Do we still tee up for business?

By Kevin Peachey
Personal finance reporter, BBC News

Indoor golf is designed for those players who hate the rain

Believe the hype and you would think that business people struck more deals than golf balls when they played 18 holes in the '80s.

The way to get up in the corporate world was to get your handicap down.

But recently more clubs have said that their membership has fallen, than those saying it has increased.

Is this the end of business meetings in the 19th hole being, well ... par for the course?

Golfing business

One member at the home of golf, St Andrews, is reported to have said: "The proper score for a businessman golfer is 90.

"If he is better than that he is neglecting his business. If he is worse, he is neglecting his golf."

Konrad Brochocki, a golf tutor, says people still come for lessons because they fear being left out or left behind in the office.

But the economic slowdown means that taking a day out to massage a contact with a round of golf might simply be seen as over-indulgent.

"The idea of a stockbroker out on the golf course the whole time is archaic," says Tom Cox, who has written two books about the elitism of the sport and set up the Secret Golf Society.

"People have to work harder and their time is more precious. A round of golf is four-and-a-half hours plus the obligatory drink afterwards."

End of elitism?

He says that golf club membership has fallen for three years in a row and clubs are now being forced to throw open their doors rather than pander to the privileged.

Tom Cox has written two books about golf clubs

"Fifteen years ago, some clubs would have had a 10-year waiting list and you would have to be the local police commissioner to get in," he says.

"Now it is pay-and-play, and then go to their spa."

He predicts part-time membership deals, relaxed dress codes and no more reserved parking spaces in all but the most exclusive clubs.

In their biennial survey of clubs, the English Golf Union found that the number of clubs with a membership waiting list had fallen between 2002 and 2006.

The proportion of clubs actively seeking new members had also risen, to 77%, according to the most recent survey from 2006.

But it would be wrong to say that the days of the golf course-brokered business deals have dribbled away like a tricky left-to-right 4ft putt.

Planting a flag

If membership has dipped, then the popularity of corporate golf days - when golfers play as guests - continues to soar.

Rex Harrison runs a business organising corporate golf days

Rex Harrison and David Hagger have set up their own Leicester-based business - Teeleaf - which provides bespoke golf days for companies and their clients, featuring personalised shirts, tees and balls.

"Major companies bring people to say thanks for their business the year before, and can they have their business the following year," says Rex.

"While they are not striking and signing a deal on the day, they will soon be on the phone. So a lot of business is done.

"There is still recruitment done on the golf course, too."

Most corporate golf days are on a weekday, so clubs are happy to accommodate players and their wallets on days when members do not fill the course.

Play in the sun

At the London Golf Show, which was held at the ExCel exhibition centre this weekend, representatives of countries from around the world competed to attract the golfing pound and dollar to their shores.

Thailand, Spain, Austria and Hungary were all advertising their attractions to not only the golf-playing tourist but also to corporate event organisers.

The selling point for some of these countries is their climate.

But the expansion of indoor golf simulators, especially in London, is aimed not only at excluding the possibility of bad weather, but also at reducing time spent on the course.

A virtual 18 holes at one of the world's most famous courses is likely to last around two-and-a-half hours.

"Golf is the sport of business. People bring their clients down to have a business meeting and a game of golf," said Dan White, sales executive at the Indoor Golf Company.

"The indoor golf market is expanding, thanks to the English weather."