The Professional Shop enjoys a very high level of satisfaction (Good + Satisfactory ranging from 69% to 94%).  While Ricky will be pleased with this result he will probably be looking how he can move some of those satisfactory ratings into t Professional Shop he good category.

		Good	Sat	Poor	N/A
Professional Shop
	Range of goods and retail services	67%	27%	3%	4%
	Lessons and Coaching	50%	19%	8%	23%
	General Support and Advice	65%	20%	8%	7%

 

 

Council’s Response to the Survey Findings

It is good to see the high levels of satisfaction with the Professional staff and the service they provide.
There are, however, some useful pointers which Ricky Duckett will find helpful in improving  the service to members. Professional tied to golf clubs find it difficult to compete against the   major national (and international chains) and online suppliers.  Nonetheless, the loyalty of members to the club pro is high and they appreciate the advice and friendly atmosphere in the shop.
There may be scope for looking at the products stocked with particular attention being paid to what members request rather than what is in stock.
Comments referring to coaching are worth looking at and Council would be interested to hear of any suggestions in this area from the professional.
The availability of practice net(s) and practice facilities in general is an issue that Council will be considering in the near future.

 

2012 Survey - Comments on Pro Shop

The comments which follow are the full and unedited contributions from members who completed the Survey carried out during 2012. I have tried to sort them into groups specific to particular areas of the Professional’s Shop.  In a few cases, where comments related to more than one area, I have split them into a number of comments and allocated them under the different headings. The comments expressed are those of the members who submitted them. I accept no responsibility whatsoever for spelling, grammar or content!

Denis O’Sullivan
 

Service

• Always accommodating and very willing to help, a great asset to the club
• Club Professional is most helpful with his advice
• This is the first point of contact in the majority of Golf Clubs, and in Ricky and Chris we have two gentlemen who represent the club in a very welcoming and professional manner.
• Top class professional and assistant. We should all support him
• Ricky and Chris are very approachable and have a genuine interest in any questions you might have, they are a credit to the club.
• "Ricky and Chris are very helpful and supportive - always warm and welcoming
• Provide an excellent service"
• Personnel in shop are excellent and for the space available they offer a decent range of equipment and clothing."
• "Ricky and his staff are doing a great job and are always willing to help.
• Ricky and Chris do a super job.  Always helpful and friendly.
• If only the rest of the club was run like the Professional Shop
• The Pro shop does a good job. 
• Both pro and assistant can deal with anything you want
• Always very helpful
• Doing a good job and should be supported by our members
• Staff are very friendly and supportive ten out of ten
• Ricky and Chris are always very helpful
• Excellent staff in pro shop "
• Ricky and Chris provide a very good service and are always very pleasant and helpful.
• When I was playing golf I always had help from the Professionals and their staff.
• Ricky & Chris are very helpful to all members in my opinion, always willing to help and source equipment if not in stock. Perhaps more coaching could be offered to our younger members during summer months.  
• An excellent service in all aspects.  The shop and staff are great ambassadors for the club
• Great guys always go the extra mile
• Ricki and Chris are a excellent team friendly helpful staff - wouldn't shop elsewhere.
• Ricky and his assistant have a very positive and helpful attitude towards the requirements of our members and would be an asset to any Golf Club.
• Mr Duckett is an excellent pro.;
• The atmosphere, some people hanging around etc,  and 'the jokes and jibes' etc are not conjenial to a professional and helpful trading and coaching area
• Repair or replacement of electronic material is very slow

 

Products

• Am a left handed golfer and find that the choice of clubs in this regard is extremely limited
• When Peter was there ,there seemed to be more special deals from manufacturers to update equipment
• "Maybe some branded goods like jumpers or polo shirts
• Would like to see a better range for the ladies."
• "One is obliged to support 'our' club pro, and this often cost over and above many other retail outlets: The last pro often told you what you wanted even if you thought you had explained your need, ref garments not clubs !
• It would be useful to have prices of clothing clearly marked. Shop is busy. Frequently golfers,who have just a few mins to spare before play, do not have the time to wait in a queue.

 

Practice Facilities

• "The club needs to invest in an indoor  video coaching facility whereby not only members but visitors and people in the Belfast area can avail of the coaching facilities.
• This would create a 'one-stop-shop' scenario where visitors could book coaching, spend in the pro shop, have a round of golf and partake of the catering and bar facilities. You could offer 'family' deals too as it will generate a family legacy and attract the future golfers to the club."
• I have never used the current pro for lessons and hence the N/A mark.
• I just a social member at moment but may look at having lessons I near future.
• Surely we could do a lot more with the practice area, its pretty useless as it sits now"
• A covered area for winter teaching would be useful
• Practice net may be useful
• A net could be installed for long game practice or warm up before a match.
• We should be considering nets for long game since we do not have sufficient room for anything else

Coaching

• Would appreciate if our professional would help our teams a little with some coaching
• "Perhaps market a summer school for kids, couple or 3 hours per day for a week.
• Group lessons for ladies over the winter time would be welcome and useful
• Advertise lessons more to the younger members may be groups of 2/3  for lessons
   

General

• The professional shop should be franchised out thus making money can't understand why we would pay to give someone a living
• More individual and team coaching should be encouraged to further develop our junior section.
• Work could be done around the outside of the shop, windows opened up/refreshed to make it more inviting.
• The professional should be able to see the 1st tee from the shop to ensure proper timekeeping.