Agenda item

Usage Statistics

The General Manager, Jonathan Kaltner, informed the Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) of the usage statistics for the 2022/2023 period to the committee.  It was noted that the usage had decreased compared to the previous year, particularly in the first quarter, which had been impacted by adverse weather conditions.

Overall, the committee acknowledged that the numbers were tracking well, and displayed a healthy level of golf participation and utilisation of the golf club.  Councillor Grimston inquired about communicating this information to the residents of Watford.  Jonathan Kaltner responded that the golf club had intensified its social media content over the past six months.  He highlighted that the content focused on creating awareness and exposure, particularly in regard the junior academy, ladies' section, and adult academy—areas of pride for the golf club.

Councillor Grimston questioned the click rates further, prompting Sandra Turner to explain that a dedicated team member managed social media.  They ensured a diverse range of topics and areas were covered in the content, meticulously organised with a spreadsheet.

There was a discussion about the current programmes at the golf club.  This included local children from Chessbrook who had received lessons from Charlie Gough.  A former member's widow, who was passionate about making golf accessible, had helped to fund the initiative.  Jonathan Kaltner elaborated that the sessions had commenced this term, financially supported by the charity while the club provided the facilities.  He emphasised reaching out to local schools and offering the golf club's meeting facilities free of charge to increase awareness.

Councillor Grimston proposed tagging the council in social media posts for better promotion, which the committee supported.  The discussion then turned to the list of schools contacted.  Regrettably, there had been limited interest from schools thus far.  The Sports and Physical Activity Manager offered her assistance, expressing connections with local schools and sports programmes.  She proposed to facilitate outreach efforts on behalf of the golf club to enhance engagement within the community.

Councillor Hofman asked about the revised targets and how this came about. Jonathan Kaltner explained that the targets were revised in 2019 by the JCC Committee. As a general trend, golf participation had declined since the late '90s and early 2000s. Therefore, the targets were revised by JCC in 2019. On the whole, they managed to meet the revised targets. Councillor Hofman suggested increasing the targets to be an aspiration. They could be revised in 12 months. He mentioned that people had been emailing the Mayor about using the golf course and suggested an increase of 25%. A discussion ensued within the committee regarding what percentage the new targets should encompass, taking into consideration the club's capacity to accommodate such an increase. Councillor Grimston commented that the upcoming year might pose difficulties due to the cost of living struggles many individuals faced. There was further discussion about the challenges of securing a tee time, especially during peak busy times, for both Watford residents and club members, with Fridays being exceptionally high in demand. Jonathan Kaltner also highlighted that weather conditions significantly affected the demand for tee times, and cited examples from July 23 and July 22.  After careful consideration, the committee reached a consensus to set a 20% increase in the target, taking into account the various factors discussed during the meeting.

Councillor Hofman inquired about the number of people with an Everyone Active pass and whether there were statistics for course usage, particularly in terms of whether they attended as a group or with a club member. Jonathan Kaltner explained that they did not possess specific data on this aspect. Since a guest green fee and an Everyone Active pass cost the same, people would book when accompanying a friend, making it difficult to segregate the usage based on these parameters.

The Sports and Physical Activity Manager then asked about the new booking system. Jonathan Kaltner clarified that they were still utilising Intelligent Golf. However, he noted a limitation with this system—it did not support the capability to register if someone was a Watford resident. Golf clubs widely used Intelligent Golf, but Watford's unique situation with few clubs having a similar setup led to a lack of demand for a software feature distinguishing residents for special rates. Consequently, Intelligent Golf was unwilling to implement this additional feature.

Additionally, pre-registering people as Watford residents was not feasible. Therefore, residents still needed to book through the pro shop and provide ID.

Councillor Grimston enquired if the software was from a local company. Jonathan clarified that it was not from a local company but rather a market leader which offered various options for handicaps that a bespoke system would not provide.