Reciprocals 2.0

Ask a perspective member behind closed doors about one of the knocks against joining a Private Club, outside of monthly dues + steep initiation fees and they will probably cite, ‘having to play the same course again and again’.

It is a valid concern, especially if they have a good selection of upscale public options already available, but in reality, it should be a non-issue.  The problem is, few clubs have formal reciprocal agreements in place as an option for this often heard objection, and fewer actually use them to their benefit (as a selling point).

Forty and fifty years ago, Clubs and Club Professionals were honored when an out-of-town member of another Private club chose to visit their club for the day.  In certain pockets of the Northeast United States it is still the case, with many clubs charging cart/caddy fee (only) or fully comping the guest(s) round as a courtesy to the members Golf Professional.

For the most part, that courtesy is dead today. 

“C’mon, our members know if they are out of town and want to play another Private Club…all they have to do is speak with our Head Professional and he can, in most cases, arrange it”.

I won’t deny that many members (probably) know this, but why then do the aforementioned businesses even exist?

1. Communication – fewer and fewer Clubs are engaging one another like in years past.  Part of the reason is, there are more clubs in existence, but many don’t see the value in driving three hours away with a few key staff members to share best practices with clubs that are outside of their market, yet could be a strategic partner.
2. Ease/Convenience – some members feel like they are asking for a special favor by requesting a tee time out of town and don’t want to feel like they owe their Pro.  One call or email to third-party, for some, feels better and is often faster than ‘putting’ their Pro out.
3. Open pricing – once you become a member of one of the third party groups, you receive a complete list of courses, by state and by city, each with corresponding fees.  Open pricing means members don’t have a chance of being embarrassed because a reciprocating course came back with a higher-than-the-member-was-willing-to-pay-fee.

Elite Tee, one of the more popular third party web-based reciprocal businesses, piled on with this email just this morning, “If you belong to a private course, chances are you already have reciprocal deals with local courses, but they are often informal agreements which must be pursued by getting one course pro to contact another. After consulting with many Head Pros the common consensus is that they feel that they are spending more and more time arranging rounds for their members and it takes them away from their primary responsibility as a Head Pro. This arrangement usually results in confusion over how much should be charged and a feeling from visiting golfers that they are somewhat of an inconvenience”.

If this doesn’t insult your Head Golf Professional and his staff, than maybe Elite Tee has a point?  A five-minute call is a hassle?  If this is true, than our industry is in worse shape than I ever thought.  I can only guess how “inconvenient” ordering shirts or wedges must be?

Obviously, there is a market and more importantly, a benefit to Private Club members being able to play an occasional round away from their home club.

One club that gets it, is Stafford Country Club, in Stafford, NY.  The club sits on a classic, Walter J. Travis design and reciprocates with twenty-four clubs within the area.

I recently spoke to Julie Haile, Golf Shop Manager at Stafford CC about the details of their reciprocal program.  The club is a model for how to administer and view reciprocal agreements in their proper light.

Mrs. Haile said, “We view reciprocals as an extension of our own club, as do the other clubs in the area.  We aren’t trying to make money on our agreements as much as give our members a place to play, on the off-chance they don’t want to play their home club on a particular day or for instance, when we have a tournament going on.  With that said, we have all agreed to extend this privilege for cart fee only.  Members are already paying enough in dues, and if we have the space in off-peak times, we are happy to have guests much the same as other clubs are happy to have our members.  We see it as a win-win for everyone within our Private Club community”. 

I asked Mrs. Haile about how the membership would feel if they took the program away and she quickly said, “I think we would hear about it!  We did around 500 reciprocal rounds at our club last year and sent out close to 800 rounds to our sister clubs.  Members can play a maximum of (3) rounds per year at neighboring clubs with our closest club being forty-five minutes away and our furthest is probably three hours out”.

Mrs. Haile went on to say, “the neatest thing is when a guest comes to one of our stag nights or plays in one of our daily events.  Even though they aren’t our member, we try and make them feel like they are, and treat them as such.  You would be surprised to hear some of the ideas we get from guests and vice-versa”.

I intentionally spoke with multiple clubs that didn’t have a formal reciprocal program in place.  When I was able to reach the Head Pro, the conversation was usually abrupt and dismissive with concerns such as:

• “…too difficult to administer”.
• “We don’t think enough people would use them”.
• “We don’t want just anyone playing our club”.

When I spoke to the Assistants instead, who all asked to remain anonymous, the conversation was quite different with many agreeing it would be a great way to keep members and add value to their overall membership.

Getting started is exceedingly easy and with cold weather upon us, now is the best time to move forward:

1. Draw a 180 mile circle around your club and determine like clubs for each city.  If you are a full service Country Club and still have an initiation fee, for example, seek out sister clubs (who you probably already know well from PGA chapter meetings) and introduce the idea.  Two clubs per city or area would be ideal.
2. Determine a fair price for the member.  Is this a service for your membership or a way to build a fitness center by years end?  By in large, the more you ask in fees, the less likely many members will utilize the service.
3. Set a fair number of times visiting clubs can utilize the service.  Some limit reciprocals to (4) rounds per year, others allow (1) round per month.
4. Agree on when members can utilize the service, for example, on holidays or weekends, or after certain times in the afternoon.  Standardization is best when setting agreements up with multiple clubs.
5. Determine how the member will pay for the service.  Some allow charge-back privileges while others believe having the member use their credit card is simpler for everyone.
6. …And most importantly, advertise the program to your membership!  If they don’t know about it, they won’t use it.  And with regard to perspective members; utilize the service as a sales tool.  This could be the one benefit that tips the scales in your favor.

Many clubs that adopt a formal reciprocal program report higher member satisfaction than those who do not.  Could this be a great opportunity to promote cross-town interclub and/or Ryder Cup type matches?  What about “cross-over” weekends where a couple of times per year each club actively promotes playing a sister club? What if your next great idea came out of a member visit to a reciprocating club?  All good reasons to get started now!