“That’s not the case because there is a limit to how
many open competitions are available for people
playing anyway.
“It’s not as if these clubs have an open competition
every day of the week.
“They have specifically targeted us because it’s a
$99 membership.”
Rebbechi said 50 per cent of the club’s members were
remote members while the rest are from within the
local community – southern NSW and
northeast Victoria.
“There are people who can’t afford full membership or
justify paying thousands of dollars to be a member
of a club.
“They simply don’t play often enough,” he said. “It’s
like gym membership – if they are not using it they
can’t see the value in it.
“With our membership it gives them an opportunity to
say, ‘look, I don’t play all that often but I would like to
hold a handicap, but if my circumstances change I will
drop off that country membership and I’ll join a club
near me’.
“Once they start to get back in the game more they
can go and join some of these other clubs.”
“I suppose they are looking for somebody to blame for
their decline in memberships.”
I ask Rebbechi what are the advantages of being a
remote member of Howlong Country Golf Club.
“They can come and play golf at Howlong whenever
they like and are made to feel part of the club – it’s
drive away, no more to pay,” he said.
“They come and stay in our motel and play two or
three times a year.
“In addition, they can play in our Remote Membership
Championship, which is an honour board event. We
get 200 come and play in that each year.
“They get a 10 per cent discount off our motel rates
and a whole range of other discounts throughout
the clubhouse.
“We cover insurance and those sorts of things as part
of the affiliation fee.
“The whole concept is that it’s good value for people
so they don’t leave the game.
“They can come and join a club and feel as though
they are a part of a real club and be involved in golf
and hopefully they will keep that involvement
going forward.”
“I think some of these committees don’t understand
what has been going on in the golf industry for many
years with country members at places like Howlong.
16 The Golf Marketin