Duncan Kelso, the co-owner and managing director of Kings Hill Golf Club in West Malling, has described the fall out from the 2008 financial crash as ‘one of our biggest challenges to date’ but early signs suggest that golf clubs will not be hit nearly as hard by the current economic crisis.
Indeed, Martin Slumbers, chief executive of The R&A, which organises The Open, golf’s oldest and most international Major championship, has said that this summer’s surge in demand to play golf gives many golf clubs the chance to secure their futures.
‘Participation levels in the UK for the quarter are already back level with those of July 2019, despite the fact that we had one month when the numbers went down 100 per cent,’ he said.
‘I think we have done a really good job of portraying golf as good for your health, good for your mind, and a sport that you can do in a socially distant and responsible way.’
In the years following 2008, most golf clubs saw a sharp drop in their membership numbers.
Writing in The Parliamentary Review, Kings Hill managing director Duncan Kelso explained that ‘leisure businesses are built on the back of disposable income. With the recession several years ago, anything inessential was cut out of people’s lives, and on one membership renewal day, we lost 20 per cent of our business overnight.’
It was, unsurprisingly, an incredibly difficult time for the organisation.
‘A massive reorganisation was required in the business,’ said Kelso. ‘We have since recovered, and our workforce has been restored; losing good people, however, was a serious blow, and has been one of our biggest challenges to date.’
Since its foundation in 1995, Kings Hill Golf Club (pictured) has seen steady growth and a doubling in its number of staff, despite the downturn between 2008 and 2011. They bounced back from the previous recession and have seen nearly ten years of growth but the current economic news is likely to bring with it fresh challenges.
There is however good reason for golf clubs to be more optimistic in the current climate, despite the fact that this economic recession has already shown a sharper drop in GDP than 2008. As Slumbers explains, golf is filling a void for people who are unable to do other leisure activities.
‘There’s always been a lot of sport lovers, but if you love team sports, whether you watch or play, that’s going to be a challenge for the foreseeable future, and they are turning to golf.
‘Our real challenge now is to make it sustainable. You have heard me talk about people will join golf clubs when golf clubs are selling the product that people want to buy. We’ve still got to do that, and we’ve still got to keep changing and we’ve still got to keep being modern and relevant.’
‘This could be a real opportunity for the game, if we can grasp it and start showing the game in a positive way. I think that there’s going to be a huge amount more debate about the need for health and the need for mental well-being out of this. It’s been an extraordinary five or six months, and I think golf is right up there. I intend to use my efforts to maximise the value.’
In 2008, consumers found they had less disposable cash but still a full range of products and services on which to spend it. Today, while we are once again seeing a decrease in spending power, golf is one of the few activities where social distancing is relatively easy. As people weigh up where to spend their money, they may well decide that a golf club membership is simply invaluable.
