Golf is growing to heights of popularity not seen since Tiger Woods. Pickle Ball is the fastest-growing sport in the US. And club membership is at an all-time high – enter the waiting list.

For years, most clubs held the only waiting list for members’ bond refunds after resignation.  This is no longer the case. Most clubs, due to a great extent to COVID lifestyle changes, now have a waiting list to join.  This is a great situation for obvious reasons, but how can you use your waiting list to your advantage?

1.Leveraging Demand
Since a waiting list and the related initiation fee are prime indicators of a club’s market demand, it stands to reason that the clubs of the higher profiles have a longer waiting list. These clubs have generally kept up with capital spending staying ahead of the market, and creating high demand. Other clubs that have not done so still have waiting lists today, although possibly a bit less robust. Now is the opportunity to leverage the waiting list to make the capital improvements that may be long overdue – with less fear of failure. Failure, in this sense, is defined as losing too many members resulting from the introduction of a rise in capital fees.

2.Less Attrition Risk 
High attrition following the approval of a capital plan seems to be a thing of the past. However, the waiting list provides insulation to any additional attrition that may occur. The fact that most nearby clubs also have waiting lists and initiation fees that may not have existed five years ago reduces options for members who may want to leave. The other advantage is that if there is any unusual attrition, the project funding is aided by the influx of initiation fees for waiting list members, which, as we all know – should go directly to capital needs… right?