Glynneath Golf Club

 Glynneath & Glynhir join forces

The golf clubs at Glynneath and Glynhir have taken a positive approach to making their clubs stand out from the pack. They’ve teamed up to offer their members the benefit of playing on both courses for the price of their usual membership fees. It’s not a totally unique arrangement, but is certainly uncommon  within Wales and is surely something that other clubs will be keeping a close eye on. Time will tell whether it offers a catalyst for change to the way golf clubs in Wales go about attracting and retaining their members.

The Chairman of Glynneath Golf Club, Phil Bowen, shed some more light on the arrangement. “It’s about increasing the benefits of being a member of a golf club – whether it’s our club or that at Glynhir. The feedback from our own members has been very encouraging and we’ve been receiving plenty of interest from prospective members because of it,” he said.

While the members of either club will, quite rightly, be pleased at the prospect of having the use of another golf course at their disposal, Phil, the 2010 Club Captain, makes a point of highlighting the club’s bigger effort towards ensuring their appeal to current and future members is maximised.

 “We’ve taken a more strategic approach to ensuring our club achieves its potential, and working close with a neighbouring club like Glynhir is very much part of this,” he added.

“It’s just one piece of our bigger plan, along with other steps such as heavy investment in the quality of our greens and a thorough tree management programme which is already reaping excellent results for the quality of our course. We also purchased brand new golf buggies in the middle of last year to replace the previous aging fleet.” Phil said.

 It is undoubtedly a difficult decision to keep investing in facilities when economic conditions are tough and many clubs throughout Wales will relate to this. “Of course, it’s not easy to succeed in today’s market,” Mr Bowen conceded. “But it’s about proper planning and working hard to achieve the level of quality that people come to expect. This is what we are doing right now. More recently, we’ve started the process of refurbishing our function room with a view to the club becoming more of a social hub,” he added.

The club which is set within the Brecon Beacons National Park with Max Boyce as its President is clearly intent on achieving good things.

“It’s likely to be no different than what’s going on at many other golf clubs. We’re all working hard. But, perhaps, the arrangement between ourselves and Glynhir is what makes the pair of us that bit different,” the Chairman concluded.