The Golf Club Newsletter released a news story in november which said that older members who are always at golf clubs where like 'leeches' on the club and are making it more difficult for younger club members who pay a higher fee to either get on the course/have the quality of course they would like (because of overuse during the week).

They suggest that making all memberships on a stricter pay as you play basis would eradicate the problem.

What do you think about this?

Could people from the Beauchief or Abbeydale clubs please reply with a private message, with a little bit of info ie. full name, age occupation.

just because im a student journalist and im doing a story on it for my coursework on Beauchief and Greenhill. it wont be published anywhere it will just go into my lecturer to be marked.

Where did you read this so called "Golf newsletter" ?


If you did a bit of research yourself you might find that the course at Beauchief is "pay as you play" anyway & would therefore not come into this equation.

I know your'e on a wind up here Birchyboy;):P:hihi:

If it's not going to be published anywhere then why would you need their full name, age and occupation? If it's just for coursework then surely it's just the stories you need, to which you could use any ficticious name?

Whilst the angle for your story looks good and entirely plausible I doubt that in the real world anything is going to change anytime soon on membership rules and playing fees at private courses. Further research would reveal that there are far more private membership clubs than Abbeydale in the Sheffield region.

The Golf Club Newsletter released a news story in november which said that older members who are always at golf clubs where like 'leeches' on the club and are making it more difficult for younger club members who pay a higher fee to either get on the course/have the quality of course they would like (because of overuse during the week).

They suggest that making all memberships on a stricter pay as you play basis would eradicate the problem.

What do you think about this?

Could people from the Beauchief or Abbeydale clubs please reply with a private message, with a little bit of info ie. full name, age occupation.

just because im a student journalist and im doing a story on it for my coursework on Beauchief and Greenhill. it wont be published anywhere it will just go into my lecturer to be marked.

What is this all about then, sounds like a wind-up to me!

Is it a direct quote from someone at a specific club, or is it the opinion of some individuals with a vendetta against a particular club.

The simple facts are:


Older members are perfectly entitled to play golf if they so desire, why shouldn’t someone play when they retire, I certainly intend doing so
Some courses have reduced 5-day green fees or dedicated times to play for those people with flexibility, this allows those without the flexibility ample room on courses at other times
There are various pay and play options around Sheffield, for example: Tinsley, Beauchief,Birley,Concord as well as the various options available on the two-for-one schemes

I think someone has written this to vent their bitterness against someone or some club, the lack of detailed reasoning behind the comments would seem to indicate this.

Oh and another thing, where does it leave those of us who are classed as “too old to be a donor and too young to be a leech”.

The Golf Club Newsletter released a news story in november which said that older members who are always at golf clubs where like 'leeches' on the club and are making it more difficult for younger club members who pay a higher fee to either get on the course/have the quality of course they would like (because of overuse during the week).

They suggest that making all memberships on a stricter pay as you play basis would eradicate the problem.

What do you think about this?

Could people from the Beauchief or Abbeydale clubs please reply with a private message, with a little bit of info ie. full name, age occupation.

just because im a student journalist and im doing a story on it for my coursework on Beauchief and Greenhill. it wont be published anywhere it will just go into my lecturer to be marked.



Can you post what marking grade you get for this ?

the abbeydale course does have membership, whilst beauchief might be pay as you play, abbeydale isnt completely pay as you play. do you play at beauchief tarquin? what do you think about the pay as you play system?

im not on a wind up though, the story was covered by the BBC and the telegraph late last year. if you want i could email you the attacthed statement from the newsletter (lost the link).

In just trying to put a local angle on the story and see what golf players in beauchief and abbeydale think about the problem affecting golf courses across the country. Especially those at Beauchief, because your opinion on pay as you play would be great.

Journalism student ?

Don't know about journalism student but you obviously dont know much about golf clubs or their membership.

When you talk about older members who do you think has paid their subscriptions all these years to keep places like Abbeydale and other Sheffield Union clubs running?

When you say Abbeydale isnt completely pay as you play you are totally misunderstanding the way something like AGC is funded. Its main source of income every year are the annual subscriptions it's members (of all ages) pay in. I'm not going to post the joining fee or annual subs levels on here but they are not cheap at all.

Your comments or questions about them running the quality of the course down by playing it is ridiculous. With respect the damage done is divots being taken (that are replaced), pitchmarks (that are repaired) and very little else. They or any other class of golfer simply dont affect the quality of a course.

And what is this rubbish about making it hard for members who pay a higher fee. Most often the fees are exactly the same. And what you totally fail to understand is the reason people join golf clubs is so they can play as much or as little as they want. Its precisely for this reason that if you asked the members at Abbeydale if they wanted it to be run as "pay as you play" they'd tell you to take a flying leap.

This is the sort of garbage that turns up in Today's Golfer from time to time. A complete wind up not least because at most clubs the seniors play on days the average working guy ISNT there.

edited

............................

im not on a wind up and i am student. i have already spoken to the manager at Abbeydale about this subject and here is the link to the website. and whilst im less than clued up on the ins and outs of golf club membership, he certainly is and he was willing to talk to me.

I've found the link and since i was last on the website they have put up a new statement about the treatment the story had from the BBC and Telegraph (where i initially saw it), and i will now change my story accordingly.

But if anyone is willing to talk to me about it, let me know. The statement still raises the question about potential rationing on course usage in the future, so what do you think about that?

http://www.golfclubsec.org/

To read the new statement go to 'leeches the true story'.

But im not a troll, and im not trying to wind anyone up. I was just responding to a story in the national press and trying to put a local angle on it, and now that I've read the new statement from the newsletter I will change my angle.