June 10, 2025
President’s Report: JPMGC Membership Survey Responses Heartening and Illuminating
By Mark Ohrenschall, President, Jackson Park Men’s Golf Club
Jackson Park Men’s Golf Club exists to serve our members.
With that in mind, we recently conducted an online membership survey to gauge your views about the club and about Jackson Park.
The response was heartening and illuminating.
Heartening: We received 105 completed surveys, representing about 20 percent of our regular membership. That indicates many of you care enough about the club to share your thoughts.
Illuminating: The responses–both collective and individual–provide abundant information on your likes, dislikes and suggestions to serve our membership.
It’s too soon to know exactly what will come out of this survey, which closed in early May. Your JPMGC Board of Trustees is just starting to examine the responses.
But after reviewing the survey results and making 10 pages of handwritten notes, I’ll share a few preliminary observations/thoughts.
First, a large number of respondents expressed support of and appreciation for the club and its offerings. One member wrote: “I like the competition, tournaments and meeting like-minded competitive golfers.” Another wrote: “Just being a part of the men’s club is fun and meeting all the different members and playing with others has been great in expanding my golfing circle.”
As those comments suggest and the overall responses confirm, club competitions and connecting with other golfers are high priorities for members.
On the question of what you value most about membership, checking all that apply, the biggest vote-getter was tournament competitions (79 percent). That was followed by, in order, handicap services (73.3 percent), meeting fellow golfers (70.5 percent), club camaraderie (55.2 percent), winning book money (54.3 percent), getting tee times at Jackson Park (49.5 percent) and the 10-percent pro-shop merchandise discount for members (29.5 percent).
The survey also inquired about member golf goals for 2025. The most popular responses, by far, revolved around playing better, either lowering handicap indexes and/or improving games, generally or specifically. One member wrote: “Lower overall scores, shoot in the 75-78 range consistently and lower my putts below 30 per round. Tighten up my short pitches and chips. 70-80 percent of drives in play and the rest still playable. Minimize big mistakes and take advantage of opportunities to score. You know; what all golfers want!” Hear, hear!
Playing more and having fun were other oft-listed goals.
We also received (and I appreciated reading) hundreds of thoughtful and occasionally detailed individual comments on specific topics including club communications, rules, tournaments, course conditions, pace of play and Jackson Park facilities such as the restaurant and pro shop.
Although the survey was anonymous, some general demographic information emerged.
Survey respondents were primarily newer members; nearly 60 percent have been members 2-5 years, 15.2 percent 6-10 years and 12.4 percent 1 year or less. They also tend to be active: About one-third of respondents typically play five or more events per month during the season, and another 28.5 percent play three or four events per month.
And, the survey shows JPMGC members materially boost Jackson Park revenue, outside of greens/tournaments fees and cart rentals. Nearly 45 percent of respondents report spending $26-$75 monthly on items like pro shop merchandise, driving range buckets and food/beverage, while about 33 percent spend $76 or more monthly. Although we did not break out book money in this query, responding club members spend a collective minimum of at least $50,000 annually beyond greens/tournament fees and cart rentals. The true and total economic impact to Jackson Park of the JPMGC membership is likely much, much greater.
Many thanks to members who completed this survey. All responses will be reviewed and considered, as your board decides how to proceed.
A couple of other things to bear in mind in the meantime:
- While JPMGC works closely with Jackson Park management, especially on tournaments, we as a club have no direct authority over the golf courses or facilities. Jackson Park is owned by the City of Seattle and managed by Premier Golf. We will share membership survey results with those entities, and continue to engage with them on behalf of our members.
- The club website offers a wealth of information on tournaments, rules, pace of play, membership, score posting, club history, board of trustees and more. It also includes a section on general club info and FAQs. We encourage you to access it: https://www.jacksonparkmensgolfclub.org/.
As we near the midpoint of 2025 and head into summer, best wishes to all for a successful golf season, however you define success.