\n (Image: Damian Shields)\n<\/p>\n
\n Your own members have described Pollok as attempting to shed its “stuffy” image \u2013 is that a fair assessment?\n<\/p>\n
\n That\u2019s what it used to be like. It was very much a gentlemen\u2019s club, and it was very much the elite business people of Glasgow \u2013 lawyers, judges \u2013 and it was a bit Muirfield\u2011like in the type of membership we used to have. It was all the professions: lawyers, chartered accountants, that type.\n<\/p>\n
\n No club can rely on just that type of member now. So we are open to everybody \u2013 ladies, juniors, gentlemen. We have quite a large contingent of Chinese members, and we have Asian members; it\u2019s completely mixed \u2013 ladies, juniors, everything. So we\u2019ve opened it up to everybody and it\u2019s really, really working.\n<\/p>\n
\n How has that been achieved?\n<\/p>\n
\n The big thing is just changing the mindset. It was a bit stuffy before, but it\u2019s changed considerably over the last 10 years. We\u2019ve opened the doors, we\u2019re welcoming people in, we\u2019ve got new lady members and a steady membership overall.\n<\/p>\n
\n We\u2019ve also become much more relaxed about people coming up to the club to play. If someone\u2019s working in town and wants a game of golf, they just have to look at the phone \u2013 there is a space. There\u2019s always space and they\u2019ll be welcome; if there wasn\u2019t a space they\u2019d be welcome to join somebody else.\n<\/p>\n
\n Andrew McIntyre, Pollok’s new general manager, began his career as an assistant professional at Ranfurly Castle Golf Club and has also worked at Cameron House, Mar Hall, and latterly Hilton Park (Image: Supplied)\n<\/p>\n
\n When and why did you open up to female membership?\n<\/p>\n
\n Ladies were brought in about 10 or 11 years ago now \u2013 I can\u2019t give you the exact date, but it\u2019s about 10 years ago.\n<\/p>\n
\n It was a conscious decision at that time because the R&A had said to Glasgow Golf Club<\/a> at Killermont and to Western Gailes<\/a> that it wasn\u2019t acceptable for clubs these days to have a solely male membership. And our own members really wanted to have lady members as well \u2013 we really did \u2013 and it was time for that change.\n<\/p>\n \n I think the switch was when the R&A were discussing it with other clubs and said, \u201cYou won\u2019t get your Open Championship if you don\u2019t have lady members<\/a>.\u201d At that point we said, \u201cNo, we are changing now.\u201d So we were very quick to react on that, quicker than many others.\n<\/p>\n \n What does your membership look like today?\n<\/p>\n \n Ordinary membership is 520 and is capped at 550, to preserve easy tee access for the people who pay the full fee. Total membership is around 580, and it\u2019s been steady at that level for the last three years.\n<\/p>\n \n \n We haven\u2019t lost members other than through age or people no longer able to play, and they\u2019re being replaced by new members coming in. There\u2019s quite an active new membership at the moment, and we\u2019re now a much more diverse club. We’ve got 28 women in our ladies’ section, and we’d like to double that.\n<\/p>\n \n What are you looking for from Andrew McIntyre, your new general manager?\n<\/p>\nPlay out of the bunker along the 1st (Image: Supplied)\n<\/p>\n