Rocking The Boat: A Golf Club’s Struggle With Assimilation Of Members ‘Who Don’t Conform’

Abstract

This research seeks to find out the effect of assimilating members who have hitherto not been able to access the services of these closed-in groups. The research employed an ethnographic approach in which the researchers interacted closely with other club members for a one-year period. During this time, the researchers observed the interactions among club members, held interviews with some of them, and examined archival data held at the club. Content analysis was used to analyze the large amount of data. Findings indicate that there are many benefits accruing to the club as a result of admitting new “different” members. Some of these benefits include, increased funding, more patronage, diversity and expanded quality of league players. However, there are problems in areas such as club norms, facilities, social change and the pain of sudden change for the established members. Several recommendations that can hasten and ease the assimilation of members with diverse characteristics and preferences have been advanced.