What is your favorite non-golf thing about your club?

[jowlar]

My club is trying to increase participation by non golfers so I thought that I would ask what other clubs do for the non golfer. We have a pool that gets quite a bit of use during summer months but the swimming portion of our membership gets little for their money during the winter. We have some family game nights (bingo, etc), men's steak night, women's steak night, and a few dances or socials but little else.

Here are my questions:

What activities does your club have for kids? women? teenagers?

Does your club have in special non golf events that have been a hit?

What, if anything, draws non golfers to your club? (tennis was a bust and the old court is now a cart shed)

Thanks for your input.

[colin007]

whats a club?

im not rich...

[msd3075]

The club I'm a member at, Champions Golf Club in Houston, is centered around golf and only golf. If you call it Champions "Country" Club, you'll immediately be corrected that it's a "golf" club instead. The story goes that the only reason there is a swimming pool is becasue when it was built back in the 50's it couldn't meet the fire code without having it.

[David in FL]

Great food in the dining room.

In-house beauty spa is a big attraction for the ladies.

Over-the-top attentive service throughout the club.

[bcp]

For me it is the 19th hole/ Men's Grill.

The wife likes the fine dining.

Our club also has a fantastic kids program with a ton of stuff for kids starting at about age 3.

[Dub]

My home course is a exactly that....a golf Course not a Club. There is no pool, tennis and very little else save the golf. Here's what they offer:

• Excellent conditioned course: awesome rolling greens....usually some of the fastest and smoothest in the area.
• Constant work being done to beautify the course...I'm not kidding. They are hard at work on the course all day every day. The groundsmen are considerate and don't interfere with your game....just politely humping it to improve the course.
• Consistent green quality amoung all three nines.....never have a "under repair" nine. All are good all the time.
• Hosting reputable tourneys. We've had / continute to have Regions Cup and hosting a Hooters Tour event this year.
• Outstanding food at the grill. This gets a lot of use at lunch from both golfers and non-golfers.
• Excellent quality cold drinking water every two to three holes.
• Benches on the course at many tee boxes. Gives the many walkers a place to rest up while they wait minuted or two.
• Outstanding customer service....the staff are all super friendly and get to know you swiftly. You truly feel welcomed there. I can't stress this point enough. They are super folks....best I've ever encountered at any of the four clubs I've been a member of.
• Excellent practice facility: putting green that rolls true with the greens on the course, separate chipping green that also rolls true, sand bunker for practice, well marked range that you can quielty get in the groove.
• The nineth hole on all three nines comes in at the clubhouse. You can watch groups coming in while seated at the grill or on the patio. Cool way to wind down with a cold brew after a round.
• Polite starters that keep things moving on the course....politely but maintain the pace on the course....very much appreciated....If you play in five hours you are gonna be asked to let groups through...politely but persistenly.
• GPS system in the carts....very cool....yardages are dead nuts on. I find this really helpful for more than just green yardages...you can see how far other carts are from you, seeing if it's truly safe to hit, hazard yardadges, etc. You can also communicate with the pro-shop and grill from your cart....example, I recently had a cart with a low battery...started off fine but simply fizzled out at the first green. I pressed the appropriate button on the GPS system screen and then went to putt out with the group. Before I could finish putting they showed up with a new cart and transfrerred my sticks and gear over.....seamless.
• Ultra-clean facilities. This goes from the course throughout the grounds. Everything is in it's place and all gear is clean. The restrooms, showers, lockers, etc are all spotless.
• There are very well maintained on course restrooms every few holes. This is much appreciated by the ladies groups that play there.
• There are sand bottles on each cart with racks midway through each nine that hold replacement sand bottles for your divots. Many tee boxes have sand trunks and shovels for divot repair also.
• Player diversity. I've never played anywhere with a wider range of player backgrounds and cultures. You can always get a game with a group...never been "snubbed' out of a foursome. Just show up and play.
• Staff plays the course, too. It's great knowing that they fully appreciated the high quality environment they've created. This is important to me. They understand what's going well and what needs attention first hand....from some actual bag time on the course. No substitute for this.
• Well stocked clubhouse with very fair prices. You know that you are getting the latest clubs at a great price....no dusty & full priced clunkers here.
• Good supply of rental clubs....important because I've had out of town guests who wanted to tee it up but didn't have their sticks with them and couldn't play out of my bag due to my custom length gear.
• Peaceful environment....no residential areas bordering the course....just woods and being that it's on a military base you'll hear and see planes and helicopters occasionaly on manuever. I rather like their slogan, "Pardon our noise, it's the sound of Freedom"
• Large covered gazebo near the practice greens. Great place to cool off and get some shade while you wait on your group to show up or simply chill out and read a book while waiting on your tee time.

I know there is something I'm leaving off but the big items are super nice staff and friendly members all enjoying a perfectly conditioned facility.

The only area I haven't persued is the lesson quality. I haven't taken a lesson here yet.....yet. Getting this knee back on track and then I'll work up to some short game work and then over a couple of weeks transition to the full swing.

[GaijinGolfer]

Smokin' hot beer cart girls and female bartenders. Thats a non-golf thing that will draw any man to the course.

[meenman]

At my club its definitely the food. We have a pool, tennis, a gym and monthly tournaments.

One night a month there is free food with a cash bar and it is usually pretty packed.