Case study / Participation pathway campaign
Horton Golf Park.
A more human invitation into golf, with a route to keep playing.
01 / The participation challenge
Speak to people who did not yet see golf as theirs.
Horton Golf Park wanted to attract new golfers and create a longer-term route towards membership. The 2018 brief began with participation: make the first experience feel welcoming, understandable and worth continuing.
For people outside the usual golf audience, the campaign had to remove the mystery around a first visit while showing that beginners would have company, coaching and a next step.
02 / Golf for Everyone
A welcoming first step, with somewhere to go afterwards.
Golf for Everyone put real beginners and shared experience at the centre of the creative. Social content and video made the practical support visible; paid media carried that invitation beyond people already looking for golf.
The proposition connected the first experience to Play & Learn+, giving interested participants a clear way to practise, improve and stay involved. Full membership sat further along that wider pathway, rather than being treated as the immediate ask.
03 / The work
Show the welcome and the next lesson.
The creative stayed close to the experience itself: arriving together, meeting a coach, learning at the range and getting onto the course with other beginners.
The invitation
Begin with people and shared experience.
The production showed beginners learning alongside one another. Familiar, social moments made the first visit feel like something a newcomer could picture joining.
The first session
Make the support visible before asking someone to start.
Close coaching detail and a wider view of the lesson explained what help would be there. The work replaced an abstract promise of “beginner friendly” with a clear picture of how learning felt.
The next step
Show where practice could lead.
On-course scenes carried the story beyond the range. Shared bags, conversation and encouragement kept the emphasis on participation while giving continued play a visible destination.
Campaign film
Let the experience move.
Film added pace and personality to the same beginner journey, supporting the social and paid-media campaign with a fuller view of learning and playing at Horton.
04 / The result
£150k a year in membership from 1,000 new golfers.
- £150k
- additional membership revenue every year
- 1,000
- beginners in one year
- 70%
- of participants were women
- 175
- new Play & Learn+ members annually
- 100
- full annual members after a further 12 months
The programme connected beginner participation to Play & Learn+ and full annual membership over successive stages.
Figures from the original Horton Park case study.
Campaigns / Participation
Could your club make the route into golf easier to see?
Albatross can shape an inclusive participation campaign around a clear next step for beginners.
Next project
Ashford ManorMembership made more personal. ↗