Two months in, iGolf numbers at higher end of expectations
Cardy/sportsfile Igolf Aim Golf Club Their Main Members Ramsey Is With Ireland Covert Subscribers Say By To Into Photo
Golf Ireland has confirmed that 950 subscribers have signed up to its iGolf scheme since it was launched in early October, a number which is at the higher end of their expectations.
The scheme allows golfers to hold an official handicap without being a golf club member. It had already been in operation in New Zealand, England, and Scotland.
“We have 220,000 members of golf clubs in Ireland,” said Brian Quinn, Golf Ireland’s head of projects.
“But it’s interesting to note that there’s another 300,000 or 350,000 golfers who aren’t currently members of golf clubs.
“They enjoy golf. Some of them play it very regularly. But, for a range of reasons, the golf membership isn’t available to them or suitable for them just now.
“We have no connection to those golfers. We knew we were out there. We knew the R&A surveys identified them.
“If you get iGolf subscription, we have a connection with you. We have your information. We have your email address and you can learn more about what your interests are as a golfer.
“And, hopefully, it’s all about a pathway, really. The more people who become iGolf subscribers, the more maybe we can tempt them over time to consider club membership if it’s suitable for them.”
Golf Ireland says converting those independent golfers to club members is their main aim.
“It was in Golf Ireland’s strategic plan in 2020 to assess whether iGolf would be suitable for Ireland,” said Quinn.
“But it’s already proven its worth in countries like New Zealand after six years — 40% of those who signed up to the equivalent in New Zealand have gone on to become members of clubs.
“The logic there is you get a handicap and you feel like you want to play a bit more golf. The more you play, you kind of think: ‘Well, maybe golf membership is something that I’d be interested in, and I’m playing a lot.’
“That seems to be the pattern in other countries. We hope it’s the pattern here as well. The first two months have been quite encouraging.”
The average subscriber is 42 years old, far lower than the average age of a club member, which is just over 50.
Dublin and surrounding counties such as Wicklow, Meath, and Kildare, along with Cork and Antrim, have had the most subscribers.
When the scheme was launched, there were reports of pushback from clubs worried that iGolf would affect their membership numbers. It was reported that clubs were considering charging higher fees for iGolf subscribers and pricing them out of competitions, or some clubs could make courses unavailable for competitions. Golf Ireland director of championships Mark Wehrly said, so far, the latter has not been the case.
“When you’re signing up for iGolf, we kind of make it very clear that the pricing and your eligibility for certain green fees or certain competitions is very much at the discretion of the club, and that’s pretty much always been the way," said Quinn.
“Our advice to clubs will be — and we will be engaging with clubs on this — if you’re looking for new members in the future, try to embrace iGolfers if they’re coming in to play — if you’re an iGolfer, you have to pay a green fee every time you play. There’s actually more revenue in it for clubs.
“That iGolfer, one day, we’re hoping, will be contemplating joining a club. It’s the club that brings them into competitions and it’s the club that charges them appropriately, I think, is the club that they’re more likely to join, and that’s the way we would feel about it.
“One thing we are looking to do, probably in about March or April of next year, is now that we have this database of iGolfers, we really want to encourage clubs who are looking for members to kind of give us their offers and put them in front of iGolfers.”
After consultation with clubs earlier in the year, Golf Ireland instated a stand-down period which meant anyone who had been a golf club member in the last three years could not become an iGolf subscriber.
“We’ve turned down quite a number of people who left their clubs two years ago, two-and-a-half years ago, 18 months ago, before the scheme was even [implemented],” said Golf Ireland CEO Mark Kennelly.
“A lot of people were quite aggrieved that they left their clubs for genuine reasons two years ago but we are absolutely implementing the three-year. That was the longest stand-down period in the world, and it is the reassurance [for clubs].
“We have turned away literally hundreds of people who left their clubs in recent years. For normal reasons, people can’t keep up their membership but we have rigidly implemented that condition.”
