per cent of clubs were ‘well prepared’ for Covid-19.

“Thirty-six per cent of our respondents believed their clubs were well-prepared for the crisis,” said Rob Hill, from GGA’s EMEA practice.

“Given the unprecedented scale of the pandemic, that speaks well of the industry.

“Perhaps it is also not surprising that most of the clubs which were well prepared also reported that they had strong leadership in place and made ‘change management’ a top business priority.”

Hill added that just under two-thirds of golf clubs ‘must embrace dramatic or significant changes over the next five years’ if they are to thrive in the future.

He said that ‘the conservative nature of club leadership means that the overwhelming majority of clubs tend to effect the change that is necessary only when it is a financial imperative that they do so.’

“The data indicates that in too many instances clubs are reacting to financial problems,” he said, “rather than systematically preparing for the changes which the great majority of respondents believe are surely coming.

“Only 13 per cent of the clubs surveyed believe they enjoy the combination of strong leadership, financial expertise and a clear long-term strategic plan, and these are exactly the elements any club expecting to navigate through an uncertain future must possess.”

The survey discovered that while governing boards / committees have the greatest influence on driving change, “clubs that delegate change leadership to the club manager were the most effective in managing those changes. This was not terribly surprising,” according to Hill, “because the best-managed clubs retain and empower extremely effective, professional general managers or secretaries.”