A new guide has been produced by England Golf to help golf clubs gain a greater understanding of young people and how to attract them into the sport.
A new guide has been produced by England Golf to help golf clubs gain a greater understanding of young people and how to attract them into the sport.
The potential is huge: Research by England Golf shows that in 2017, 67% of all young people took part in some form of golf activity. That’s about 5.35 million youngsters in England.
But at the same time, they’re turning their backs on golf clubs and traditional junior memberships are dropping.
Understanding Your Junior Market has been created to help reverse the trend. It forms part of a raft of measures identified in the wider national Children and Young People Plan “Growing the Game for the Future” which is supported by the Golf Foundation and the Professional Golfers’ Association.
The guide highlights ways to find out what young people want from golf and golf clubs – and what could put them off. It uses the specially created profiles of seven different types of youngsters to show how they and their parents view golf.
A supporting video and online training are available to show clubs how to use the profiles to understand their current juniors and their families, create activities to attract new players, develop retention plans to keep their interest and market these successfully.
Lee Dolby, England Golf’s Young People Manager, commented: "Attracting young people into golf is essential for the future of golf clubs and, to do that successfully, they need a better understanding of what young people want from their golfing experience."
"One size definitely does not fit all. Young people change faster than at any other time in life and what appeals to a six-year-old may not be right for a 16-year-old. But, many clubs still just offer one version of junior golf."
"We need to think about the individuals, their motivations and the barriers they encounter. Traditional membership is dropping among young people; that doesn’t mean they don’t want to belong and feel part of a club, it does mean they don’t like what clubs are offering."
Emily Furniss, from Gaudet Luce Golf Club in Worcestershire is a Young Ambassador for England Golf and the Golf Foundation, and has written a message to clubs in the guide.
She comments: “Not everyone wants to be the next Rory McIlroy, some young people just want to belong, to make friends or play for fun. So listening to the opinions and needs of the next generation of golfers will broaden the appeal of the game."
The new guide complements England Golf’s wider package of support for clubs, Understanding Your Market. This helps clubs retain members and identify potential new members by focussing on what their customers want.
You can download a copy of Understanding Your Junior Market here.
Image credit: Leaderboard Photography
