With membership and volunteers on the decline to run clubs, Aspden feels it's imperative for the meeting to consider where golf will be in a decade.
"It's about, in an ideal world, coming out with an option that people in the golfing community can say we like this and we want to support it for the future."
Pooling resources to offer a driving range is an example.
"People need more reasons to go through the gates of a sporting facility," he says, emphasising the model of Golflands, the home of Karamu Golf Club, offers a glimpse into the future with a driving range, foot golf, putt-putt golf, tennis courts and a cafe.
Aspden says CHB has a significantly higher proportion of clubs when juxtaposed with even the country - one course to 10,000 people while the Bay has one for 3000.
While he didn't have a sense of what is a right number of courses, he stresses an ageing membership will also take its toll.
Funding and maintaining courses are the key issues.
"I think what is important is having an open and honest discussion about that while the clubs are in a reasonably strong state."
Unlike many other codes, the membership has an affiliation with a club that is steeped in history and tradition tend to extend "beyond the club".
Aspden says amalgamation is an option and so is the cost-sharing of equipment between courses.
"People may feel strongly about this because they may have played the course for 50-plus years. They might also be the ones who mowed it a lot of times in that 50 years."
Consequently the forum tomorrow night will provide an ideal platform for what sort of legacy golf lovers wish to leave for the province.
The stark reality is a decade on, if not sooner, club members in Hastings and Napier, will be brainstorming similar issues.
"Fewer people want to spend the number of hours it takes on a golf course every weekend ... and that's a worldwide trend as well so there's a good chance all clubs in the region will want to have this sort of reflection."
Aspden says it's prudent to tee up issues now on the foundation of a strong membership and robust committee rather than when clubs start becoming extinct.
Is golf on a losing battle with an ageing membership and a disinterested Y-Generation?
He believes that's the thrust of the discussion and an area they need to explore.
"We then need to get out to the younger people in the region and ask them what would attract you to the course and what'll help you play golf."
If the feedback is that nothing will entice them then the status quo will prevail.
Conversely if there are factors that will beckon them then it's imperative to see what is doable.
Clubs are struggling to break even so the challenge is to find a balance between the condition of a desired course and the money to invest in acquiring it so it's a catch-22 situation.
"You can probably cut back green fees but accept that greens will be mowed twice a week rather than three or four times."
Hastings Golf Club and the neighbouring Hawke's Bay Golf Club more than a decade ago toyed with the idea of developing their premises into a country club-type of venture but didn't act on it.
Hastings club even commissioned an American course designer for a feasibility exercise but stalwarts, including the late Stuart "The Emperor" Jones, were vociferous in their opposition on "thinking big" for fear of depriving the average member of playing purely in the affordability stakes.
Aspden says no finger is pointed at clubs because it's simply "the way society is going" and it's part of a collective pinch that most codes are facing in terms of gaming funds and drop in bar revenue while health and safety poses its share of challenges.
"It's becoming harder and harder to run a club each year and that's the reality."
He says tomorrow's meeting is a public one and not confined to the golfing community.
