Hi everyone, It never ceases to amaze me how quickly the end of the season seems to come around. It feels like just a few weeks ago we were watching Sergio win the Masters and marvelling at how good the start of the year had been. Now, in the US the FedEx playoffs are nearing their end and here the nights are drawing in. This week we played the last of our regional pro-ams which pretty much brings to a close my competitive season, apart from some overseas trips (which aren't entirely all about golf) and the odd winter event, for which you have to pray for good weather. So at this time of year you tend to look at the year and reflect on where things are. On the home front St. Augustines is doing very well, which I am sure you will all be glad about. The industry is going through some major changes and this is creating challenges for lots of clubs. Some have already fallen by the wayside and there is no doubt there will be more fatalities as member numbers reduce and more and more players choose to be nomadic, picking the best green fee deals wherever they are. This will only continue as the pressure on clubs increases so the fact that St Augustines is attracting high numbers of visitors is very positive. Without these visitors you would all see your membership fees increase and over time that would eventually result in more and more of you choosing the other option or a different club and the writing for the club would be on the wall. Thankfully, this is not the case at the moment. But the state of the game is an interesting conversation to have. At the tour level things couldn't be better as money is huge and the major tours are buoyant and producing a product that more and more people want to watch. This then knocks on to how many people want to play the game and clearly things are well there. The elite clubs are also having a great time as the wealthy still want to be part of these clubs so they have no shortage of people wanting to join. The problem lies elsewhere and in my opinion it all revolves around time. The fact is the 'elite' clubs and their members make up a fraction of the golfing world. The bread and butter is the everyday person and that person's life has changed dramatically over the last 30-40 years. Now, both parties of most couples work all week so the idea of one disappearing all day to play golf doesn't go down so well. So they just cannot justify nearly £1,000 for a membership when they are only going to play 20 times a year. Moreover since the need for a handicap certificate has now died they don't need to, unlike when I started the game. You simply had to belong to a golf club to be able to play anywhere. Interestingly though, the person who cannot justify a membership can, it seems, justify buying the latest driver for £450. So it is not about money, just the justification for spending it. So these are challenging times that will see the golfing landscape change somewhat over the years. Fortunately your club is doing well and it seems to have the right idea of how to move forward.
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