What Do Golf Club Secretaries Actually Do?

The secretary of a golf club is responsible for the day-to-day running of that club and he or she is answerable to the owners of the golf club.

In a members club, this is the committee; in a proprietary-owned club, this body may be termed a management board, but it will carry out much the same oversight role.

The role of the secretary has changed in recent years. The traditional secretary was someone, often in a second career, who looked after the clerical and administrative side of a golf club.

They ensured minutes of meetings were kept and circulated, kept membership lists updated, sent out renewal invoices, signed the club cheques, made sure the insurance cover was in place and ensured the alcohol licence was sorted. That sort of thing.

Some of the responsibilities could be fairly mundane. Among the tasks I have seen listed in job descriptions clubs have provided in recent years for their incoming secretary have been “check snooker table condition every six months and arrange any maintenance,” “ensure noticeboards are kept neat and tidy” and “ensure the club flag is lowered when the deaths of present and past members are notified”.

It normally fell to the secretary to communicate with members and external bodies – anything from the cost of membership to invoicing for services rendered. Often alongside those in the pro shop, the secretary was the point of contact for many at the club, especially visitors.

Sometimes the secretarial role was unpaid and carried out by a club member. But more often it was a paid position taken on by someone who had retired from their main career, in many cases one in the armed services.

The emphasis was on administration, and so those who took on the role normally came from an organisational background rather than a commercial one.

But the need for golf clubs to be more financially aware, information technology, the internet and increased legislation affecting golf clubs in terms of employment law, safeguarding policies and health and safety have all contributed to the changing of the role in modern times.

The secretary now often also has a core commercial role in many clubs. Working with the committee or board, the modern secretary can find themselves responsible for driving revenue, drawing up and implementing business plans, devising marketing strategies as well as the more traditional organisational and administrative functions carried out by their typical predecessors.

As such, many secretaries are now called secretary manager or general manager or even chief executive. Many of those who fill these roles now have diplomas or a degree in Golf Club Management.