Last autumn, Clitheroe Golf Club was named ‘Lancashire Golf Club of the Year’. With a 100-strong junior section, events for elite golfers and renowned dining facilities, we can see why.
“It’s all in the mix,” says general manager James Berry, as Clitheroe Golf Club keeps up the momentum with activities to coax members who seldom venture into the golf club.
The consensus among members is that the move to a small management board means that ‘stuff gets done’. It’s tough out there for clubs with rising energy, staff and course maintenance costs, but it’s vital to keep up the course improvements and long-term development plans. Anyone in business will tell you that ‘Cash is King’, but for a golf club, the course must wear the crown and it’s club revenue that allows course investment and maintenance to continue, unhindered by lack of funds. Course improvements enhance member experience, ensure visiting parties return year on year and tee sheets are full at club open competitions. Dynamic pricing for casual visitors fill the tee gaps at quieter times, without overcrowding the course and upsetting members.
Revenue from quiz nights, big club events, evenings with great speakers, Sunday lunches, Saturday breakfast club.. it’s all in the mix. If every ‘passive’ member, along with family or friends, can be encouraged to attend just one event a year, be it a summer BBQ, quiz night or a talk by a sports personality, that can tip an extra £50,000 into the club coffers.
Clitheroe GC is in the scenic Ribble Valley, considered by The Times as the ‘Foodie Capital of the North West’, so members wouldn’t invite their family or friends unless the food on offer was first-class, which happily it is. It’s also a popular venue for local groups such as arts and historical societies, book clubs, U3A, business groups, with a variety of rooms for seminars, meetings, or family celebrations.
Last year Clitheroe won the ‘Lancashire Golf Club of the Year’ award and as an England Golf venue in 2025 is hosting prestigious county and national events for elite golfers, seniors, juniors and women. This all helps raise the club’s profile and attract more members and visitors.
There’s a thriving 100-strong junior section with structured training programmes and inclusion of parents as social members, and junior fun days for beginners. In 2025 more family functions for members with young kids are firmly fixed in the calendar.
Clitheroe’s Golf Academy has over 200 members, with a floodlit driving range, short game areas, a coaching room with swing diagnostics and course simulator challenges.
This facility, open from early morning until late at night, is great for people who don’t have time for full days on the golf course, but apart from teaching and practice opportunities, they can also enjoy automatic access to the clubhouse and can play on the course at reduced rates. It’s also used for group coaching by local schools and its Women in Golf programmes have attracted over 50 new female members over two years.
Rather than sending out tedious questionnaires which are usually ignored, James and his lively hospitality team prefer to round up a few vocal members taken across the club demographic and ask them what they expect from their golf club, apart from a great course!
