What is inevitable at the start of a New Year? That’s right, a good old-fashioned lookahead. In an episode of The NCG Golf Podcast, co-hosts Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll channelled their inner Mystic Meg to predict what might happen in your golf clubs over the next 12 months.
Are we on the verge of a membership crisis? Will 2026 spell the end of cash payments? What lies ahead for the golf professional? Let’s see what they thought…
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Could these five things happen at your golf club in 2026?
Are we heading for a membership crisis?
This will be the year cost-of-living really hits golf. Finances are still being squeezed and everyone feels they’re footing a list of ever-increasing bills.
Golf is an expensive hobby and asking people to fork out a big lump of cash, often in one go, is definitely a test of someone’s cash flow. Will it be easier this year to say, ‘I don’t think so?’
Membership subscriptions are getting more expensive as it costs more to run golf clubs and it’s also becoming easier to connect with the game in more transient ways – such as through iGolf or simulators.
We’ve enjoyed a period of massive growth since Covid but membership is now under pressure. We may see it reduce in 2026.
Golf clubs will use more dynamic pricing for tee times
We’re used to flat day rates and a twilight discount as visitors – even at the biggest of golf clubs. But there are signs that is starting to change – with premium tee times alongside peak prices and golfers being asked to pay different prices depending on what hour of the day they tee off.
We think more golf clubs will get onto this bandwagon in 2026 – particularly at courses where there is a lot of demand. Would you pay more to play at 9am, or try and play fastest-finger first for a cheaper rate in mid-afternoon?
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Will golf clubs take more control of their tee sheets – wresting them away from booking companies – and price according to the demand they’re seeing on the ground?
We’re not just talking about resident rates and cheaper evening green fees, we’re talking about prices that move according to demand and almost on a tee-time by tee-time basis.
Will more golf professionals offer monthly subscriptions for lessons?
Who hasn’t got a Netflix or Sky subscription? Who pays a monthly fee to a gym? Your golf club membership might even be structured on paying 12 months a year.
We think more golf professionals will look to move from lesson-by-lesson and block commitments to long-term, payment plans with their students. It brings more calendar and income certainty.
A pro’s worst nightmare is the late cancellation or the golfer that just forgets and doesn’t turn up. What do they do? Charge them and risk a conflict?
But if you’ve got a direct debit with a player and a structured plan, they’re less stressed about finding the cash – as it always seems easier when it just comes out of your account – and they’re more inclined to turn up and more inclined to improve. It’s a virtuous circle.
It might seem odd right now, but much of our lives outside golf are governed by subscriptions. We think lessons will go the same way.
Sustainability is going to be a much bigger issue at golf clubs
Golf authorities have tried shock and awe – highlighting the water risks for those clubs that use tap water during droughts and educating on irrigation when the course is drenched with rain.
They’ve had limited success in our view, but it’s either one or the other now: parched or pouring – and we’re going to need to deal with what that does to our golf courses.
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We’ll see more water reduction policies, less intensive work on some areas – particularly deep rough – and more widespread use of robot mowers to free greenkeepers up to work on other parts of the golf course.
Will more golf clubs move towards being cashless?
Did you notice the £100 limit on contactless is being removed early in 2026? Society is quickly moving away from cash and golf clubs are going to follow suit.
At one of the clubs we pay at, you can only pay for competitions via card – it goes into a separate committee account. At another there is no need for card or cash at all. All member transactions can be charged on account with the bill coming a few weeks later.
In some ways, golf clubs are becoming one of the last bastions of using coins and notes. A roll-up may still pay out in pounds and pence and you might still stick a couple of quid in the machine for a quick coffee.
But in the wider world, tapping a card or a phone is almost ubiquitous and it’s likely that trend won’t escape the sanctity of our clubhouses. It may already be firmly established at yours…
Have your say
What do you think? Do you agree with our 2026 predictions or are they all pie-in-the-sky? What have we missed? Let us know in the comments or get in touch on X.
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