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In our latest installment of “Things Millennials are Killing,” according to the website CityLab, the outlook for country clubs is quite bleak. The number of country clubs has declined to below 4,000, and a 2014 survey has found that membership has dropped 20% since 1990. One of the biggest concerns is that among most clubs, their share of members below the age of 40 is around 10-20%.
The article points to a lot of different factors that are making country clubs less appealing to millennials, such as high cost (several thousand dollar membership fees plus an initiation fee), exclusivity/exclusion (membership is often only done by referral), along with connotations of racial and religious discrimination. All of this paints an image of country clubs as filled with old, stuffy members like the judge in Caddyshack.
I know, first-hand, that this image is true. My parents were members of a country club for most of my childhood, and it was filled with people who were straight out of that stereotypical mold. I’m not going to wholly shit on clubs; some of my fondest memories as a kid were swimming at their pool, learning to play golf and tennis there, and meeting some good friends. There is value to having that sort of community and a lot of nice perks available to you. That said, as a nearly 30-year-old, I can’t imagine anything that seems like a bigger waste of time and money than joining a country club. Unless they make a few changes.
Tone Back the Emphasis on Golf
If there was one reason that my parents stayed members of their club for years, it was the access and use of their golf course. For almost every country club, this is the pinnacle, the crown jewel, the central focus to entice new members for decades. And they need to give up on this tactic.
See, as the article points out, golf membership is down over the past five to ten years, especially among millennials. The reason is fairly obvious: golf is boring to watch, expensive to play, takes up half your day, requires you to get up early to get a decent tee time, is seasonal, and is incredibly frustrating unless you’re willing to sink a lot of hours into it. Golf is the sport that sounds like it would be a lot of fun to play, then you actually play it and realize “holy shit, it’s so fucking hot out here, I’ve lost three balls, it’s been three hours, we’re out of beer, and we still have seven more holes to go.”
This isn’t the 70s, when all people had to do was hang out around a pool, watch TV, golf, or read until they could go to sleep. With the advent of Netflix, the Internet, video games, and porn, there’s not a lot of reason to justify spending six hours of your Saturday golfing. That’s time could be better spent day drinking. And if you (correctly) point out that you can be day drinking while golfing, I would point out that most country clubs frown on its members sneaking a case of Busch Light in their golf bags and getting rip-roaring drunk on the 17th green. That’s why my next suggestion is…
Relax Your Standards
I’m not just talking about your standards for new members, which you most certainly should do (especially since most clubs are not incredibly diverse in terms of culture, race, religion, or socioeconomic status). I mean you need to relax your standards for how people can act and dress at your club. Most places I’ve been, there’s a pretty firm collared shirt/slacks/nice shoes requirement everywhere outside the fitness center. The members behave that way too, with every person at the bar looking like they just came out of the West Wing and everyone eating dinner looking like they’re on the Titanic.
I’m not saying you’re obligated to just let any riff-raff in, but if people are paying thousands of dollars in membership dues, they should be able to lounge at your establishment in jeans and a t-shirt. Make your bar less formal, and let people bring in their friends (or even open it to the public) on certain nights. Same for the restaurant, make it more comfort food and family friendly, and less like a cigar lounge that brings food to keep the fat cats from getting too sloshed on their brandy. Country clubs are meant to have a certain insular feeling, but millennials are generally more inclusive, so they’ll balk at the idea that they should be expecting to have friends through the club exclusive to their other friends. Basically, make your members feel more comfortable about bringing their friends, and make the establishment more accessible to non-members.
Invest in the Gym
Country clubs are already beginning to do this, because golf and tennis are largely seasonal (depending on location) there needs to be some kind of a draw for members during the winter. If your members are paying dues for your club and to work out at another gym, you’re doing something wrong. Get a room for some spin classes every so often, get trainers to do some HIIT workouts, have a weight rack that would make a D-III college football team blush with envy.
On the same token, clubs should have some other services for their members to make their lives easier, like daycare or summer camps, laundry and dry-cleaning services, food and grocery pick-up, and car services. I’m not saying these need to all be included, they can be part of a premium package or added on, but partner with companies like Uber or Postmates to make your members’ lives easier when they’re there. You can, and should, also leverage your members’ knowledge to have them help others with accounting, taxes, or legal advice. You’re attracting the best and the brightest to your club, so use that as a draw to others who need that expertise.
Be More Tech-Friendly
This should go without saying, but if you’re trying to attract the cream of the crop, your club should be a place where people can have calls about business in comfort. To that end, make sure your facility has a kick-ass business center, top-notch internet, and all the amenities a businessman who is hiding out from his wife and boss could possibly want.
Also, adding more entertainment options that have wider appeal than golf can be a real crowd pleaser. Have some Top Golf-type set-ups, maybe some arcade games, or a large theater for movie showings. Again, I stress this, you have to give people a reason to come to your club other than to play golf. Because it gets cold half the year. And golf sucks.
Know Your Identity
Finally, flying in the face of my previous advice, if you are a country club don’t try to fit your identity to suit the new-fangled kids. If you pride yourself on being a stuffy, old-money golf club that doesn’t admit more minorities than is necessary to keep the NAACP off your back, then be that. Don’t think that just opening up a Dave & Buster’s light on the premises will bring in the kids if you have a track record of not being very inclusive. Millennials will see right through it, and you’ll end up pissing off your established members.
The key is that you want to attract more like-minded people to your membership ranks. If that’s people who love to golf, make golf the focus. If it’s more bougie and high class, focus on having a killer bar and restaurant. If it’s about businessmen making connections, again focus on the business center. The above are all merely suggestions, ways to entice the younger potential members. But it’s all for naught if the new members you’re trying to attract won’t get along with your current membership.
Joining a country club is a lot like joining a fraternity; you’re paying for friends and activities. Just like a frat, you’re selling a certain identity that will also bring members life-long friendships. Country clubs’ only concerns should be modernizing, providing more amenities that their membership wants and will use, and making themselves more accessible. If you do that, millennials will come. As long as you stamp out the whole racist, sexist, intolerant, insular stereotype you have going there. It really is like a frat for adults. .
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@joshetyler
@joshetyler
I have zero country club experience but I have to imagine making all these changes would make it more like a fancy YMCA and not a country club
1. Lower the price
Figure it out.
If I’m paying thousands a year to golf at a nice course, I don’t want to be surrounded by a bunch of bozos hacking their way around the course in jeans/t-shirts/athletic shorts. That’s what municipal courses are for.
I’m talking a public course that costs around 65-85 to play prime time. They usually offer a fee of 2.5-3k upfront for unlimited golf and no greens fees. While not out of the realm of possibility, I haven’t seen riff raf out on this type of course.
This article is trash and I wish I had not given it a click. You just made insulting, blanket generalizations about people that enjoy country clubs. People that belong to one all discriminate against race, religion, sex and socioeconomic status? Kindly, fuck off.
Agreed. It’s a country club… By its very nature it isn’t supposed to be inclusive. It’s supposed to be exclusive. Bad take.
But I can also tell you this… If you have the means, they aren’t going to turn you away, regardless of race, gender, or religion…
I stopped reading after “Tone back the emphasis on golf” because that is the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard. What an awful take. Millenials aren’t turned off by country clubs they just can’t afford them yet.
That’s not my opinion, it’s a statement is from the source article, that’s the perception millennials have about country clubs. I wouldn’t say it’s true, but it is a generalization that the clubs must work through if they want to attract younger members.
You literally said you “know, first hand” that the stereotype is true
So what you’re saying is because you don’t like golf every country club should be less focused on golf?
Bad take on so many levels I unfortunately don’t have the time to write a full rebuttal. But truly awful take.
If you take 6 hours to play a round of golf, you’re doing it wrong
I enjoy taking 6 hours on the course. Mind you, only 3-4 of that is actually spent playing the game.
This is trash on so many levels and it doesn’t warrant a response. The only thing I’ll say is golf is an incredibly complex and frustrating yet rewarding challenge. Most people don’t want to put in that effort. It’s exclusive by nature. Don’t shit on the game or the people who enjoy it because you can’t hack it.
Now, who else has is watching the open at work? Kisner looking good at the top of the leaderboard. I think Rory is going to make a strong push tomorrow and be in the final pairing come Sunday.
It could get real crowded at the top and make for a great Sunday. I’m pulling for Rickie, but have a feeling this might be Rory’s big comeback.
I couldn’t agree more with you.
Rickie making a charge for his first major. Don’t forget about ZJ with one of the best wedge games on Tour and he has won one at St Andrews.
How about DJ and JT both about to miss the cut? You would at least think the world 1 & 2 would make it to Sunday. Money is on Spieth this week and hope to see him get fired up and really make a run (even though he hasn’t been too hot this year).
As an ASU grad, I NEED, not want, my boy Perez to stun the world.
There’s a really nice private club up near the city by me that offers a junior membership. Designed for those fresh out of college until like age 30. They said that they realize golf needs people our age to carry on the sport and we can’t always afford it, so by offering a junior membership to successful young people, they hope to win us over and grandfather us in to the full-priced membership later on in life. Pretty good idea that I’m actually considering. It was nice to see them reaching out to the younger folks and this is one of the nicest courses in the area.
Exactly. Cost is by far the #1 issue with attracting younger people to country clubs and yatcht clubs (which face the same economic problems). To attract younger members, most clubs offer golf only or boating only memberships to get younger people in the door. The bread and butter is and will always be old people because they have the cash to blow.
They also have more flexible schedules. I love golf but shelling out a few k to play a few saturdays a month. I’ll pass.
Most clubs offer some sort of Junior/Associate/whatever memberships for people who are under a certain age (usually 30, 35, or 40). Obviously the nicer the club, the more expensive. However, if you ask around you can usually find a decent deal at a respectable club. Especially in the fall seasons they sometimes run deals to replace the members leaving. There’s some caveats, as is the case with everything, but if you have the means and enjoy golf, it’s worth considering.
I’m opening a country club, but its just going to be a bar with a porch and a hot tub. Oh wait I’m describing a house.
A bar with a porch and a hot tub. What kind of membership fees we talking here?
Show up with a sixer and you’re in.
Article is full of bad takes, jeans in a country club? Hell no
Right? What’s wrong with making a little effort? I’d never show up in jeans to our club (nor would I be allowed to, our dress code is not “strict” but we definitely have a no denim rule.)