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New impetus for National County Card as 600 North American venues sign up

The clamour to join National County Card has reached new heights with more than 1,000 clubs having joined the ground-breaking new scheme for private members clubs since its launch at the end of last year.

Clubs across Spain, Mallorca, Tenerife and Turkey have followed hundreds of courses in the UK in registering for the innovative concept over the last five months.

But it is not just at some of the best courses in Europe that National County Card (NCC) holders will be able to play discounted golf, with more than 600 venues in North America matching their European counterparts’ enthusiasm for the concept and signing up.

Get Noticed Ltd, the golf media company behind NCC, has negotiated the best possible rates with the golf clubs and, because the company isn’t a tour operator, it passes back all the benefit to the end user.

Clubs and their members will start to benefit from the National County Card (NCC) with the launch of the scheme scheduled to commence in the next month.

Rob Sutton, joint managing director of Get Noticed Ltd, who are based in Cheshire, said: “Not only have we secured the best possible rates for NCC holders, we are also confident that our partners will offer our members the best possible service wherever they are travelling, whether it be in the UK or abroad, and that they will also sort out deals on buggies, transfers and club hire if required.”

From this summer, NCC members will be able to play hundreds of clubs across the UK and Europe.

All the Costa del Sol courses including San Roque - past host of the Spanish Open and European Tour School final qualifying - La Cala, Mijas and Rio Real have joined the scheme.

In addition, card holders will also receive reduced green fees at all courses in Murcia including La Manga through Club Murcia, 25 Catalonian venues via Barcelona Golf, venues in Benidorm, Alicante, Villamartin, Algorfa, Quesada and the magnificent Nicklaus Trail from the Golf Factory.

All 23 courses in Mallorca - including Marriott Son Antem - and each of Tenerife’s eight challenging layouts quickly signed up to the concept earlier this year, while 18 courses in Turkey’s Belek region have also joined including The National, PGA Pasha and Sultan courses and the newly-opened Papillon Montgomerie course.

But NCC members will not just restricted to the best deals in Europe - thanks to an innovative new deal Get Noticed Ltd has signed with Golfpac in the United States.

The new agreement means that card holders can benefit from discounted rates at more than 600 courses across North America, with locations ranging from Florida in the south and California in the west to as far a-field as Michigan, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas and Virginia - and even Puerto Rica.

National County Card is free to join for private members clubs while any of their members with a valid handicap certificate can buy a card for just £25.

In addition, each club enrolling in the ground-breaking concept will receive their own tailor-made advertising campaign at a nearby driving range aimed at increasing membership and visitor levels.

They will also be rewarded with a payment of £5 for every one of their club members that joins - which will be repeated on an annual basis when the person renews their membership. All cards are bought online meaning no administration for any golf club.

The launch of the new card will also be combined with a national advertising and poster campaign in private members clubs and driving ranges inviting golfers to join.

Sutton added: “NCC is the only card scheme to reward golf clubs when their members are away on business, holiday and weekend breaks. Furthermore, members from all enrolled clubs when travelling will no doubt automatically look for a NCC club to play golf when in that area.

“I am convinced that, once we have the scheme in full operation, there will be a huge reduction in availability for casual golfers who play on discount green fee vouchers.

“This will eventually lead to more of them thinking about the possibility of joining a clubs which can only be good for the golf club industry as a whole.

“At the very least, it will hopefully allow clubs to charge proper green fees for their courses instead of having to discount their product.”

For more information on National County Card, click here.

May 30, 2008