Wanganui Golf Club has seen an increase in local and visiting players, despite being closed over lockdowns.
Club president John Maslin said while it would be good if the surge continued, once international borders opened "those people will probably go overseas for their holiday, like they're always going to do".
"Our membership has dwindled, so that's our next challenge. What do we do? How do we get members and people interested in playing golf?"
The club's Belmont Golf Course has been a social hub for 125 years and is currently ranked one of the top 20 courses in New Zealand.
Like most clubs around the country, it relies on volunteers.
Volunteer co-ordinator Ron Hussey said 2012 was the most challenging year, thanks to a big storm.
"It smashed the course and trees all across the course," he said.
"It was closed for 23 weeks so we all banded together.
"People with chainsaws came out here and started clearing. That went on for months and months before we got it all cleared up.
"Then the group just said, 'well, why don't we just keep on going?' So since 2012 we've been meeting on a weekly basis."
A fire in 2001 razed the original clubhouse and a new one was rebuilt with function rooms for hire.
While it brings in extra income, the club has had to think creatively to supplement its income by planting and harvesting pine trees.
The original practice range has been subdivided for real estate, with a number of desirable house sites overlooking the course.
Maslin said the money was needed to keep the club running.
Golf clubs nowadays struggled, with one or two exceptions, he said.
"It's a real balancing act because some years ago the club had a membership of 1,000, well before my time, and it was really humming.
"Over time our membership has decreased."
He said golf was "a game of fractions".
"You can enjoy it by being able to hit the ball well and consistently, or you can flounder around like a beached whale and not hit anything consistently and wonder why you do it.
"It's a game that can do your head in.
"Maybe that's the masochist in all of us, it keeps drawing us back.
"You can have a really bad round and you say, 'Bugger it, I'm not going to give in to this', so you come back and thrash yourself again the next week.
"But that's the beauty of the game, in an odd way. It's wonderful."