A few years ago the club trialled Sky TV with little success .   Due to the poor level of support v cost to the club, the contract was discontinued.

I would now ask that we revisit the subject of Sky TV at the club but with a very different approach. We never really made any effort to capitalise Sky, we had a tatty olf TV and the only time the club made an effort to link catering with sky (a Champions league game ) the two bars were packed out.

If the club could co=ordinate sporting events major golf/premier league football etc and link them to a catering offer/bar menu, ( like several local pubs do ) there is no reason why HGC cannot compete?

The rates on Sky TV are now dramatically lower than they were when it was last on-site. HGC is a sports club, and if nothing else, having sports on stream in the spike bar creates an atmosphere and ambience that many other golf clubs have and I believe is missing at HGC. I don’t believe that Sky was properly supported and promoted last time. As a “premier” golf club, I think Sky is a basic requirement,

ALAN JONES

Bryan,

Thank you for your note and I fully agree with your sentiment regarding Sky Sports in a sports club.

We regularly check the 12-month contract quote from Sky and we have recently been quoted £5,160 (£430/m) – this is the discounted rate.  Even with targeted viewing events, it is difficult to see how HGC could recoup this.

The H&P committee will try and gauge the general feeling from members and will present our findings to Council.  I am aware of a large group that would support this proposal and we will certainly give this idea full consideration.  I’m also aware of the many sporting events that will be available in the near future.

Thank you for your suggestion and we will keep you informed of progress.

Alan D Jones

Chair of House & Premises.

BRYAN BALDWIN

Alan

Thank you for your detailed and balanced reply.

For me, it’s not just about a payment for a 12-month sky contract, but also a co-ordinated buy-in by the club to align that with bar and catering initiatives which was simply not the case with our previous trial and was a huge factor in our inability to recoup much of the cost.

I’d also like to reaffirm the point that in a £1500 pa golf club, I think the presence of sky should be part of the product offered to members, if everything had to cover its costs, then we could potentially itemise a number of things the club continues to support and question their validity?

Once again thank you for taking this forward

BB