England Golf: programme evaluation
Because of our work: England Golf could show how well its club support and participation initiative worked. Our evaluation helped them to develop and improve further strategies to advance the sport.
England Golf (EG) is the governing body for amateur golf in England. It is one of the country’s largest sports governing bodies and looks after the interests of more than 1,900 golf clubs and 675,000 club members. EG wanted to overcome some of the barriers to people’s playing golf and joining clubs. They sought to address people’s:
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Lack of time to play
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Preference to play at different courses
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Sense that golf is expensive
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Lack of awareness of different opportunities to play
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Belief that golf clubs suffered from poor governance
EG asked Hall Aitken to evaluate the effectiveness of its programme to increase the number and participation levels of its members.
Stage one: understanding the programme. After we’d researched club data to identify past and current trends in membership and participation, we carried out Theory of Change workshops to understand what England Golf really wanted to achieve.
Stage two: how to measure. We developed and evaluation framework and tools to measure the programme’s results.
Stage three: primary research. We carried out interviews with key people in England Golf and in various clubs. We also ran successful focus groups with staff and stakeholders.
Stage four: comparing results. We analysed data from Bedfordshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire; areas that had not taken part in the initiative. This helped to assess the impact of the Increasing Membership and Participation Programme in the areas where it was implemented.
"The Hall Aitken team got on with the job and delivered what we asked for. They provided insight into what is working well and where there are still challenges, so we have a clear focus on our next steps in helping the game of golf and golf clubs develop and thrive. They were a pleasure to work with and I hope to have the opportunity of working with them again.”