Increasing Golfer Retention Through Belonging – Dr Sue Shapcott

Retention is one of the biggest challenges golf faces, and most discussions about it stay at the surface – friendliness, welcome events, a warm smile at the door. Dr Sue Shapcott goes deeper. Drawing on research conducted with 650 golfers in partnership with Golf Australia, she identifies the specific psychological factors that predict whether a golfer will come back, take more lessons, and invite their friends to play. The findings are clear: sense of belonging – built through a growth-minded culture and an environment low in stereotyping – is the single strongest predictor of the future behaviours the golf industry needs. This session translates that research into practical steps any coach, club, or facility can act on.

💡 What You’ll Learn

• The three pillars of sense of belonging – membership, acceptance, and positive affect – and what each one means in a golf setting
• Why cultural mindset (growth vs. fixed) is one of the two strongest predictors of a golfer’s sense of belonging, and how your website copy and verbal feedback either reinforce or undermine it
• What environmental stereotyping is, how it shows up in golf marketing and on-course culture, and why even small signals – jokes, imagery, off-hand comments – have a measurable effect
• How sense of belonging is the single consistent predictor across three key behaviours: future participation, taking more lessons, and inviting others to play
• Why years playing golf and type of facility (public vs. private) are not predictors of belonging – and what that means for how you target your retention efforts
• Practical strategies for facilitating belonging at the individual lesson level, in group settings, and through events that combine social and instructional elements
• How to audit your own communications – emails, websites, imagery – through the lens of growth mindset and inclusion to identify where you may be unintentionally reducing belonging

👥 Who is This For?

• PGA Professionals and golf coaches who want to improve student retention and grow their lesson business
• Club managers and directors of golf responsible for membership retention and participation programmes
• Golf development officers working to attract and keep underrepresented groups in the game
• Anyone involved in golf marketing or communications who wants to understand how language and imagery affect who feels welcome
• Coaches and administrators looking for research-backed frameworks to support inclusion initiatives

📂 Format & Structure

• 1 video Masterclass (approx. 38 minutes, including live Q&A)
• Estimated completion time: under 1 hour
• Watch at your own pace, on any device

🎤 About the Speaker

Dr Sue Shapcott, PhD, PGA GB&I, is the founder and Director of Instruction at Change Golf Instruction in Madison, Wisconsin. A member of the British PGA who qualified in 1996, she played on the European Tour and represented England in the 1988 Curtis Cup before moving to the United States in 2000. After working with Hank Haney in Dallas, she pursued a research route that led to a PhD in Education from the University of Bath, with a specialism in educational psychology. Her research centres on the role coaches and environments play in retaining golfers – work she has carried out in partnership with Golf Australia. She is a regular contributor to CPG and has been named among Wisconsin’s top instructors by Golf Digest.

The CPG Masterclass Series embodies a range of talks and presentations for PGAs and PGA Professionals that cover a variety of subjects and topics, delivered by world-class, industry leading experts from their respective fields.