How we doubled our lady membership in three years
As a new club on the scene, we found it difficult in the first few years to build the ladies sector of our membership. What we found was that Ladies’ tend to be very loyal and not move clubs much, and they would rarely move singularly if they ever decided to, it would tend to be in a group.
This meant for a club like Burstwick it was difficult for us to attract many lady golfers, and in 2013 we were at a low in lady membership numbers so we knew something had to change.
Between us we did some brainstorming on how to attract more ladies to the club and we decided that we would need to focus on new golfers rather than trying to attract existing members from elsewhere. So the question was posed: how do you encourage more ladies and girls into golf?
The first move we made was to come up with some beginner female coaching sessions with emphasis on the fun factor, and that there is no snobbery, dress code, or experience required.
As time went by we started seeing some regular girls coming to these sessions, at which point we did our up most to make them feel as welcome as possible. Over a few months we converted quite a few into members at the club, and the section began to slowly grow.
My wife, and 2017 Lady Captain, Laura Key took it upon herself to really begin pushing the ladies section and to become more involved with putting on events for them as well as continuing to encourage others to become part of the group.
Fast forward to now, and our ladies participation has increased more than double and there are frequent events throughout the year that the girls enjoy, from away days, meals out, parties, and of course many golfing events!
One thing we have always prided ourselves on is the friendliness of the club, and that is something that is in abundance of the Burstwick Ladies. If you would like a new hobby, or have tried golf before and want to get back into it again, why not give our Head PGA Professional James Bisby a call on 07896 257878 and come along to one of his beginner sessions on a Wednesday evening?