Insight
Mustering Millennials for Private Club Membership
- March 3, 2017
- Featured, Insight, Latest News, Membership, Private Clubs, Strategic Planning, Strategy

Will Millennials join private clubs? Do Millennials care about amenities? How much are Millennials willing to pay for golf? In the private club world these questions are commonplace for managers, club Boards, membership sales staff, and anyone charged with the duty to continuously fill the club's membership pipeline with 'new blood'.
Research initiatives have pounced the club industry's need for data surrounding Millennial habits, preferences, and wallets. Excellent reports have been published by organizations such as the Club Managers Association of America (CMAA) and the National Golf Foundation (NGF). GGA recently teamed up with Kris Hart and Matt Weinberger of Nextgengolf to gauge just how many 'degrees of separation' there are between Millennials and private clubs.
If you didn't already know, Nextgengolf is the leading entity for 18 to 34 year old golfers in the United States. Nextgengolf is an inclusive organization with the mission to provide golfing opportunities and make the game of golf more relevant for college students and young adults.
A fusion of GGA's 25-year history of private club research and Nextgengolf's profound relationship with young golfers afforded a survey of more than 1,000 avid Millennial golfers who were asked about their golfing habits and stance on private club memberships. Research revealed the following high-level trends about Millennial golfers:
- Flexibility and customization is key
- Referrals are very important
- Non-golf amenities matter
- Primary target audience - low-handicap Millennials
- Opportunities exist to better capture Millennials at private clubs
- There are barriers which private clubs must consider
Find out more survey findings in the infographic below or view the full report here.
This initiative was spearheaded by Nextgengolf (Kris Hart, CEO, and Matt Weinberger, COO) and Global Golf Advisors (Michael Gregory, Senior Manager, and Bennett DeLozier, Senior Associate).