Why Is The Visitor Experience Often Confusingly Bad At Golf Clubs?

It’s not hard to pinpoint your mind to something that’s really niggled you when playing a new course.

Mine would be around 15 years ago when, having paid £75 for the privilege of playing somewhere new on a Tuesday evening when there probably wouldn’t have been enough light to get round, I was then told my black ankle socks needed to be white.

So I then handed over another £5 for a pair of socks that I would wear for the next four hours and never again.

We didn’t see any other golfers in our time there, the assistant pro couldn’t have been more embarrassed to stick his head beneath the counter to produce the socks – something he obviously had to do several times a day – and my nose was put out of joint by something that was utterly ridiculous.

You’d like to think these types of experience happen less and less these days. Dress codes are certainly becoming more relaxed and the visitor experience has never been more key for golf clubs. But it can still be hit and miss and, given some clubs’ green fees are beyond a lot of us, we’re all looking for value.

When I arrive at a new club, I’d like to see some signs that tell me where things stand. I’m 55 years of age I don’t want to feel like I’m treading on egg shells when I’ve paid a decent amount of money to play 18 holes of golf. I already pay for a club membership and so visiting a golf club is a bit of a treat – it’s maybe something I’ll do 10 times a year.

In a perfect world, the club will have sent me some information – holes to look out for, a bit of history, whether I can eat before playing, is there a practice ground and so on. This happens at some club, but often I’ve had to scroll through a website beforehand that isn’t overly user-friendly.

The ideal would be a visitors’ guide on all you need to know when visiting X golf club, which could be displayed on the website or distributed via email or text. The likelihood is many of us will play a course just the once and for some clubs it’s a case of take the money, show them half a good time and see you later.

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