Learning to cope in hard times

IAN McGLOUGHLIN

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GOLF: FEW sports have been hit harder than golf by the fall-out caused by the current financial climate.
In week two of their look at the way in which local clubs are coping with the economic pinch, KEITH McHUGH and KEVIN RICHARDSON speak to officials at Oldham and Saddleworth.

OLDHAM might not boast the number of members other local clubs enjoy, but a warm welcome and feelgood factor ensure that a hard core remain at the club.

Club captain Ian McGloughlin said: “I would say there are about 60 or 70 members who have been here for quite a long time and then there are others who are here for shorter periods.

“But some of those who do leave often realise that the grass is not always greener on the other side and come back here.

“One of our attractions is the availability of tee-times at weekends, which can be a struggle elsewhere, and we do try to put on plenty of competitions for our members at weekends, too.

“We also have a brilliant professional in James Rowlands, who is very pro-active and spends time with the junior members on Saturday afternoons.

“I would say the situation at the moment is satisfactory with about 220 members, including juniors.

“We have stabilised the club’s finances, but we need to be pro-active in that department and are always looking at new schemes to move forward while being aware that we don’t want to be seen to be competing with the other clubs in the Oldham and District Association.”

In line with other clubs in the area, Oldham have a wide range of packages for members and golfers they are trying to attract to the club.

These include five, six and seven-day fees, payment by instalments and company sponsorship of holes in return for free annual membership.

And a new, recent initiative saw about a dozen golfers sign up for a three-month membership until the end of this year.

The clubhouse is also used for functions to bring in extra revenue which helps with the club’s ongoing financial situation.

“The club’s future is run on a week-to-week basis,” said McGloughlin.

“But we do try our best to keep our members happy by providing value for money and good facilities within our financial constraints.”



SADDLEWORTH are forging partnerships with outside organisations in an attempt to attract new members and retain their current subscribers.
And the club, which made a small profit in the last financial year, are always looking at different ways to increase revenue.

The Mountain Ash course have linked up with a gym in Saddleworth through Oldham Community Leisure to offer reduced rates of membership, while they are offering a similar incentive with a golf insurance company.

Saddleworth have also joined the ‘two-for-one’ voucher scheme, which has grown in popularity over recent years.

Dave Pullen, vice-chairman of Saddleworth Golf Club’s management committee, says the scrapping of joining fees changed the face of how clubs went about their business.

“The days when members stayed loyal to a club for five years or so have gone,” said Pullen.

“Players can walk in and walk out of clubs at will — we’ve got to accept that and look forward.

“We might lose 20 or 30 members each year, but we also recruit members from elsewhere.

“A few years ago we had 70-odd juniors, but we’re now down to 40. The women’s section has also dropped off, so we’ll be looking at ways to boost those areas.

“But it’s all down to the product we offer. If we can get that right, then hopefully everything will fall into place.”

Next week: Werneth