Membership recruitment
Selling golf club membership with course fly-through videos
A course fly-through helps a club sell membership by letting a prospective member play every hole on screen before they visit. FLYTHRU builds a cinematic tee-to-green flight of each hole, embeds it on the club's own website, and gives the membership secretary something worth sending after every enquiry or open day.
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What is a golf course flyover video, and why does it matter to a prospective member?
A golf course flyover video is a smooth aerial flight from tee to green, followed by a slow orbit of the green. For a prospective member it answers the first question anyone asks before joining: what is the course actually like to play, hole by hole, week after week, through the seasons.
Photographs show a pretty corner; a fly-through shows the shape of every hole, where the trouble lies and how the green sits.
FLYTHRU builds each hole from Google Photorealistic 3D Tiles, so no drone or site visit is needed, and embeds the result on the club's own website beside the information a prospective member is already reading.
How much does a golf course fly-through cost for a club recruiting members?
Member-owned and community clubs pay £29 a month on the Community Fly-through plan, with no setup fee. Proprietary and resort venues start on the Club plan at £995 setup and £99 a month. Every plan is monthly rolling, and annual billing gives two months free.
The Community track exists because member-owned clubs work to tight budgets set at the AGM. Community + New Website adds a new club website for £195 setup and £59 a month. On the Commercial track, Club + Web Takeover is £1,495 setup and £149 a month, and Championship is priced on application, from £4,995 setup.
A single new member's annual subscription can cover many months of a Community plan, and the pricing page includes an ROI calculator so a committee can test its own figures. Prices here are in pounds; Ireland pages show euro and the USA page shows US dollars.
How long does filming take before a club can use it in a membership drive?
On most plans there is no filming visit at all. Each hole is built from Google Photorealistic 3D Tiles, so nothing disturbs members on the course. Drone capture is used only on Championship plans. Once a course is mapped, most clubs are live within a week, which suits a spring recruitment campaign.
Because no crew needs to visit, timing does not depend on the weather, the competition calendar or the greenkeeping programme. A club planning an open day can book a demo call, see its opening hole flown free, and have the full course on its website in good time for the event.
Does a club need a drone permit in the UK or Ireland to make a membership video?
Not with most FLYTHRU plans, because they use 3D Tiles and no drone flies. Where drone footage is captured, UK operators follow Civil Aviation Authority rules and Irish operators follow Irish Aviation Authority rules under EU regulation 2019/947. Rules change, so always check the current requirements before any flight.
In the UK, commercial drone work generally involves CAA Operator ID registration, a Flyer ID online test, an A2 Certificate of Competency or a Specific category operational authorisation for work near people, the landowner's permission and attention to flight restriction zones near airports.
In Ireland, the IAA applies EU regulation 2019/947: operator registration, online Open category training and test, an A2 Certificate of Competency where needed, and respect for restricted geographical zones. On Championship plans, where drone footage is captured, this is handled as part of the work rather than left to the club.
How do clubs use fly-throughs to sell memberships as well as tee times?
Clubs place the fly-through on the membership page and beside the tee-booking link. Visitors who enjoy a round often become members, so a course that books well also recruits well. The membership secretary shares hole links after enquiries, and the monthly results email shows which holes prospective members watched most.
FLYTHRU follows a simple process: Map, Craft, Embed and Book. The embed is one line of script on the club website, with no rebuild and no plugins. In the UK it links to tee sheets on BRS Golf and intelligentgolf; elsewhere it links to whatever online booking page the club already uses.
The Caddie, a website chatbot, answers visitor questions about the course and the club while the membership secretary is busy or away, so an interested golfer is not left waiting for a reply.
How can a fly-through support a membership open day?
Before the day, the fly-through goes into the invitation so guests arrive already knowing the course. On the day, Clubhouse mode runs a 16:9 auto-cycling loop on the bar or foyer screen. Afterwards, the membership secretary sends each guest a link to their favourite hole as a follow-up.
The Web Takeover option, an animated homepage hero, suits clubs running a seasonal membership push, because the first thing a visitor sees on the website is the course itself.
- Include the fly-through link in open day invitations and social posts.
- Run Clubhouse mode on the screen in the bar or foyer during the event.
- Follow up within a few days with a link to a specific hole the guest mentioned.
What should a membership secretary send after an enquiry?
Send a short, personal reply with a link to the course fly-through and one or two holes worth noting, then invite the enquirer to play as a guest. It gives the prospective member something to explore at home and share with a partner, which keeps the conversation going without pressure.
Enquiries often go cold because the reply is a fee table and nothing else. A fly-through turns the reply into an invitation. The monthly results email, which reports how many times the course flew and which holes got most views, helps the secretary see what interests people and shape the next message accordingly.
Is a fly-through worth having if the club has a waiting list, or is recruiting juniors and beginners?
Yes, for different reasons. A club with a waiting list uses it to keep applicants engaged and visitor income strong. A club recruiting uses it to reach new golfers. For juniors and beginners, seeing a hole in advance makes a first round far less daunting and easier to say yes to.
Because the plans are monthly rolling with no exit fee, and the club keeps its footage forever even if it cancels, a club can run a fly-through through a recruitment season and decide afterwards whether to continue.
Get a fly-through for your club
Book a demo using the form below, or call 0141 230 0198.