At the Plouescat Golf course, “we don’t raise our prices precisely to attract young people”

What profiles can we find among the 130 members of the Côte des Sables Golf course, approved for nine holes since 2020?

Michel Cueff, manager of the 9-hole Côte des Sables golf course, in Plouescat: Here, you have to admit, it's more elderly than 40-50 years old (laughs). Among our members, we mainly have a majority of retirees over 60 years old. Our youngest members tend to be in the 30-40 year old age group. Afterwards, between 2020 and 2023, we did not have a golf teacher, so it attracted fewer young people.

But since March 2024, we have had a teacher and he will return in March 2025 with three lessons per week. Thanks to this, we have already gained around twenty memberships. He also does initiations in the schools of Cléder and Plouescat. In September, we had 45 students between 9 and 11 years old in Cléder who came to learn golf and, next March, he will introduce the students from Plouescat. We hope that this will attract more young people.

For those under 18, annual membership costs €150. It’s a way to ensure that golf is accessible to as many people as possible.

How do you explain this apparent disenchantment among young people with playing golf?

Golf has a reputation for being expensive, between the membership and the equipment that goes with it. But we have attractive prices (€600 for a single person, €900 for a couple) and we do not raise our prices precisely to attract young people. For those under 18, annual membership costs €150. It’s a way to ensure that golf is accessible to as many people as possible.

I play almost 30 times a year and it's true that when you play golf, you completely empty your mind, you only think about the ball. If we have problems, they go away quickly. And then, even if it's a hobby, it remains physical. Contrary to what you may hear, it's a real sport: you walk, you kick the ball…