Cash, Sinkholes and Sources. How are Community Sport and Recreation Organisations Funded and What are the Implications for Their Future Viability? Research Report 1 : Golf Clubs

The lack of long term planning and the existence of a number of deferred maintenance for which the financial impact has not been measured is likely to be affecting this. Accordingly, while small clubs had the lowest administration costs and debt and were more highly liquid on average than other clubs, they had low levels of inter-generational equity and had the greatest number of concerning issues. Their memberships had either declined or were static and these small clubs were also less likely to plan for the future. It is therefore likely that there are challenges ahead for these clubs. The greatest risk facing golf which was highlighted by all aspects of this research was the declining membership base across small and large clubs specifically but all clubs generally. The lack of members affects not only clubs' income, but also the ability to attract board members and staff and to maintain the assets at an acceptable level. Opportunities for further research:This report has analysed New Zealand's golf clubs against a model derived from overseas research and prior literature. As such it would be strengthened by further research into other sports clubs in New Zealand, specifically the undertaking of sensitivity analysis around the components of the model. Further research could highlight whether some aspects of the three different capacities should be weighed against other aspects, and this would be a beneficial model development. Further research into the management costs of running clubs would also enable the benchmarking of bar/catering, cleaning and green keeping costs for small, medium and large clubs both in rural and urban areas.This research was made possible through funding from Sport New Zealand, the cooperation of New Zealand Golf, the research participants, and our research assistant