08
March
2021
As golf in England prepares to open its doors after a long winter lockdown, GCMA chief executive Tom Brooke says clubs can take the opportunity to "review and refresh" There is a hint of spring in the air and the countdown to the reopening of golf courses, and indeed the wider economy, has begun. We’ve got confirmation of what this will look like in England and we’re hopefully not too far away from knowing the timetable for Wales and Ireland, as well as when courses in Scotland will be permitted to move back to fourball golf. Exciting times for us all, but equally, an incredibly busy and challenging time as there is still so much uncertainty ahead of us. As always, as YOUR association, we will continue to do everything we can to support you and to provide advice, guidance and representation throughout the process. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us if you need anything whatsoever, professionally or personally. The launch of our new range of membership benefits and professional development has continued throughout the past few weeks and I’ve been delighted with the feedback we’ve been receiving. Our new online CPD platform, GCMA SkillGate, has gone down incredibly well with those who have already starting using it, as has our new GCMA Perks and Community Online Academy platform, which are there to provide for both yourself and for your families – a really unique offering. One of the recent topics of our new webinar series has been member retention. As we look ahead to what is going to be an extremely busy spring and summer 2021, demand is no doubt going to remain particularly high. With this in mind, delivering a truly high quality experience for all and managing the expectations of our members and visitors is going to be more important than ever. Keeping up with demand, executing ‘fair use’ policies for members, as well as keeping up with budgeted income on visitor green fees will be the order of the day, at the same time as managing our cost bases even more closely than ever, given the economic pressures that are currently upon us. My personal view is that this is the perfect time for golf clubs to review and refresh their strategic business plans and outlook for the next five to 10 years. If demand is going to continue to be as high as we anticipate, this should provide the perfect opportunity to really determine your position in the local marketplace and tune in on your core offerings. I’d welcome the opportunity to discuss this further with any club managers currently undertaking this process, so please do get in touch with me and share your thoughts. All the very best for the next few weeks as we prepare for reopening and for the season ahead. If you need any support whatsoever, you know where to come. Tom was speaking in his monthly welcome note for The Golf Club Manager magazine. To view... Please LOGIN to read the full article.
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