Baz Plummer
It's been quite the year for Golf Monthly Top 50 Coach Anders Mankert after he received recognition for his service to the game of golf.
In December 2024, Anders was awarded the honour of becoming a PGA Master Professional. That made him only the 65th ever recipient of this title, etching his name into the history books alongside some true legends of the game.
Anders Mankert BEM: 3 Reasons The Game Is Bothering Me
It's funny how quickly things can snowball in life, but thankfully, this time, it was in an hugely positive way.
I returned home from a Golf Monthly instruction shoot that I had been on with Baz Plummer, having just found out that day that I had achieved one of my ultimate professional dreams... to be made a PGA Master Professional.
I went into my house and grabbed a bottle of Champagne, ready to head straight to my Dad's house.
I was so excited to share the news with him, as I knew he would be so proud of my achievement, but as I was leaving my wife informed me that I had received a letter.
It said 'on His Majesty's service' on the envelope.
Cutting a long story short, the correspondence inside would tell me that I was going to be awarded a British Empire Medal from King Charles.
I thought, 'I can't tell my dad this too, it would finish him'.
When I eventually shared the news with everyone I was filled with immense pride, but despite an almost unbelievably positive year for me and my family, there are still three things that are really bothering me about the game...
1. The Membership Decline
I think the game is in a decent state, or perhaps a fair state would be more accurate.
Post Covid-19, many clubs benefited from the huge surge in participation numbers. Golf was one of the first activities to 'open up' and that brought lots of new people to the game.
With the additional revenue from furlough payments, grants and increased profits accrued by the peak in interest around the sport - clubs typically went one of two ways.
Some consolidated, improved facilities and planned for the future knowing that this wave was never going to last forever. Some misguidedly believed that the good times were here to stay, and sadly they weren't.
The truth is that the number of rounds of golf being played is up, but golf membership is in decline (and still going down).
Unless you address that honestly and rationally, without getting emotional about it, clubs are going to be in trouble.
What does a future of declining membership look like? Empty chairs and empty practice areas should worry golf clubs
You've got to look at the landscape and say, 'where are we going to be in five years and what will the new generation of potential members look like?'.
If clubs aren't prepared to adapt, perhaps addressing issues around dress code and aspects of outdated etiquette in golf, they are going to be begging for members in the future.
That will lead to clubs offering discounted rates, which others will have to follow, meaning it's a race to the bottom where everybody loses.
Most golf club has a predominantly senior membership. Within 10 years, some of those people will sadly have passed on. The question I would ask is... is there a junior to step into that vacant membership place?
The answer is no, not in a million years. Some clubs hardly even have a junior section.
2. The Dress Code
I think that attitudes towards the game are different now, and golf clubs are slow to move.
You hear it all the time, suggestions that there are plans to change and shift the rules on dress code. Things like, 'oh, we are allowing jeans in the clubhouse now'.
Marvellous, that's a real game changer isn't it? Please sense the sarcasm in my tone, as in reality, it's not at all.
It's not a dynamic process. I'm in a position here at Leicester Golf Centre where if I want to change something I can make a decision today and we will start it this afternoon.
Committees tend to meet infrequently, so when they discuss an issue and then defer a decision until next time, you can't really expect any meaningful change very quickly.
In my opinion, the long and the short of it is that Gen-Z are not the same as I was when I was 20. They don't behave or live the same way. You either acknowledge it or you are going to get caught napping.
The dress code might have moved on (slightly) from this, but there is still a long way to go in order to be welcoming and accessible to all
Everything is less formal now. How often do you wear a suit nowadays? You might do to a wedding, but most people don't even wear a suit for work anymore.
The world is becoming less formal, so why wouldn't you want to be on the front foot of that? Why wouldn't you want to be ahead of the curve?
If you visit Leicester Golf Centre you will see tradesman who have nipped out for an hour over lunch to play a few holes, wearing jumpers, cargo pants or overalls caked in paint and dust.
Does it matter to me, if I am in the group behind, that they are wearing that on the course? Not one bit - who cares!
That isn't the case in most golf clubs around the world, but I would pose the question, why not?
I received a lot of negative comments from people when I decided to abandon dress code rules at my club, with people suggesting the course would be overwhelmed with drunk, football shirt wearing, fighting yobs.
It never happened, and in fact, people are actually a lot more relaxed, friendly and calm when they feel welcome funnily enough.
3. The Punitive Environment
People take up the game of golf to have a good time.
Whether they want to play with a friend, make a new friend or have a practice - we need to remember that it's just golf.
You do it because it's an enjoyable thing to do. The social and health benefits of golf are well-documented, but first and foremost it should be about having a good time.
When teaching a kid to play the game, you often see parents on the range saying things like 'keep your head down' or 'swing slowly'. That's not fun - there's no fun in that.
The fun comes from the 'whack it as far as you can, let me see how far you can hit it'.
Telling people they can't do this and they can't do that, especially the future generation of young golfers, is only going to alienate the audience.
At least one day a year we have 400 kids from local schools down to Leicester Golf Centre all at the same time. We teach them all to play golf in a day, and believe me when I say... it's lively.
But, do you know what? They come back. The reason is simple - we are focused on getting them in not turning them away.
It's just golf - let the next generation have fun and they will come back
If you have a poor junior section at your golf club, you've got to take a serious look and ask yourself why that is.
It's a great game, we know that kids love when they get a chance to do it, but if you're not getting them in that's on you - you clearly have the wrong blueprint to attract junior golfers.
What are you doing wrong? How welcoming and friendly are you? Imagine a 12- or 13-year-old turning up at your club for the first time.
If there's a pin-code to get into the clubhouse that isn't readily shared, a long-standing member waiting to immediately remind them that they can't wear trainers inside, or heaven forbid change said shoes in the car park, how welcome are they going to feel?
My advice, invite some children with their parents to spend the day at your club and ask for their honest feedback of their experience. You'll learn a lot about ways that your club can be more welcoming to juniors.
I'll never forget a time where I arrived at a club to see four juniors on the tee at 10am being lambasted by an older group of members. They were all good players, played off single figures, but they were not treated with respect as equals.
They were instead told off, as they 'know they aren't allowed to play until after 11am', so they had to step aside for this large group of adult members to play in a few different groups.
The main protagonist of this barrage ended up as Club Captain, so what chance do we have, really?
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