Club/range member question. Please answer poll!

[Valleygolfer]

The club I am a member of has a great practice facility but the hitting area of the range has no bag holding stands. This gets a little irritating when you have a stand bag that tips over at times. Being a range member here gives you the use of the cart down to the range area which is roughly 400 yards away from the proshop and you are not supposed to park near the range hitting area. The hitting area can be about 50 yards away from where you park due to rotating grass hitting spots. This gets old when you leave your bag on the cart and want access to different items and clubs in your bag.

I have shopped stands from range suppliers and the one I think would be nice for our club is priced at $95.00 and the image is below.

I know our club is struggling financially for anything extra so I am thinking that  I will present this to our board and offer to spearhead a donation campaign to get ten of these. I wish I could just buy them all and donate but I can't. I may make it clear that I will give a larger amount just to stimulate others to make the goal.

I know there are are a lot of "no" answers in the poll but I want to get a feeling on what I might be against.

[Groucho Valentine]

I dont think this is your issue. You've paid your dues already. If there are things not being provided for members maybe you guys should start by installing new leadership. I don't know how i works at your club, but at my old one, equity members had the power to replace staff by majority vote. 

[David in FL]

Honestly, I can't think of anything less important to me.  I'd continue to do without.

[Tee2Trees]

I don't like the bag stands at the range.  For me they get in the way and using them offers no additional stability over the bag itself. 

If you watch the PGA guys warm up on the range before an event they never have the stands out and many of them just lay their golf bag on the ground the same way it has been done for the 200 years before stand bags.

[DaveP043]

17 minutes ago, Valleygolfer said:

I know our club is struggling financially for anything extra so I am thinking that  I will present this to our board and offer to spearhead a donation campaign to get ten of these. I wish I could just buy them all and donate but I can't. I may make it clear that I will give a larger amount just to stimulate others to make the goal.

For me, this is a non-issue, so I probably wouldn't contribute.  On the other hand, I really respect your desire to make your club a better place for golf, and your willingness to help make that happen.   Very few members realize the costs involved in running a club, and many expect every little improvement they can imagine to me made, with no additional cost to themselves.  I often hear "They should.....", without regard to the cost, or to the financial condition of the club.  I'll be interested to hear how things go for you, whether your range-mates will be willing to pay a few bucks extra improve their situation.  

[WUTiger]

That's one reason both my wife and I use stand bags.

Also, I'm less likely to load up stand bag with excess junk - there's only so much room.

[Valleygolfer]

26 minutes ago, Groucho Valentine said:

I dont think this is your issue. You've paid your dues already. If there are things not being provided for members maybe you guys should start by installing new leadership. I don't know how i works at your club, but at my old one, equity members had the power to replace staff by majority vote. 

The board is slowly changing and moving to a better place now. We do not have a lot of money here in younger generation's hands.

22 minutes ago, David in FL said:

Honestly, I can't think of anything less important to me.  I'd continue to do without.

 

12 minutes ago, Tee2Trees said:

I don't like the bag stands at the range.  For me they get in the way and using them offers no additional stability over the bag itself. 

If you watch the PGA guys warm up on the range before an event they never have the stands out and many of them just lay their golf bag on the ground the same way it has been done for the 200 years before stand bags.

When I had my walking cart at the range I appreciated the ability to access it easily. If the stand is in your way, you would not have to use it I guess. I think I would use it.

2 minutes ago, WUTiger said:

That's one reason both my wife and I use stand bags.

Also, I'm less likely to load up stand bag with excess junk - there's only so much room.

I don't really carry excess junk, but it is handy to have some of this junk some days. Secondly, the walking cart is designed for cart bags and is much more stable in it imho.

[SavvySwede]

I don't like the range stands. They just get in the way of things. I've seen plenty of top notch clubs that don't use them either so I doubt there is any real added value to entice new members.

[billchao]

I'd just lay my bag on the ground.

[krupa]

I voted "no, I would make do without one" but I wouldn't really care if someone asked me to donate.  Can the club, or you, or another member offer something  (product, service) that could be used as a raffle prize? 

[Patch]

It's a no big deal type of thing for. My bag is usually on my trolley when I am at the practice area. 

[Aflighter]

I got a staff bag that stands on its own if ground is fairly level.Unless you got a cart bag and its windy then you shouldnt need a stand.

[Valleygolfer]

Looking like I shouldn't waste my time... Maybe I will just buy one for myself and if there's interest in mine, I will persue it more with the club.

[Club Rat]

@Valleygolfer there are other bag stands/club holders which are less expensive. Our club just purchased the ones like you pictured and they look ok, but not very functional.

One issue is birds love them and crap all over the top shelf. Blah they look sick when they do-do.

[No Mulligans]

When someone can donate to something like say... children's cancer research... no bag stand contributions.

Perhaps they should raise the dues by $5 a month or something.  I wouldn't have a problem with that as all members would be contributing, just say no to free loaders.

[JxQx]

Personally I went with no, but I would see how big the demand there is for them at the club. A majority of the members of the club I joined last year were walkers so they already had stand bags or push carts so the need wasn't there, also the cart path was close to the practice tee so it was a short walk to change clubs if you rode.

[Gator Hazard]

1 hour ago, Valleygolfer said:

Looking like I shouldn't waste my time... Maybe I will just buy one for myself and if there's interest in mine, I will persue it more with the club.

Maybe an alternative approach is to ask a sample size of the members at the club what their opinion is on the matter as they are the ones using the facilities and construct a course of action based on that. If you then found a better than average desire to have them perhaps a tournament or two could be set up with the bulk of the proceeds going towards the purchase of them and some prizes for participants. Could include a bag lunch and drink ticket with each entry. There are always ways to entice people into donating without it seeming purely like a donation. Good luck!

[newtogolf]

Seems like a 1st world problem and lot of effort to fix what appears to be an issue limited to those who use cart bags that don't stand on their own.

I'd suggest rather than a fund raising campaign you just lay your bag or the clubs you want to hit on the ground.   If you feel really strongly against laying your bag on the ground take the money you'd donate and buy yourself a stand bag.