Bay open window on the new world

Apr 10 2008 by Tim Taylor, The Journal

ONE of the brightest ideas since the invention of the light bulb – Cafe Golf Membership for ladies – is up and running at the Whitley Bay club and it’s already a big winner.

Only three weeks after the club first started recruiting, 60 ladies have signed up. This is a massive sudden influx for a sport in which the average existing lady membership per club in England is 66. Bay now have 118 lady members, putting them 56% above the national average.

This new form of lady membership – for six months of the year – offers a short form of golf as it relates to playing five holes of golf, comparable to Twenty20 cricket and taking less time to play.

A particular boon to busy women, the scheme alleviates restraints many females have in terms of time available to enjoy the attractions of the sport .

Bay’s new lady members can play the five holes as many times as they like between Sunday afternoons and Thursdays from May to October for a £150 membership fee, paid in six instalments of £25 a month.

The price includes six one-hour group lessons covering all aspects of the game with equipment provided. Another free benefit of membership is a five-hole walk-and-talk on the course, an introduction the sport that includes etiquette, rules and course management.

Members can use the clubhouse, practice area and putting green any time they like during their six months of membership and they are given ten vouchers for free coffee and cake or a glass of wine.

This startlingly effective new approach to the old problem of attracting women to golf was the product of a series of discussions between Bay’s secretary- manager Peter Simpson and the professional, Peter Crosby, with the final blueprint being given the OK by Bay’s general committee.

Said ladies captain Kath Maceachen, a retired tax officer from Whitley Bay, “It is an absolutely fantastic idea as the huge response has proved.

“Many of us who already play golf have always felt there were plenty of other ladies out there who wanted to play the sport if only clubs could find a way of making it easier to do so.

“Anybody is welcome to join and they will find there is a great atmosphere among the ladies at Whitley Bay, where, apart from the golf, there is also an active social side to the club.

“It is not just Whitley Bay Golf Club that is – or, rather, was – always desperately short of lady members. It is the same all over Northumberland and, indeed, all over the country.

“It just proves what can be done when you come up with something people want. We have proved there is a big market out there for ladies golf and we’re all absolutely delighted.”

Bay’s initiative comes at a time when the women’s world number one, Mexico’s Lorena Ochoa, is so eager to sign autographs and so people friendly in general, she is being hailed as the female version of Arnold Palmer, golf’s original people’s champion.

Whitley Bay’s next initiative starts on Sunday with a fortnight-long series of free “have a go at golf” taster sessions for ladies and girls, with all equipment provided, with the last session being held on Sunday, April 27. It’s one free session per person including coffee on arrival, a one-hour group golf lesson followed by an introduction to the club.

Anybody interested in either a free taster session or Cafe Golf Membership – or both -– should ring Peter Simpson on 0191 252 0180 or email whtglfclb@aol.com

Meanwhile, coming up at Whitley Bay on May 16 is the CTD Charity Event and Dinner which has raised £30,000 in its four years of existence.

Organised by the Delaval Arms Golf Society, it will be raising funds for the Teenage Cancer Trust unit at the RVI in Newcastle. The event will continue the good work of a young local cancer patient, Fliss Graham, who sadly lost her battle with cancer last year.

Fliss, who was treated on the teenage cancer ward at the RVI, was a major fundraiser for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

A team of four costs £200 and you can enter – and gather information about sponsorship or donating prizes – by emailing Neil Rodgerson at info@wrstilers.co.uk or by calling (07734) 855303.