FORE Magazine

Top Menu

  • About Me
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Home

Main Menu

  • Current Issue
  • Profiles
  • Sustainability
  • Travel
  • 19th Hole
  • Classic Course
  • FORE Her
  • More
    • Know the Rules
    • Handicap Hints
    • SCGA Junior
    • Where Are They Now?
    • News
    • Public Affairs
  • scga.org
Sign in / Join

Login

Welcome! Login in to your account
Lost your password?

Lost Password

Back to login

logo

FORE Magazine

  • Current Issue
  • Profiles
  • Sustainability
  • Travel
  • 19th Hole
  • Classic Course
  • FORE Her
  • More
    • Know the Rules
    • Handicap Hints
    • SCGA Junior
    • Where Are They Now?
    • News
    • Public Affairs
  • scga.org
Spring 2020
Home›Issues›Spring 2020›Club Spotlight: More Than a Golf Club

Club Spotlight: More Than a Golf Club

By Kevin Greenup
April 23, 2020
2420
0
Share:

PENMAR SOCIAL CLUB AIMS TO BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER

Hawaiian shirts, board shorts and backward baseball hats is the type of attire you’d expect to find at Venice Beach on a summer day. Head a few miles inland, though, and you may find the same at Penmar Social Club. While you may not see this type of laissez-faire getup with a “serious crowd,” it’s a perfect example of why the Penmar Social Club is so appealing to a wide variety of golfers.
Club founder Garrett Leight created an environment where competition is encouraged, but not at the cost of fun.

“We’re very clear about what our club is about,” Leight asserts. “It’s in the language we use on social media, in the emails we send to players and in the way our founding members treat our guests.”

This approach has proven to be particularly appealing to millennial golfers who are looking for a competitive outlet as life becomes busier with work and families. As a former tennis player who transitioned to golf after college, Leight hopes for his club to be a proper introduction for these players to the competitive side of the game.

“We’re introducing new people to the game, and sometimes those people aren’t going to know all the rules,” says Leight. “We tell our players to educate them instead of penalizing them.”

Now, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing on the line when the club plays.

“Adding true competition to golf just changed my love for the game,” says Leight. “Casual golf, for me, has turned into complete practice.”

The club tracks a point list throughout the season, just like the PGA Tour, and members participate in events inspired by the U.S. Open and The Masters. There are also competitions that are far from ordinary. Think tournaments where everyone putts with a blindfold on and the winner goes home with a gold chain.

“We’re always doing research on games that people play that are different and creative,” says Leight.

Penmar Social Club has existed for less than a year but has already hosted more than 100 players at their events, and it doesn’t plan on stopping there. Perhaps more important than just the number of players at their events, the club is a place where members form lasting relationships. When asked why they use the term “social club” in the official name, Leight responded that it’s “100 percent intentional.”

“We intend to have poker nights, fireside chats, events for members with families and kids and other social gatherings,” said Leight. “We’re more than just a golf club.”

Previous Article

Hands Off My Titleist!

Next Article

A Place for Everyone: Mission Bay GC

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Kevin Greenup

Related articles More from author

  • Spring 2020

    On The Road: An Insider’s Look at Life in a Tour Van

    April 26, 2020
    By Randy Youngman
  • ProfilesSpring 2020Where Are They Now?

    Pure Trajectory: Andrea Lee

    April 23, 2020
    By Judd Spicer
  • Spring 2020

    Hands Off My Titleist!

    April 23, 2020
    By David Weiss
  • Spring 2020The Podium

    The Podium: Brookside Miracle

    April 23, 2020
    By Bill Dwyre
  • Spring 2020

    A Place for Everyone: Mission Bay GC

    April 23, 2020
    By Tod Leonard
  • Spring 2020Travel

    Great Green North: The Joys of Western Canada

    April 27, 2020
    By Joe Passov

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Recent Posts

  • FeaturedSpring 2022State of the Game

    Tee Time Tribulations: Searching for the Elusive L.A. County Tee Times

  • Classic CourseFeaturedSpring 2022

    Western Home of Golf: Legends, Legacy and Looking Forward at PGA WEST

  • FeaturedSpring 2022Travel

    The Pubs of St Andrews

  • FeaturedKnow the RulesSpring 2022

    The Provisional Ball: What? How? When?

  • 19th HoleFeaturedSpring 2022

    A Community Staple: With Zaidee’s Bar & Grill, Ojai has a Place to Gather

FeaturedSpring 2022Travel

The Pubs of St Andrews

The challenge seemed daunting at first. On an eight-day trip to St Andrews, my job was to rate the pubs in this lively college town where golf began six centuries ...
  • Scotland Must-Plays & Hidden Gems: 10 Terrific Tracks that Prove the Old Course Isn’t the Only Game Around

    By Joe Passov
    April 21, 2022
  • Bob Does Hollywood: The Hardest Working Man on Instagram Finds Gold in Golf

    By Adam Hawk
    April 21, 2022
  • Not Your Father’s Game: With Two Facilities Newly Open and Callaway at the Helm, the Topgolf Explosion Comes to the Southland

    By Scott Kauffman
    April 21, 2022
  • The Provisional Ball: What? How? When?

    By Jimmy Becker
    April 21, 2022
© 2016 FORE Magazine About Us | Contact Us | Advertise