THE GBQ PODCAST
“I think a lot of golf clubs are possibly still stuck in the mindset of 20 years ago”
Kristian Baker, co-owner of Sunningdale Heath and Merrist Wood, says times have changed – but have clubs changed with them?
Golf clubs need to understand the world has changed – with many “possibly still stuck in the mindset of 20 years ago”.
Speaking to Sarah Stirk on The GBQ Podcast, Sunningdale Heath and Merrist Heath co-owner Kristian Baker said the Berkshire venue’s entire ethos was based around making their club welcoming for everyone, saying “we wanted it to be fun”.
Baker acquired Sunningdale Heath with fellow PGA Member Tom Reid in 2019 and the pair transformed the former Sunningdale Ladies Golf Club into a thriving hub with some 600 members.
It also became renowned for junior and beginner coaching, with the club closing off four of its holes twice a week to provide a safe space to learn the game.
Now Baker and Reid are expanding, with the duo taking on Worplesdon’s Merrist Wood and revamping the golf course and clubhouse over the next few years.
Asked about their desire to make golf more diverse and inclusive, Baker said there were not “necessarily lots of conscious decisions”.
But he told the podcast: “We wanted it to be fun and that was a big thing.”
“I’ll never forget, I was doing some county coaching and we had a meeting at a golf club. It was a lady from The PGA who was talking to these golf coaches. This is going back probably 20-odd years and she said, ‘right guys, let’s pause for one minute. Let’s look around this room. If I’m a 14-year-old female wanting to get into golf - you’re all guys coaching and look around the room - there’s not a single picture of a young girl’.
“All there was were old scorecards, male club members, and dusty old golf clubs. She said, ‘how is that inspiring somebody to want to join a golf club of that age demographic?’
“That always stuck with me and when we came to the golf club [Sunningdale Heath], I don’t think there were necessarily lots of conscious decisions we made but, ultimately, we want everybody to feel welcome and this is a place that is diverse in every single way and everybody’s welcome.
“Ultimately, we want everybody to feel welcome and this is a place that is diverse in every single way”
“Ok, we’ve got some rules, and respect for other members, but it’s about trying to create an environment where everybody’s welcome. I don’t think it’s that challenging.”
Baker added he and Reid had striven to create an authentic atmosphere at Sunningdale Heath – one that respected the club’s past but also made it fun for children or for people who had never played golf before.
“The golf club has some amazing history, so we needed to preserve that. But the world has moved on a lot in 20 years, let alone 50.”
And, explaining how different formats at the club have become must-play events, he asked whether clubs were adapting to a different era.
“Mixed roll-ups at the golf club are massively popular,” he explained. “But if you asked the question to the membership – so to the men – ‘what do you think if we had a mixed roll up?’ I think their initial reaction would be, ‘oh, no. I don’t want to do that’.
“But the reality is they love it. So I think it’s just realising where the world is now. 20 years ago was a long time ago and I think a lot of golf clubs are possibly still stuck in the mindset of 20 years ago.”
Baker added: “The way families operate – everything nowadays is very, very, different and [while] I don’t think a lot of our decisions are conscious, it’s just based around this: we want everyone to feel welcome and we want that community at the golf club. It’s for everybody.”
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