Perceptions

Before attending the Taster Sessions a lot of the group had strong perceptions not only on what golf was like as a sport but also what the golf environment was like. Below outlines some of the perceptions that regularly came out in the discussions:

• That it would be really boring
• That it would take up all of our time
• That is would be too difficult
• That the people would be really "stuck up"
• That "they would not be able to have a laugh"
• That it would be really expensive

"I had wanted to take up golf for many years, I loved watching it on TV and it was something I thought I would enjoy. I got to the gates of Royal Tara GC 10 times, each time I turned away as I felt too scared to go any further. I thought you needed to be upper class and be a someone in the community to be welcomed.....how wrong I was."

Get into Golf Programme

The Get into Golf Programme is an 8 week programme made up of lessons with a qualifed PGA Professional and on course activities with Club members with a follow on introductory membership offer.

In Royal Tara Golf Club, the first 4 weeks were delivered by PGA Professional Johnny and his assistants Cian and Pat. They covered chipping, putting, iron play and driving over the course of the four weeks and split the groups up so there was no more than 12 participants in any one group. They kept the lessons fun, interactive and with maximum participation at the forefront.

"The weeks that we had with Johnny and his team were a great way to ease us into golf. They were fun,energetic and instilled a lot of confidence into us, which meant moving onto the golf course was not as intimidating."

The remaining 4 weeks of the programme seen the participants move onto the golf course. Each group of 3 was accompanied by a member of the club and they played 3 holes in a scramble format. The club had over 20 volunteers helping out on the final night to cater for the large numbers.

"The feeling of excitement I had going onto the course for the first time was unbelievable. I had butterflies in my stomach and I just wanted to put into practice what we learned in the lessons. I felt such a great sense of achievement after the first session on the course. The members were so encouraging and because we played as a team and we were all at the same level, it was relaxed and enjoyable. I left wanting more and I was down at the range the next day practicing for the following week. I just loved it."

Socialising was a huge part of the programme, after each session the group were invited up to the clubhouse for tea and coffee, where members were around to make them feel welcome and part of the club. As seen in other clubs, this was big hit with the participants.

"I loved being able to come up after the sessions, it made me feel like I was part of something special and not just a number to them. There is no comparison attending a yoga class and a golf one. With this programme, you felt welcomed, you felt like part of the club even though we were not members, we felt like we were."

Changed Perceptions

The Get into Golf Programme was not only designed to support Golf Clubs in recruiting new members but also to break down a number of the perceptions surrounding golf and make golf more accessible to a wider audience. Royal Tara certainly did a great job in breaking down a number of the original perceptions as the common feelings on the final night were:

• Golf is so much fun
• Golf Clubs are very relaxed and welcoming
• The programme and membership offer is great value for money
• The members and staff were amazing
• We cannot wait to get started as a member!

"I really was not expecting to enjoy this programme, in fact I was sure I was going to be in the minority - I was young and just a regular person with no golfing background. I ended up making a load of new friends and having the best 8 weeks. I cannot wait to join up as a member and I cannot praise the members and Johnny enough for all their hard work."

What makes a successful programme?

Success in anything does not just happen over night and Get into Golf is no different. Unfortunately there are no magic wands, there are no quick fixes to bring new people into the game but support is available for those who are willing to commit to elements of change and hard work.

For Golf Clubs to become fully sustainable a great deal of work needs to happen. In CGI we use the hashtag #growingthegametogether because we believe success comes from all of the club coming together to make golf sustainable.

Royal Tara Golf Club worked together as a club which is why they had over 50 people queuing to join their introductory membership scheme this year. We caught up with Michael Killeen who was one of the key drivers of the programme in Royal Tara and he outlined what he believed to be the key elements to success for their club.

Sub Committee

The first things the club did was form a sub committee for Get into Golf. This committee was made up of members of the:

• Marketing committee
• Social committee
• Men's and Ladies committee

This committee worked hard with the support of the head PGA Professional Johnny Byrne along with both sets of captains and vice captains. The club were not really sure what to expect on the evening of the Taster Session and whilst the numbers filled the club with excitement it also meant a huge amount of background work needed to take place in order to ensure the logisitics of getting people into groups for lessons and the on course activities worked smoothly.

Michael outlined that members of the committee would meet up regularly to ensure nothing was left to chance and the programme would be delivered to the highest standard.

"We had a very strong co-ordinator in our Lady Captain Collette, she really gelled the whole thing together and the sub committee acted as a huge support to her so she did not feel alone. Johnny and his team were fully committed throughout the programme and even when the lessons were over they still took an interest in the participants and the programme. So many members have noted that they would love to have had something like this when they started, most of us just went out on the course and learned as we went, whilst that did work for many of us, I believe there will be less people dropping out in the earlier years if the correct structures are in place for people."

CGI on Royal Tara

"Royal Tara have reaped the rewards of months of hard work and preparation. To witness a clubhouse full at 10pm on a Wednesday night was incredible. The buzz from the participants, volunteers and PGA Professionals was infectious. We spent alot of time generating feedback from all of those involved so we can replicate this level of success across the country.

Our work in CGI is to support Golf Clubs in running programmes like this, we offer advice, we offer resources but without the entire club working together the programme cannot happen. Currently there are 89 Get into Golf programmes being delivered with 2,976 participants, Royal Tara Golf Club are certainly one of the leaders in how to deliver a succesful programme and we look forward to working with them in the coming months on a plan for retaining their new members.

Well done to all of those involved in particular to committee member Michael, Lady Captain Collette and PGA Professional Johnny who headed up a great team of volunteers and made Royal Tara a place where perceptions were turned on there head and where people could not wait to sign up to membership. - Anne McCormack