At Sunningdale Heath, growing the game isn’t just talk. Twice a week the Berkshire club, run by co-owners Tom Reid and Kristian Baker, block off four holes for a morning to give space to beginners and juniors learning the game.
Speaking on The PGA’s GBQ Podcast, hosted by Sky Sports Golf presenter Sarah Stirk, they revealed how, for the last six years, the closing stretch of their course has been given over to new players.
Reid admitted it was “almost a commercially silly decision – because you’re not turning green fees and golf days and member rounds around your golf course”.
But he added the practice was a vital part of the club’s culture, “to show that the guys who manage the budget and who manage the golf club will close off the green space to give beginners and golfers a comfortable entry into golf.”
Reid and Baker took over the former Sunningdale Ladies Golf Club in 2019, increasing the membership from under 200 to just shy of 600. The pair also teach 100 junior golfers every week through local schools and the club’s Junior Golf Academy.
Both successful coaches, they have recently acquired Merrist Wood, in Worplesdon, and embarked on an ambitious renovation of the Surrey venue – including a revamped golf course, luxury clubhouse, and an advanced coaching academy.
Listen to The GBQ Podcast
Asked by Stirk about inclusivity in golf, and efforts to entice more women and juniors to play the game, Reid told the podcast: “There’s a lot of talk about growing the game. There’s a lot of people that have opinions on growing the game, but it would be really good to see more evidence of those who are actually growing the game.
“You know, ‘this is what we do to grow the game’, rather than, ‘this is my opinion on growing the game’. I think it’s about more what you do than what you say.
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“We’re commercially minded and closing off holes 15 to 18 of our golf course twice a week to basically give the green space to beginners and juniors is almost a commercially silly decision – because you’re not turning green fees and golf days and member rounds around your golf course, because we don’t have a driving range to do that.
“We think that is the most important part of our culture – to show that the guys who manage the budget and who manage the golf club will close off the green space to give beginners and golfers a comfortable entry into golf.”
Why do Sunningdale Heath close holes on their course?
Reid conceded it was challenging to do that but added: “Driving ranges do a great job of introducing people to hitting the golf ball and learning a technique, but they don’t teach them how to play golf and they don’t teach them how to be comfortable in the golf environment.
“Our beginner golfers can come to a clubhouse and understand what the feel of a clubhouse is like. We try to make our clubhouse not non-golfy but almost looking more like the local café, restaurant and bar, versus the stuffier, more old-fashioned clubhouse. Then they go onto a golf course and so they get the whole experience of golf.
“It has to be a commitment of the membership. The membership have to be supportive and it has to be a commitment of the management and the owners to dedicate some green space and some time on a consistent basis to those new golfers so they start to associate Sunningdale Heath as a safe place – a place they can be comfortable at and a place they’re welcome at these time windows and that doesn’t encroach with the members.
“Ultimately, they feel, ‘actually, this is all right. I know where to put my bag. I know what my clubs do. I know how a tee time works. I feel comfortable going into that clubhouse, and sending and email, and having a cup of coffee and having a chat with somebody.
“It’s very easy to run an open day, and very easy to feel like you tick a box to say, ‘come and learn to play golf today’.
“But I think the more important thing is offering a consistency to new golfers at your club so they know they can go somewhere on a weekly basis that’s open and welcome to them.
“All we’ve done is committed to offering green space, but we have done it weekly for six years with no plans to stop.
“That, of course, gives us an advantage – where others might have openings for those to learn to play golf but not many can.
“There’s not many that you can buy into and you can buy into learning to play golf here. I think that’s the most important thing – consistency in culture.”
Now have your say
What do you think of this initiative from Sunningdale Heath? Would it work at your club? Would the members allow it? Let us know in the comments or by getting in touch on X.
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