Having only recently come out of lockdown, most businesses can look to rebuild on the finances they lost during that time, but with winter arriving, golf clubs have another hurdle to overcome.
With cold, dark mornings and early nights, the appeal for many to play during the winter season is not the same of that during the summer season. This poses a threat to many clubs that may not have the right plans in place to get through.
Robert Holland, General manager of Worsley Golf Club, spoke on how the club managed throughout the winter, and the subsequent struggles they face.
He said: “It probably amounts to about 20/25 (days) where it’s actually physically closed.
“When it’s completely closed it makes a big difference, we have to send people home so they’re not being paid”.
Holland added that the club has recently spent £200,000 on the interior of the clubhouse, with this being the first winter since, and they are looking to see the positive impact especially in the winter months.
Due to the serious lack of revenue made through golf within the winter, Holland described the clubs plans to combat this and make money in alternative ways.
He said: “We try and balance the books. We have a lot less staff in the winter, probably one third of the staff are here in the winter. It’s usually just me and a dozen others.
“We’re trying to expand our offerings by doing Sunday lunches and things like that. We try and increase the trade indoors as opposed to outdoors in the summer”.
However it seems that after winter the club will be right back on track again, Holland described that “in terms of membership we have a waiting list for the first time in probably 20 years”.
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