Glendale Golf Tackles Slow Play With Get Ready Campaign

Glendale Golf - which operates seven public golf centres throughout the UK - has put three new initiatives into place with immediate effect, introducing its new 'Get Ready Golf' programme at the heart of the campaign at its venues that will tackle the issue of slow play.

Widespread signage featuring the ‘Get Ready Golf’ slogan is now being displayed at all Glendale Golf centres, giving customers six friendly tips on time-efficient golf. Posters, banners and notices are prominent in clubhouses and pro shops, at reception desks, and on all first tees.

The group is also emailing more than 50,000 golfers, encouraging them to spread the word and to take personal steps to respond to the request. The battle cry will also appear on all of its websites, plus across its Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Simultaneously, Glendale Golf has modified its tee-time booking system to allow for more 9-hole slots on weekdays.

There’s also a brand-new Glendale Golf 9-Hole Summer League to play in at all venues. It requires no official handicap or membership, and offers newcomers an informally-competitive stepping stone into the sport – as well as something fun to play in for more regular golfers.

The overall Glendale Golf 9-Hole Summer League winner from each venue will win a year’s membership.

“People come to our golf centres to have fun, so I promise you we’re not getting too heavy-handed about this!” said Tom Brooke, Managing Director of Glendale Golf. “However, we’re making Get Ready Golf part of our culture. It’s a long-term commitment, and we want everyone to buy into it.

“Since we run public golf centres, part of our responsibility is to help introduce newcomers to the sport – that’s what keeps it alive. We also need to encourage existing golfers to play more often. In our annual survey last year, our customers told us loud and clear that slow play is both a barrier to entry for newcomers, and a reason for traditional golfers to play less frequently.

“And it’s not just visitors to Glendale Golf centres who hate slow play of course. The subject has frequently come in other recent national golf surveys, so we are taking firm action.

“People just have insufficient leisure time, these days, for five-hour rounds. We’d all prefer it if a round of golf took an hour less – so at Glendale Golf we are all now geared up to attack this target.”

Glendale Golf’s last participation drive – a summer 2015 festival designed to attract a minimum 100 complete newcomers to each of its venues – proved highly successful, with the 700-golfer target smashed within a month, and over 2,000 first-time visitors by the end of the campaign.