Private Club Membership Base: Are they generally serial complainers ...

[caniac6]

I am a member of a private club. The service in the restaurant can be a bit inconsistent, but the wait staff is so nice, we just laugh it off. I hear very few complaints beyond the greens are too slow, or the greens are too fast. Just the usual stuff all golfers talk about, depending on what kind of day they are having. Our course has come a long way in the last 10 years, and there are plans for further improvements, so the members are very positive.

[UncleJohn’sBand]

1 hour ago, caniac6 said:

I am a member of a private club. The service in the restaurant can be a bit inconsistent, but the wait staff is so nice, we just laugh it off. I hear very few complaints beyond the greens are too slow, or the greens are too fast. Just the usual stuff all golfers talk about, depending on what kind of day they are having. Our course has come a long way in the last 10 years, and there are plans for further improvements, so the members are very positive.

 

We have a similar situation up in Martinsville. We just went through a Bermuda transition, and the complaints quickly went from the greens are too slow, to they are too fast and too firm. 

 

To add to that, we got a new super this year and he has made the course truly special. And the better he makes it (faster greens, tighter fairways) the angrier the older, worse golfers get. The love the idea of having a hard golf course, but hate playing it. 

[pingfool]

When someone starts whining ask: compared to what alternative?

and then ask if the alternative is accepting new members.

 

clubs with mostly contented members typically have a strong board of directors that acts as a sounding board and communicators of policy etc

 

pro shop is in the line of fire and needs to understand their role in member services. Not easy. Always going to have chronic whiners 

[jvincent]

1 hour ago, pingfool said:

When someone starts whining ask: compared to what alternative?

and then ask if the alternative is accepting new members.

 

 

I have the same discussion except instead of more members I ask if they are willing to raise dues by 25%.

[mallrat]

Maybe a different perspective but from a greenskeeper/Asst Super, the complainers I have encountered are generally the vocal minority. The majority of members I’ve encountered are nice and complimentary. There is a huge difference between complainers and those trying to improve/inform. One of my courses was 36 with 18 public and 18 private. We had to post the stimps every day and if the public side wasn’t faster there were 3 or 4 that would raise a stink. 🤷‍♂️
 

Most I’ve encountered just want to make their club the best it can be. The complainers just want to cause issues and you can tell right off the bat. Best compliment I’ve ever had was 3 different times over the last year (we are public course that does a LOT of tourneys/scrambles) members of different clubs went into the pro shop and asked why our course was in better shape than theirs.