NZ Golf fighting back,
says chief
By David Newbery
Last year there was a 5.1 % drop off in golf club
memberships, but the entire country is working towards reversing the trend, according to
Murphy.
“It’s a difficult time for golf overall,” he said.
“Obviously, there are a lot of market forces
and a lot of habits in changing society that are
counting against the game of golf, but there
has been a lot of success around diversification
of membership packages.
“Golf clubs need to be proactive and promote
new-style membership packages that appeal
to the modern day golfer.”
“We appreciate that the traditional membership models are still an integral part of the
game, but the challenge is to have the right
kind of products and the environment in the
golf club.
“That’s where a lot of our work is heading
– understanding the market and understanding what products we need to put into place
to help the market attract new people to the
game.
“We need to diversify the offerings in order
to get some new people involved in the game
and keep them interested.”
Murphy is passionate about growing the game
and is not averse to telling it like it is.
A few years ago he said, “if golf was a dog it
10
would be a german shepherd”.
“I think in some areas it’s very much the case
and we don’t present ourselves as well as we
can,” he said.
“There is obviously a growing number of clubs
that are changing in the way they approach
new people and the way they present themselves to the public and that’s great.
“But we are a pretty traditional and guarded
society and you have to work hard to get into
“
“
Dean Murphy, the boss of New Zealand Golf,
feels the country is making inroads in its quest
to grow the game.
“There is still a long
way to go, but in
New Zealand it’s
business as usual.”
a golf club these days. They are not inviting
places on occasions.”
Still, the initiatives introduced by the game’s
ruling body are starting to pay dividends, especially in the junior and social area.
“We have seen a lot of success in the Junior
Tiger Tournament Series and in the work we
do in schools. A lot more children are participating in golf.
“Our programs around our junior stuff and
the things we do with overall membership are
working well.”
The Golf Marketing Professionals www.golfindustrycentral.com.au
Our friends from across the ditch have also
seen a spike in social golf and the discount
green fee market.
“We are seeing growth in people participating through driving range concession cards,”
Murphy said.
“We are working pretty hard on that casual
golfer space and what products we can put
into play to engage the casual golfer.
“We want to have a relationship with the
casual golfer in an effort to draft him into full
golf club membership.
“There is a huge army of people that are playing a lot of golf, but just not joining golf clubs,”
Murphy said.
“Perhaps that’s just a reality of where 25-45
demographic is at – not wanting to join a club
but wanting to play a lot of golf at different
courses.
“In some ways that’s good for golf because the
more people playing the more likely we are to
have that lifelong love affair with the game and
joining up as a member at some stage.
“The market is tough, but there are clubs doing some wonderful work so if we can pick out
those examples and share it with other clubs
then they can have the same success.
“There is still a long way to go, but in New Zealand it’s business as usual.”