Slinfold Golf & Country Club’s general manager, Luke Blacker, talks about a decade of transformation at the family-owned West Sussex club — from multimillion-pound course and driving range improvements to expanding junior and female participation, championing wellbeing and building strong community ties through sport and charity.
You were appointed as a director of Slinfold Golf & Country Club in 2014. Could you outline your path to becoming general manager?
I joined the business in 2014 and before this I worked in the retail property sector. Working at Slinfold Golf & Country Club really appealed to me as I’ve always had a passion for helping people lead healthier and happier lives through health, wellbeing and participation in sport. The club is also nestled in 165 acres of scenic countryside, near Horsham in West Sussex, so it’s a lovely environment to work from.
You’ve overseen significant investment in the 18-hole course, academy course and driving range. What has guided your strategic priorities in these developments?
No matter what an individual’s health and wellbeing aspirations or challenges are, it’s always been really important to us that we provide high quality health, fitness and golf services and facilities. We know the benefits physical exercise and structured sports can have on the mind and body. Whether you are visiting the club on your own, are a professional sportsperson or a family, we want people to train, enjoy and relax in modern and spacious surroundings. Against this backdrop, we are always looking to reinvest across the broad range of facilities we provide to ensure we continually improve our offering.
Our golf facilities are wide-ranging and incorporate an 18-hole main course, nine-hole academy course and a covered 18-bay driving range. Recent investments into the 18-hole course include improving the quality of greenkeeping machinery, drainage programmes, tee and bunker projects, and significantly enhancing the standard of the greens.
The academy course was redesigned and rebuilt to provide an excellent course for beginners to learn the game, as well as providing a challenging layout for more experienced golfers to hone their short game skills. This course has been operating for the last eight years and has enabled a pathway to be developed for the progression of junior golf at the club, in tandem with our junior organisers and PGA qualified golf professionals.
Ball tracking technology has featured at the club since 2023 and provides golfers of all abilities with an excellent tool to enhance their practice and improve their game.
You’ve described Slinfold Golf and Country Club as a family-owned club with a welcoming feel. What advantages do you believe this structure brings to operational management and member experience?
Being an independently owned business means we are able to make decisive and efficient improvements and changes. Our club prides itself on the fact that we know our members really well and they aren’t just a number or name on a big database. Every decision we make is with them and our staff in mind.
How do you engage with members to integrate feedback into your plans?
Member feedback is really important to us, and we have an open-door policy, so any member or non-member can give feedback to any staff member. We have weekly meetings, and a recurring agenda item is discussing positive or negative feedback we have received, and we make sure feedback is actioned quickly.
The nine-hole academy course is designed to ease beginners into golf. How have you tailored the layout and coaching to bridge from practice to the full 18-hole experience?
Basically, it’s a fun course to play for all levels. It is welcoming and short enough for beginners yet challenging enough for experienced golfers. Astro mats for tees and having no bunkers also assists beginners to pick up the game. We are delighted that it is now rated for handicap purposes and therefore provides an excellent springboard and progression pathway between the range and main course.
Your junior programme sees several participants weekly, and the club also supports female players. What initiatives have you found most effective in nurturing these groups?
We are really proud of our Golf Academy, which runs all year round and welcomes all ages and abilities. One of our aims is to establish our academy as the number one place in Sussex for junior golf. In the past year, we have revamped the junior training programme and have more than doubled the number of junior members. A quarter of these members have now achieved a handicap to play in local competitions.
We also now run one of the largest number of junior competitions compared to other golf clubs in West Sussex and have well-established weekly junior competitions, an annual junior club championship, and juniors now participate in a Sussex League competition, playing against other local golf clubs. Also, for the first time in many years, three juniors have been selected for the U14 Sussex Academy, and one has been selected to represent Sussex U13s.
To help encourage children to be active in sport and open up golf to all abilities and backgrounds, we have also been developing and running taster days for under-10s in local schools, with over 150 students attending to date. A partnership with one school was so well-received that it has now led to an after-school golf club starting for the first time.
We also run golf camps for juniors in the Easter and school summer holidays, and they frequently sell out in record time.
We also have an active female section too and a brilliant female captain. We are always encouraging more female players to learn and enjoy the sport.
How has your driving range technology transformed coaching and practice both for members and non-members?
Our large, open, floodlit 18-bay driving range had ball tracking technology installed in 2023 and this has been a great success for us. The driving range is open to non-members as well as members and it’s really helped players of all ages and abilities improve their game.
Our head golf coach and pro, Matthew Cornall, knew that it would bring lots of benefits to him and the coaching team as the optically enhanced radar tracking technology helps deliver accurate readings, tracking every shot made on the driving range, providing useful data, which is ideal for coaching. As well as recording how far the ball has travelled and its speed and height, it also records the rate of spin. Aside from the technical advantages, the technology is great fun, and we’ve now added a virtual replication of our 18-hole course, which is ideal to use if the weather is not great or you don’t feel quite ready to play the course.
You recently formed a charity partnership with a local hospice. Can you tell us more about that?
We adopted St Catherine’s Hospice as our first official charity of the year partner in June and is a charity that is close to our hearts as it provides locally such vital support during the most difficult times in people’s lives. Running for an initial 12 months, we support through a variety of fundraising efforts, from participating and volunteering at their events to hosting our own events for members, non-members and staff to participate in, as well as providing gift-in-kind support.
We’ve always had a long history of generously supporting and fundraising for various charities, and that will continue. Our golf captains select chosen charities to fundraise for during their tenure. Members and staff are also encouraged to recycle bras and trainers at drop-off points on-site, as well as food items for a local food bank. We also fundraise at various events we host throughout the year, which non-members can also attend and enjoy, such as live music nights, quizzes, crafts workshops, and a fireworks evening.
What advice would you offer other club leaders on balancing investment in infrastructure, maintaining member satisfaction and fostering community outreach?
Maintaining and improving the club’s infrastructure and facilities is imperative to attracting and retaining members and this is something we spend a lot of time focusing on. However, just as critical to our business is our approach to fostering a sense of community amongst all our members and visitors. For example, we ensure a wide-ranging events calendar is provided throughout the year to encourage participation and the subsequent benefits of community engagement.
Looking ahead, what’s next for Slinfold Golf & Country Club?
We are constantly innovating, seeking to improve our golf and health and wellbeing services to enhance our customers’ experience. We have a few exciting things we are currently working on, so watch this space!
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