Outside the Box
Sometimes when you are thinking about Golf Memberships you have to go outside of the box. We suggest first starting with a 
very detailed analysis of your tee sheet. Look at your member play and your green fee play and when each group plays the most or least rounds. This will help you generate a few ideas based on where your biggest tee sheet gaps are. Here is a few promotions that have worked for us over the years:
~ Dew Sweepers – This is a membership we offered at a club that was only valid for play prior to 8am. Use this to fill the slow times before more “regulars” want to play!
~ Twilight – This is a membership we offered for golfers to tee off 30 minutes before regular twilight (and then anytime through the rest of the evening). This will help fill your tee sheet in the slots that always stays empty before the start of twilight golf!
~ 3, 5, 7 Day Memberships – This is a great idea for courses in a resort market. While we haven’t done it yet it is on the radar to try. We think it would work great for courses in regions that get a lot of tourist play or drive through traffic, particularly those in a competitive market. Why not have the golfers play only at your course during their stay. Give them a reason to!
Remember to price your Memberships appropriately. Your average member yield should NEVER be less than you per round maintenance cost. Then use these promotional ideas to help increase membership revenues and fill some dead areas on your tee sheet. We have also found that these types of memberships tend to increase the incremental spends at the clubs that have used them. If these are newer golfers they will get right into the club spirit and want to spend more time at the facility. People generally are loyal if you give them a reason to be.
We, Jeff and Tara Ciecko of CK Golf write two blogs, one is our 19th Hole Blog where we share personal experiences and the other an Industry Blog where we comment on general business and internet marketing best practices, sales strategies and give golf industry related opinions. We have owned CK Golf for 10 years and provide marketing, social media and business services to the golf and other industries. As of August 2016 our life and our business have been ‘location independent’. Our 19th Hole Blog is about the places we visit and the things we do. If you have any questions or comments, or happen to be in the same location as us please reach out and contact us anytime.
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