Golf Club Affiliation Fees to rise in 2023

SGA received an unwelcome Christmas Stocking Stuffer in December, with a message that, in 2023, Golf Club Affiliation Fees are increasing.  Again.

Not quite the holiday present we were hoping to find.

By our reckoning, Golf Club affiliation fees have risen every year (except one) in the last seven years.  This represents a total increase of 49% in that period. (Just a scooch more than inflation, we reckon.)

Conversely, over that same period, SGA has increased the Standard Handicap price from $95 to $98 – just a 3.2% increase.

So "Just what are affiliation fees?", you may be asking.

Essentially, they are the annual fees that golf clubs (public, private and social clubs/handicap providers like SGA) pay to golf's governing bodies for each registered member with a handicap. These fees go towards things like Public Liability Insurance, maintaining GolfLink, growing the game, state and national administration costs, running amateur events, etc.

We've been fortunate to have grown so much each year that we've been able to offset these increased costs; and thus resist increasing our retail price, despite our margins being dramatically reduced each year.

However, our increased size (now over 6000 members!) has required investment in new technology and a bigger team, so the price increases over the last two years have really squeezed our margins. This has, unfortunately, tipped us to the point where we need to increase the handicap price in 2023.

We are currently figuring out how to manage it. The likely change will be a $10 increase in the Standard Handicap in the first half of the year. (Later in the year, the Unlimited Handicap Tier may also increase).

Our sincere apologies to our members for any inconvenience this may cause. And we hope you understand.

We will keep you informed via emails, on Social Media and via this website as we finalise the plan and the process for how we manage it.

Until then, we hope you hit ‘em straight in 2023!

Cheers,

Matthew Pitt

Managing Director
Social Golf Australia