Independent Golfer Ireland

If you have not been a member for more than three years you are eligible for the scheme.

This is the reality of it, the reaction has far outstripped the application.

Who wants to swap their most convenient course that they can almost play whenever they are available for the chance to travel around the country for weekend opens.

You'd swear these opens were free anyway. I think maybe having a minimum price of €40 for an open wouldn't be a bad idea anyway. Selling green fees for below cost is never a good idea anyway.

If you're looking at 20 rounds (I say 20 because this is maybe the cohort that questions their club membership on a value basis) year at circa €800, what are you really saving anyway? And that's without factoring in travel and associated costs.

I believe very few club members would have any real interest in this once they drill down into the specifics.

As for increasing club membership, I can definitely see it being a conduit to that. Turning the once in a while golfer into the full blow addict!

This would've been great for me 10 years ago and would probably have resulted in me joining a club sooner. As for now, I'd have no interest in going back to being a nomadic golfer.

As in get my old GI number applicable in use under this new scheme. Yes I haven't had a handicap in years...2024, 2023, I think 2022, not like it's a decade ago. Maybe using years is too recent for 2022, but it's also coming up to 3 years

Perspective from a freshly signed up iGolfer.

Was involved in golf all my life - mid 40s now. Had to jack it in four years ago due to young family and being self employed. I'd say the last two or three years of full membership I was almost handing them free money considering the amount I played, 1500 a year.

Didn't play then at all really until this year. The thoughts of the IG scheme got me interested again as it's actually affordable/sustainable. I signed up straight away yesterday and have my old handicap back. I was off 4 when I left so I'll hardly play to it now. This will be the same for many, like me, who re-sign so we won't be troubling anybody in open comps.

In reality, I'll probably play half a dozen open comps a year, go to the local public driving range a bit more, probably buy a club or two, spend a bit on clothes and gear. So that's all money going back into golf that wouldn't have been doing so otherwise. I see all the downsides having been a member/volunteer etc for so long but right now it's a gift for someone like me who can legitimately call themselves a golfer again (kind of).

This is exactly what I'm hoping for out of it

I worked for a professional body for over a decade. We had lots of different members, most of them either studying or maintaining designations with us. But lots (thousands) who just paid their membership each year. For us, there was a huge focus on these guys to figure out how we could serve them - members surveys, talking to individual ones who wanted to give feedback, asking what they'd like from us and lots of internal initiatives too. In our case it wasn't so much that we were worried about losing them. It was more important to us that they were giving us money (a small amount in fairness) and we wanted them to get more from it. Obviously this wasn't a private business!

For those golf clubs who are worried about losing the members who aren't playing much golf - are they doing anything to keep them? I always get the impression that they regard it as simply the golfers fault if they don't play enough golf, but are terrified of losing them.

I don't know what they should be doing other than reducing cost. But they need to address it. Golf Ireland should really be trying to help them come up with initiatives too. I wonder would some complimentary coaching encourage people to get out more. Could you get the club pro to do some group sessions, if people just have to come to the club / driving range for an hour or so it would be easier to get to than a round of golf. And everyone loves the idea of getting better. And if you think you're getting better that would certainly encourage you to get out and play more.

I just think the clubs need to do more for those golfers not playing much if they want to keep them.

it was until Trump came along.

Signing up to a system being conflated with writing a better score on a card is a bit harsh. Being blocked out of a system that is applying a retrospective deferral period is a bit harsh.l if they want to entice people to the game. It's not like anywhere will be missing out on a potential member if someone who bailed on membership long before this was announced can't sign up now

Just another perspective here.

Took back up golf last year having not played since my teens. Playing green fees and want to get a handicap but have house/wedding on the horizon and can't justify paying a full membership anywhere near where I live. Local course is council owned and there's a long waiting list for membership, and I don't mind driving to play different tracks.

I don't see value in a 'season ticket' and all the nearby courses have hello money which I can't bear to think about. This way I can get my iGolf membership and finally get the handicap I should have gotten as a junior, get the season ticket and submit my cards and then go on the waiting list. Play some open comps, get to know some clubs, and then once the time is right go for a club.

I'm interested in playing interclubs in the future and would definitely benefit from a full membership somewhere, but at the moment I just want to get the handicap to see where I'm at, play a few different open comps, and get comfortable with the whole setup without paying a grand plus a year.

Would I have got a distance membership, maybe? Most likely I'd have talked about it though and sacked it off because I couldn't get all the extra benefits of actually being part of a club, this way I'll have a handicap going into a club closer to home when I do eventually join, and I'll probably be in a better position to get more involved in the club straightaway.

I can completely understand people's concerns but I do think there's a lot of people that will use this as a bridge to gain confidence and then take that step into joining a proper club, and with a handicap actually have something to focus on improving their game.

You're not paying big dosh though "to keep a course open for someone to be able to get a handicap and play Opens for small change?". You're paying big dosh for your own benefit. Your Sunday competitions. The social outlet that being a club member brings. The Captain's and President's prizes. The interclub competitions. You get all that, plus the opportunity to walk onto your home course pretty much whenever you please, and all for the cost of the yearly sub. You're not paying a sub to keep a course open for the likes of me.

Effectively it gives casual golfers a cheap way to play Opens and win prizes.Why should club members subsidise that and pay for the privilege?

I couldn't give a fiddlers about the prize in an open comp. What's it gonna be worth? 40 or 50 euro. This scheme isn't about competing for prizes. It's a way for the likes of me to get back into the game. I'll likely only be able to play 7-10 times a year anyway. But I'll have a card in my hand and something to play for. It's a way to meet up again with old friends from golf and not have to go to pub etc.

When time comes in a few years, probably 10-12, and kids are grown up and time is freed up for me, I'll be straight back into a club. This scheme wouldn't interest me then. But until then, I get a handicap again, can play opens and compete, and get back into the game I had played for 25 years.

Well said. I really dont get this idea about where golfers will use iGolf to win Open prizes, sure there will always be a few bandits but the majority who sign up to this want to get back playing 5-10 time a year, with a handicap, with friends at a more reasonable cost than shelling out for a full years membership to do the same thing.

I wouldn't be against that. As previously stated, I couldn't care less about winning a prize or not. I won't be paying more though than the guy standing on the tee beside me in the same 3 ball in the same competition. That research will have to be done for clubs local to me (Mayo/Galway region) before I sign up for this. If that's what clubs want to do then off with them. They'll get my 2x20 euro a year rather than potentially 10x20 euro a year + the teas/coffee/dinner likely to be had after a round. The industry as a whole would also suffer with petty minded surcharges as have been discussed earlier in this thread.

I'm in the same region and have seen comments (on the Golf Ireland Facebook page) from members high up in our club, some very high up, saying that prices should be jacked up for iGolf members. I think that is a ridiculous attitude myself. And the irony of them being mad about Golf Ireland "railroading" this in, while they as members of our club's committee etc are expressing opinions without consulting members on the topic isn't lost on me. I know they are personal opinions but these people are well know as high standing members of our club and as such, their views could easily be taken for the clubs view.

However, that said. While I wouldn't mind if iGolf members were offered the same open rates as members of other clubs, I can see an argument that an iGolfer may be asked to pay somewhere between an open rate and a full green fee. I don't think this would be unreasonable. iGolfers won't be contributing (via a club membership) to the upkeep of any course, membership being the main means of upkeeping courses, so I don't think it's unreasonable for a iGolfer to be charged a small premium.

As I said, I wouldn't go down the route as don't think it would be worth the hassle, but I can see a valid argument for it, within reason. I don't think it's unreasonable for members of a club to feel a little bit aggrieved that iGolfers are getting the same rate as those paying members of a club.

To go off topic slightly, if this was done, the same premium should be applied to members of clubs that don't host opens.