Modern Marketing for Traditional Clubs

Written By owen miller

Grow Memberships & Visitor Rounds in 2026

Golf clubs are pillars of Irish sport and tourism. But discovery has shifted: people find experiences through online search, maps, and short-form content before they ever visit a website. If your pipeline still relies on word-of-mouth alone, you’re competing with clubs that are visible and measurable, where new members actually look.

Why now

  • Demand exists: casual play is strong and interest will surge into Ryder Cup and beyond 2026–27.

  • Demographics are changing: young professionals, women, families, and juniors discover clubs online first.

  • want proof: spend needs to map to booked rounds, revenue, and new members, not vanity metrics.

What success looks like (outcomes, not guesswork)

  • Steady membership pipeline from enquiry to join, with clear conversion rates.

  • Fuller tee sheets, especially midweek and shoulder seasons.

  • Finance clarity: CAC, ROAS, payback, and postcode performance in one view.

  • Brand strength: better reviews, consistent presence, and a broader community.

How we help (high level)

Emerald Golf is a performance-led partner for clubs in NI/IE. We align content, brand, media, and measurement so the right golfers see the right reasons to visit or join—then we attribute results to the tee-sheet and membership workflow. No jargon, no reinvention of your website; just the critical pieces needed to grow, tracked to the numbers that matter.

We deliver the outcomes and the attribution.

Who this is for

  • Clubs forecasting a dip in members or under-used tee times.

  • Committees aiming to future-proof demographics without discounting the brand.

  • Managers and finance teams who want board-ready reporting and accountable spend.

What you’ll see

  • A simple, live dashboard for bookings, revenue, and joins by channel/postcode.

  • Clear levers to scale what works and stop what doesn’t.

  • A calendar that supports coaching, F&B, events, and society/corporate days.

Getting started

We’re currently onboarding a small number of clubs for the 2026 season. You control ad spend; our commercial model is performance-based.

If you’d like a short, club-specific plan and a sample dashboard

Find out more

Portstewart GC

owen miller