GolfManagement Europe

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Will the International Golf Federation’s bid to include golf in the 2016 Olympic Games really

benefit the game at grass roots level?page 20

breaking new groundTroon Golf, the undisputed leader in upscale golf course management, continues its global expansion

issue 65march 2009

ThE lEadinG businEss MaGazinE for ThE pan-EuropEan Golf indusTry

The Dunes C

ourse at Costa N

avarino, Messinia, G

reece

MarCh 2009 GME 3

publisher’s editorial

aesop had it wrong. It isn’t necessarily a bad thing to quicken your pace. Be-tween the tortoise and the hare there is another option – and golf is desperately in need of finding it.

Even the r&a, which in terms of react-ing to change in the game is much closer to aesop’s tortoise than any genus of turtle, has realised slow play is a blight on the modern game.

Last year, the r&a’s chief executive, Peter Dawson said: “We are concerned about it (slow play). We saw some very slow play at the Masters and we are hop-ing to get a meeting of minds and some improvements.

“It’s not just at major events. It’s the effect it has at grass-roots level. We’d like to look at educating players and penalising them. and I think the elite amateur game has a piece of the blame because, anecdotally, coaches are encouraging complicated and time-consuming pre-shot routines.”

That statement preceded a meeting designed to formulate a methodology for punishing the practise. But very little has been done since.

Current rules allow for “slow” players to be punished with fines and in some cases, penalty shots — but there is always a reluctance to use the powers available to the game’s authorities.

and it’s all very well for Dawson to blame the elite amateur game, but that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Those youngsters are just emulating what their heroes do on television. and club golfers are the same.

If a pro spends ages lining up a putt or contemplating his club selection in a tour event then chances are your partner in the next monthly medal won’t see any harm in doing the same.

Speed of play is often cited as one of the main reasons why people are leaving the sport of golf in droves. If that is the case the authorities need to demonstrate some speed of their own and nip this particular disease in the bud.

Professional golfers are hardly likely to be deterred by the threat of fines.

With the many millions that some pros earn on tour each year, how much differ-ence would a £15,000 fine really make?

If the authorities have to introduce the seemingly Draconian measure of penalty shots, then so be it.

It was said recently that Tiger Woods’ return would ‘resuscitate’ golf – while we’re waiting for that to happen the golf industry, and clubs in particular, should actually do a little CPr of its own… GME

penalty! it’s the only cure to slow play.

Michael lenihanlenihan@portman.uk.com

When it comes to upscale golf course management, nobody does it better than Troon Golf.

5

a new golf resort in Turkey can now boast the first links course in the Mediterranean.

15

according to the PGa, the club pro has a future that’s worth fighting for.

18

Vice president of International Business for The Toro Company, Darren redetzke, talks to GME.

23

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“the authorities need to demonstrate some speed of their own and nip this particular disease in the bud”

4 GME MarCh 2009

Lely UK and The Toro Company recently celebrat-ed two very important mile-stones – the 40th anniversary of Lely in the UK and the 25th anniversary of Lely’s distributorship of Toro turf maintenance machinery.

Lely first arrived in the UK in the late 1960s when it start-ed distributing specialist agricultural machinery from Dutch parent company, the Lely Group, from humble headquarters in the town of St Neots in Cambridgeshire.

“Lely UK and Toro have stood the test of time and it is with enormous pride that we as a company celebrate these significant milestones,”

said managing director Graham Dale. “Our success is testament to the strength of the Lely team, many of whom have been with us for several years, as well as the

positive partnership we have forged with The Toro Company, and so I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their considerable contribution.”

headline news

Colt Mackenzie McNair, the specialist executive search firm which offers recruitment solutions to the global golf industry, has launched a new web-based service enabling golf busi-nesses to fill lower to middle management vacancies, while helping industry profes-sionals looking to develop their careers.

The portal, called CMM Select www.coltmm.com allows golf businesses to advertise vacancies free of charge, with a placement fee applied only if an appointment is made via the service.

“CMM Select is an impor-tant, new, cost effective service that will help golf businesses to publicise vacancies not only to the whole of the international golf business, but to other sectors and industries where candidates with transferable skills can be attracted into golf,” said richard Wood, co-founder of Colt Mackenzie McNair.

“We have launched a global marketing campaign to raise awareness of CMM Select, targeting best-of-breed professionals operat-ing in the retail, sales and marketing, catering and hospitality industries.”

The CMM Select portal, which is part of Colt Mackenzie McNair’s new website, will also benefit indi-viduals already working in golf looking to develop their careers.

Visitors to the site will be able to view vacancies in real time, searching by job title, job type, region and salary band. Candidates wishing to apply for a job will be able to do so online, as well as uploading their CVs to be considered for future positions.

More than 50 vacancies are already ready to view on the site – including club managers, directors of golf, sales executives, food and beverage managers, retail managers, greenkeepers and estate managers.

“This is an important inno-vation for the golf industry which, traditionally, has not taken a professional approach to recruitment,” continued Wood.

“There has been far too much reliance on personal networking and word of mouth.

“For certain positions, including sales and market-ing, I think golf businesses should look to recruit from outside the industry, bringing in professional experience and fresh ideas from sectors such as leisure, retail and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG).”

Colt Mackenzie McNair, which specialises in execu-tive search for golf business-es in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and africa, and

asia Pacific, is also offering a new, managed service to support CMM Select.

The service will enable golf clubs and golf businesses without their own internal hr departments to benefit from advice including bench-marking, collating CVs, candidate profiling and applicant shortlisting, all for a set fee.

Wood added: “It’s ironic that we should be talking about recruitment when many golf businesses are considering redundancies in 2009.

“however, it underlines the point that if you want your business to succeed, you have to have the best people – and CMM Select is the ideal solution to finding outstanding talent.”

Web-based service from CMM select

a lost golf ball has been found embedded deep in the trunk of a tree at a golf club in Norfolk.

The tree had apparent-ly grown around the ball which had probably been lodged in its branches many years ago.

It was discovered when richard Mitchell, green-keeper at the Eaton club in Norwich, felled the conifer and cut it into pieces, only to find the ball perfectly encased in the wood.

Club manager Peter Johns said: “It’s an incred-ible find. It was pure luck that it was discovered. If richard had cut the trunk an inch or two either way we’d never have known the ball was there.”

Club officials now plan to use the cross-section as a unique honour board to record all holes-in-one at the short ninth hole.

The EGU and English Women’s Golf association are launching a new resource to help golf clubs recruit and retain members.

richard Flint, EGU/EWGa Golf Development Manager commented: “The Toolkit is a

comprehensive guide for any golf club looking for ideas on how to recruit and retain members of all ages.

“Golf clubs can pick and choose which resources they want to use and adapt the ideas to best suit them.

“along with support from the EGU and EWGa Development Officers, it is hoped it will help golf clubs offer sustainable opportuni-ties and packages to members and players,” he concluded.

EGu launch retention Toolkit

happy anniversary lely and Toro

MarCh 2009 GME 5

on the cover

faCTfilE;

Troon Golf EMaavenue Louis-Casai 53

Ch-1216 CointrinVernier

Switzerland

TEl; (41) 22 770 5050 faX; (47) 22 770 5051

info@troongolf.com

WEblinK; TrOONGOLF.COM

Following five years of expansion in Europe, the Middle East and africa, Troon Golf has seen tradi-tional regions for golf course development expand.

areas previously bereft of golfing ambitions are now committing to golf and creating high end resorts, with Greece, russia, Morocco, Egypt and Turkey just five countries where Troon Golf has helped golf course owners realise their visions.

Offering a comprehensive menu of services tailored to individual owners and devel-opers, Troon Golf has an impressive track record of delivering profitability whilst ensuring an unmatched guest experience.

Some of the exciting new golf destinations that Troon Golf is actively involved in include; Costa Navarino, in the stunning region of Messinia, where both robert

Trent Jones Jnr and Bernhard Langer courses are under construction; Greg Norman’s allegria course in Egypt, that boasts unforget-table views of the ancient pyramids and Belek Golf Club in Turkey, designed by Jose Maria Olazabal.

Morocco and russia have also welcomed Troon Golf to boost the quality of its golfing destinations.

Don Golf and Country Club near rostov-on-Don (pictured) and agalarov Estates in Moscow, russia have benefited from the knowledge of Troon Golf’s agronomists to ensure they thrive in the testing climate.

Mazagan resort on the coastal shoreline of El Jadida, Morocco – which has been designed by Gary Player – is another addition to the Troon Golf portfolio.

It is clear golf course owners and developers are intent on pursuing their golf aspirations, even in difficult economic times.

That said, investment in times like these only fuels the desire for success and with the impressive track record of Troon Golf and the much sought after ‘Troon Experience’, the dreams of creating tomorrow’s iconic golf destinations can be achieved today. GME

Troon Golf breaking new Ground around the Globe

6 GME MarCh 2009

The Tiger Woods Dubai, an exclusive 55 million sq ft golf community development and a member of Tatweer Dubai, has announced the appointment of Patrick Bowers as general manager of the al ruwaya Golf Club.

a highly respected veter-an within the golfing indus-try, Bowers will bring 20 years of international operating

experience to The Tiger Woods Dubai.

Bowers will be heading a team of dedicated profes-sionals on behalf of IMG Golf Course Management, who are al ruwaya Golf Club’s operators.

he joins the organisation following time as vice presi-dent - golf at Dubai Event Management Corporation.

This will mark Bowers’ second tenure with IMG, having spent eight years as vice president, golf course services responsible for their global golf club manage-ment business.

abdulla al Gurg, project director, The Tiger Woods Dubai, said: “Bowers will bring his rich industry experi-ence to The Tiger Woods Dubai and will be instrumen-tal in establishing Tatweer’s vision of excellence in all facets of operations for al ruwaya Golf Club.

"I am confident that IMG, with Patrick as the general manager will deliver the outstanding golfing experi-ence that our sophisticated membership and high profile guests would expect.”

Under the guidance of IMG, Bowers will manage all aspects of the al ruwaya Golf Club including its pre-opening, clubhouse opera-tions, golf course operations, membership program and major golf tournament procurement.

news

Hallamshire Golf Club has signed a Toro exclusivity agreement. The Shef-field club, which recently celebrated its centenary, had always shied away from committing to a single machinery manu-facturer, but its positive experiences with its exist-ing Toro kit convinced the committee to agree to the five-year deal.

Plans for a world-class golf course, backed by Darren Clarke, that could position an angus holiday village as a premier golf tourism destination have been unveiled. Planning permission is to be sought by Mike Forbes, the local entrepreneur behind the successful Forbes of Kingennie country resort, to create the 18-hole golf course development.

The English Golf Union has launched a series of initiatives to help golf clubs deal with the cur-rent economic climate and the increased risk of golfers moving away from club membership.

Troon Golf has been selected to manage Flaxby Country Club in England, which is set to become one of the pre-mier golf clubs and leisure venues in the UK. Plans were recently unveiled by The Skelwith Group to build the area’s largest luxury hotel around the existing 27-hole course.

The Celtic Manor Resort has launched a new Country Membership for its prestigious Twenty Ten Club, encouraging golfers from all over the United Kingdom to become a real part of next year’s ryder Cup.

in briEf; bowers secures new role at Tiger Woods dubai

KPMG’s Golf Business Forum at The Celtic Manor resort, May 4-6, 2009, will feature a world-class line-up of speakers.

The conference will focus on, among other topics, the current economic climate and hear from the best in the business on how to ride out the storm.

among those set to address the Forum are Joe Beditz, CEO of the National Golf Foundation, Tenniel Chu, executive director of Mission hills, China, Neil hobday, project director of the Trump International Golf Links, Scotland, and Jonathan Orr, financial director of the European Tour.

arnold Palmer will also attend the event in person to receive the Forum’s Lifetime achievement award.

“Clearly, the global economic downturn is also having an impact on golf throughout the EMa region

and beyond, and, in times like these, all golf businesses can benefit from the shared experience and expertise that our speakers will offer,” said andrea Sartori, head of KPMG's Golf advisory Practice in Europe, the Middle East and africa.

representatives of the English Women’s Golf association and the English Golf Union have met to re-open talks on the possibili-ty of a merger between the two organisations.

It was agreed at a meet-ing held at The Belfry in February to explore the proposal in more detail.

a series of steering group sessions is being scheduled over the next few months, and representatives from both organisations will be briefed on progress at the end of June.

Sue Whittaker, chairman of the EWGa management board said: “The initial meet-ing went well and provided

an excellent opportunity for the two organisations to exchange views in an infor-mal setting.”

Nigel Evans, chairman of the EGU board, said: “The meeting was positive and allowed both organisations to highlight the numerous areas that need to be considered."

Merger talks continue at the EWGa

KpMG line-up star performers

MarCh 2009 GME 7

news

Close house could rival Slaley hall as the North-East’s top golf course after plan-ners gave a £7.5m scheme to build a new course and clubhouse the go-ahead.

The project is set to trans-form Close house into a lay-out capable of attracting a top tournament and work should be completed on the course and clubhouse at heddon on the Wall in Northumberland by 2011.

There is already a hotel on site which is owned by Sage co-founder Graham Wylie.

Work will start immediately on the course and club-house which will have pano-ramic views over the Tyne Valley, a 60-seat restaurant and conference facilities, and a golf academy with driving range.

Scott McPherson has been hired to design what will be known as the Colt Course, which has been named after harry Colt, and alan Graham, a director of Close house, said: “We are very excited by the new devel-opments.

"This is part of a ten-year plan to make Close house one of the finest places in the North East.”

he added Close house hoped to host a significant tournament on the new championship-standard course and that the inten-tion was to demolish an existing 1960s changing block, built by Newcastle University, and replace it with a state-of-the-art club-house.

“This will be a champion-ship standard golf course.

"It will be of a much higher standard than the existing course which will attract a competition at some time in the future, if we can get the right tournament.”

Wylie has been steadily buying up around 200 acres of land from farmers to the north and west of the exist-ing golf course to provide space to create the lay-out and he has already made massive investment since he acquired Close house from Newcastle University in the summer of 2004.

ramside hall hotel and Golf, situated just two miles from the centre of Durham, has recently purchased five electric E-Z-GO rXV's from local dealer rickerby Ltd, for use on their three nine-hole courses.

robin Smith, director of golf said: “We run a mixed fleet here, but we always put the rXV's out first

because we know that we can get a least two and even three rounds from a single charge.

"Once they have gone out we use our other buggies, knowing that if the demand warrants it we can send out the rXV's for a second or third time.

"They really are cost-effec-tive to operate."

rXV impresses smith at ramside hall hotel

Wylie closes the deal to transform Close house

8 GME MarCh 2009

news

The digital age has well and truly arrived and golf courses are not immune to its arrival.

It may seem that comput-ers and all their technology are at odds with the natural elements and outdoors nature of golf, but in the right hands, computer generated visualisations can really enhance how a golf course presents itself.

Today’s golfer wants to make an informed decision as to where he plays his golf, and ever more this decision will be made whilst surfing the Internet.

One company which has embraced the idea of digit-al golf is Jeff howes Golf Design.

Based in Ireland, the firm is widely recgonised as one of Europe’s top golf course design companies, and their new 3D division has really set the standard in digital 3D visualisation.

Computer visualisations are not necessarily a new idea, but the level of realism being offered by JhGD has not been seen before.

“Often CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) can resemble cartoons, but our flybys are photorealistic,” said Jeff howes proudly.

“Whether a client is look-ing to launch a new course or simply market an existing one, JhGD can provide an extremely accurate digital preview.

“Where we saw 3D visuali-sation really earning its stripes is in the marketing of a course,” added howes.

“Not only will we be able to build a near exact virtual version of a course, but our design team will put all the available products together in a marketing package.”

What makes the JhGD approach unique is the

range of products encom-passed in the marketing package such as flybys, yardage books and websites are all available from one source.

The insertion of sponsors into all of these products can be a steady revenue stream for the club and may even offset the initial cost outlay in the very first year.

JhGd launches 3d Visualisation division

Construction has start-ed on another harradine course in the Emirate of Sharjah. Sharjah Golf Club is an 18 hole golf course featuring an enor-mous down hill driving range.

The fantastic dunes have provided a great layout which meanders in and along the spectacu-lar landscape.

The clubhouse will be perched at the highest point of the site and will provide spectacular views of the driving range and half the course.

The par 72 course, totals 7,203 yards from the back tees and will offer dramatic contouring, strategic hazards, seven big lakes and many natu-ral rough areas.

The contractor al Ula Int’l Eng and Cont. Co. LLC has been given 200 days to complete phase one of the project which includes staking the complete site, bulk earth-works and other ancillary tasks.

Documents for phase two, which includes the complete construction of lakes, golf course, irriga-tion and lighting, are being prepared with a view to go to tender by mid april.

When head greenkeeper Mark hastry was having problems with the irrigation system at The heworth Golf Club in Gateshead, he was keen to get them sorted out as quickly as possible.

The solution came in the shape of a new John Deere aurora irrigation controller, the first commercial unit installed on a golf course in the UK.

The installation was carried out last summer by Full Circle Irrigation Services of Knaresborough, with equipment supplied by John Deere dealer Greenlay.

“Full Circle did a few jobs for me and got my original control box ticking over, but it really needed replacing,” said hastry.

“The controller wasn’t working as efficiently as it could be,” added hastry.

“We had a number of electrical problems, and the

system basically wouldn’t allow us to do what we wanted it to.”

after hastry recommend-ed their work, director Geoff Lowes of Greenlay arranged for Full Circle to have a demonstration of John Deere’s new aurora control-ler.

“With irrigation systems, as with any other key piece of

golf course equipment, you have to know what you’re doing, so we had to find the right people to provide the right service,” he says.

“Full Circle are a good fit for us and for the product range – we sell the parts and systems, and they have the specialist installation knowledge and experi-ence.”

Quality control the solution at heworth

Tulfarris house and Golf resort, in Wicklow, has been forced to secure temporary protection from its creditors by putting itself into examin-ership, with Grant Thornton overseeing the process.

The move came less than a month before the property was to re-open after a major refurbishment.

Manager Marco Cassani insisted, however, it was business as usual: “I can confirm that the resort has gone into examinership.

“as far as we’re concerned, it’s business as usual. We’ll be going ahead with the reopening in March, and we’ll be working with Grant Thornton on that.”

Examinership is an Irish legal process which allows insolvent companies tempo-rary protection from their creditors while they restruc-ture their businesses.

The process is dependent on finding new investors, something which examiners are finding harder to do in the current climate.

irish club files for Examinership

MarCh 2009 GME 9

news

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Find out how over 600 Golf Clubs in UK, such as Royal Troon, Carnoustie, Muirfield, Wentworth, Woburn and Royal St Georges, cut facilities costs whilst improving levels of service for their golfers.

They chose FAIRWAY™ Golf Shoe and Trolley cleaning stations from Air-Eze Ltd.

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Niblick Golf Design has secured a prestigious contract to design a 72-par, 18-hole course on a remark-able site near Lisbon.

Located just north of the Portuguese capital, the project will be the closest golf resort to the city’s inter-national airport which is 14 km south east of the site.

Surrounded by leafy suburbs and adjacent to a new medical facility, the property is a challenging mix

of sweeping undulations and new forest.

Indeed, with a 30 metre change in elevation between the highest tee and the lowest green, it may have unnerved lesser design practices less familiar with testing terrain.

“We got the job because it’s a very tough site,” says Brian Phillips, director at Niblick Golf Design. “We’re very comfortable in that environment.

"In fact, the fun part for us was preparing the routing because it was so challeng-ing. To get 18 playable holes onto a site of that size required a lot of work. But we did it.”

The initial designs weave through 125 ha of rolling land creating a par 72 course that reaches just under 6,600 yards.

To make the course fit like a glove, Niblick adopted a painstaking approach and

worked closely with the clients Fibeira Sa.

“We spent a lot of time on site familiarising ourselves with the land and learning about what the client want-ed to achieve,” he added.

“We also worked closely with avoguis Golf Global Solutions, a Portuguese golf consultancy which is advis-ing the client throughout the project and will manage and maintain it after construction.”

Dunham Forest Golf and Country Club has been using an Imants Shockwave linear decompactor – supplied by Campey Turf Care Systems – to deal with the effect of surface water on the 18-hole course.

Chris Gibson, course manager, commented: “Several well-known clubs had recommended the Imants Shockwave, so we requested a demonstration.

“We completed four diag-onal runs with a 2.10m machine during an extreme-ly wet June and were impressed with results.”

Despite further heavy rain-fall, Gibson and his staff observed that the treated area drained well and remained dry, with minimal impact on the playing surface so play could be resumed soon after treat-ment.

shockwave proves to be the best solution

niblick relishes portuguese Challenge

10 GME MarCh 2009

news

barenbrug has established its own UK amenity re-search site at Cropvale in Worcestershire, which will strengthen Barenbrug’s ability to test new and in-novative cultivars specific to UK conditions as well as respond to market and cli-matic requirements more quickly.

Club Car have appointed Thistle Groundcare as the new Club Car dealer for Scotland.

blEC (Global) limited, managed by Sue and Gary Mumby, has pur-chased the business and assets of BLEC Landscap-ing Equipment Co Ltd (in administration) from administrators PKF (UK).

Research by GreenFree shows golf clubs through-out the UK will start to really “feel the pinch” as the recession bites. Of 3,471 golfers surveyed in late December 2008, of which 2,488 were members of golf clubs, 3.7% said that they would not renew their golf club membership when it be-comes due. Rudding Park, Harrogate, has introduced a new credit crunching golf membership scheme to help the region’s golfers beat the recession. Based on a credit system, costs start from £250 per year.

The Wisley was one of only five golf clubs to be nominated by a panel of US judges, as an Interna-tional renovation of the Year finalist following the reconstruction of its Gar-den Nine. The Surrey club eventually lost out to the Manila Golf Club of the Philippines in the final.

in briEf;

The West Lancashire Golf Club in Merseyside has unveiled its new look club-house following a £1.2 million investment.

hamish ritchie, captain of the r&a, was the guest of honour as he officially launched the clubhouse earlier this month.

The club commissioned Nobles Construction to upgrade its existing facilities, which now meet the demands of the twenty first century as well as offering new changing amenities,

improved player’s entrance and a substantial extension to the kitchen and function rooms.

a new state-of-the-art pro shop has also been incorpo-rated into the design, as well as a new thermal cladded roof which will help reduce carbon emissions and cut energy bills.

Tom Dickinson, chairman at West Lancashire Golf Club, said: “Nobles Construction has managed to provide up-to-date facili-ties for our members to

enjoy while maintaining the historic character and feel of the clubhouse.

"Striking this balance is so important to our members and we’re delighted with the result.”

The refurbishment provides a comfortable and relaxed 19th hole for visitors and members, while the extended kitchen and func-tion rooms cater for and meet the growing demands of the business.

Peter Linford, director at Nobles Construction, said: “It is always gratifying to hand buildings back to their owners and see that their aspirations have been achieved and even surpassed.

"Our experience in this sector and the continual support from the club ensured we were able to deliver a fantastic end prod-uct.

“We’ve now renovated two of the most historic golf clubhouses in Sefton and believe our work will serve these clubs well for the next hundred years."

new clubhouse opens to widespread praise

Crown Golf, the UK’s larg-est golf course owner and operator, has placed three of its 34 golf properties on the market.

The Binfield-based company is selling Eccleston Park Golf Club in Merseyside; The Vale Golf Club in Worcestershire; and The Chase Golf Club in Staffordshire.

all three clubs have apparently healthy memberships and green fee business, are trading profita-bly and represent an attrac-

tive proposition to be purchased either singly or as a group.

The sales, which are being managed by humberts Leisure, come as part of Crown Golf’s strategic plan to build a long-term, sustain-able golf business.

The Vale Golf Club, which is set in 304 acres near Worcester, has a guide price of £2.25m; The Chase Golf Club, near Cannock, is offered for sale with a guide price of £1.65m and Eccleston Park Golf Club –

which is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year – is offered for sale with a guide price of £1.65m.

Crown Golf looking to sell off three courses

a planned £40m luxury housing development and golf course in aberdeenshire was thrown into doubt when the developer became another victim of the prop-erty slump.

FM Developments, which started work on the Ury Estate project in Stonehaven, in February, put ten of its subsidiaries into administration – including

the division responsible for the Jack Nicklaus project.

Fears were raised that the current economic climate could make it difficult for administrator Zolfo Cooper to sell the development.

The 19th-century B-listed Ury house was to have been turned into a hotel with a series of golf lodges planned to provide accommodation for 100 people.

a restaurant, spa and leisure facilities were also planned to be constructed on the site.

Joint administrator Fraser Gray said: “We’re firmly committed to exploring the future options available for the group’s developments and, in particular, plans for the Ury Estate and its proposed Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course.”

nicklaus plans on hold in scotland

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12 GME MarCh 2009

news

Specialist-trained staff seeking new roles in the golf-ing industry are likely to head to Europe for job opportunities this summer because of the present

economic downturn in the UK market, according to leading golf recruitment company Golf recruit.

Tony Martin, managing director of the specialist firm

based in South London, predicts that many people will look to continue their careers on the continent in the short term as many clubs and companies make cutbacks in a bid to reduce costs.

Golf recruit resources all positions including PGa professionals, greenkeepers, ground staff, retail special-ists, course managers, designers, architects and event management across the whole of Europe.

and Martin believes that the present economic climate and tax advantages available to UK citizens will result in them taking up summer positions in clubs abroad.

“I think now is a great time for people to go abroad on a temporary contract,” said Martin, who formed Golf recruit more than five years ago.

“It is a win, win situation for everybody.

“There is a big incentive tax-wise for people such as greenkeepers working in Europe on six to eight-month contracts as they stay regis-tered in the UK while there are no upfront costs for clubs in Europe and they get the expertise of UK-trained staff.

“We advertised for one greenkeeper to work in Nijmegen, holland, last year and had 100 applicants. We had 25-30 people working on that sort of contract in 2008 and that will hopefully be more this year.”

Golf recruit brings togeth-er industry specialists from the world of golf and profes-sional business to deliver the highest level of recruitment services to the golf industry, whether you are looking for your next job or a company seeking high-calibre staff.

Europe to attract more uK workers in downturn

Financial specialist Bloomberg has reported that real-estate develop-er Donald Trump may save around $600m on the cost of the contro-versial aberdeenshire golf resort as a result of the weakened pound.

The 62-year-old entre-preneur said in 2007 that the construction of two 18-hole courses, a 450-room hotel, 500 homes and 950 short-term rental apartments on the Menie Estate would cost about £1 billion, equiva-lent to $2 billion at the time.

Since then, the pound has lost almost a third of its value against the dollar.

Bloomberg quoted Trump’s executive in charge of the project, George Sorial, as saying: “On a fairly conservative basis, I certainly think a 30 percent saving is doable.

“When you are in the construction business in 2009, you have to find silver linings where you can.”

Trump hopes to start building the first golf course by the end of this year, Sorial added.

It’s often said that what goes around comes around.

and while it can easily be applied to the current reces-sion, it’s truer of Carousel Golfing than most other companies.

For the company’s success is based on things going around: golf bags to be precise.

The company’s carousel rotating racking unit stores 12 large golf bags within one square metre of floor area maximising the availa-ble space. and with clubs attempting to maximise everything as the golf indus-try tightens its belts, Carousel Golfing is benefiting.

The company has already picked up several large orders from Ireland, the USa and Europe in 2009 with more on the horizon.

and proprietor Michael Waldron, a former PGa pro, believes the upturn in his business may, paradoxically, be due to the downturn in the economy.

“Increasingly when we are speaking to clubs and carry-ing out our free surveys in clubhouses, the main ques-tion we keep being asked is ‘can this system save or generate us money?’

“and of course in terms of cost-effectiveness there’s nothing to compete with it,” he explained.

“Traditional lockers take up a lot more space than either our Carousel or armadillo units, enabling areas to be freed up for other revenue streams.

“and currently that’s everybody’s prime motiva-tor.”

The Carousel unit is designed to provide quick and easy deposit and retrieval in a secure area, and with the euro currently in a strong position against the pound, European clubs and resorts are currently saving up to 30 per cent off the normal cost.

Waldron added: “One guy in Belgium has installed our units and is guaranteed €30,000 in bag storage fees alone, and in the current economic climate that’s of great reassurance to him.

“If clubs wish to generate extra revenue it’s a very good way of doing it.

“By all means put nice polished wooden lockers in the changing rooms, but you don’t want huge golf bags being dragged into them.”

Global website launched by ransomes Jacobsen

ransomes Jacobsen has launched a new global website, merging the two independent sites previously hosted by the UK company and their sister company Jacobsen in the USa.

a wide range of addition-al features and enhance-ments, including animation, have been introduced to make the site more user-friendly and easier to navi-gate.

Carousel Golfing invite clubs to turn a quick profit – especially in Europe

MarCh 2009 GME 13

news

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Plans for an ambitious £5 million leisure development at a Cambridgeshire golf club have been unveiled.

Thirty-five luxury holiday homes and a leisure, beauty therapy and fitness centre have been planned at the 154-acre Tydd St Giles site at Wisbech.

adrian hurst developed the site with his family and built it up from cabbage fields into the 18-hole golf course and club it is today.

Pure Leisure Group, which purchased the site from hurst, already owns several golf and leisure estates around the UK and in the Caribbean.

John Morphet, chairman of Pure Leisure, said: “Leisure is what we do best. We want people who come through Cambridgeshire on their way to Norfolk for a holiday to stay in Cambridgeshire.”

It is hoped to have the development completed by

the beginning of the 2010 golf season, around mid-april.

The detached and semi-detached modular homes, with price tags starting at £175,000, take just four weeks from ordering to completion, and weather permitting, can be erected in just a day.

They are modelled on the ‘upside-down’ living popular in the Caribbean, with the bedrooms downstairs and

the living quarters upstairs to take advantage of the Fenland views, and are designed to be as energy-efficient as possible.

as an incentive for people to purchase the homes, Pure Leisure is offering five years free living to the first five buyers of the £225,000 detached homes.

The company will pay living costs, utility bills, site fees and golf and leisure club memberships.

Eric Kulaas, equipment manager at the renaissance Vinoy resort and Golf Club in St Vincent, Florida, is the second winner of the International Golf Course Equipment Managers association (IGCEMa) Edwin Budding award, sponsored by ransomes Jacobsen.

The Edwin Budding award was created to recognise technical professionals in the

turf equipment sector whose actions have gone above and beyond the norm to help shape the golf industry into what it is today.

Eric Kulaas was selected by a committee of industry professionals chosen by IGCEMa back in November 2008, and was presented with his award by David Withers, managing director of ransomes Jacobsen, at BTME in January.

Kulaas is recgonised by his international peers

ambitious plans for golf homes gets the green light

MarCh 2009 GME 15

club focusWEblinK; LYKIaGrOUP.COM

Think of links golf and your mind will probably wander to Scotland and Ireland and some of the most famous courses in golf.

St Andrews, Muirfield, Troon, Carnoustie, Prestwick, Portrush, Royal County Down. The names just trip off the tongue and leave you yearning for a visit down golf ’s historic memory lane.

But for lovers of the most traditional form of the game, a new chapter is being written thousands of miles away in the unlikely destination of Turkey.

It seems incredible to think that, out of some 36,000 golf courses worldwide, only 300 of them are links lay-outs.

That represents less than one per cent of the course population but a new name can now be added to the roll-call with the opening of LykiaWorld and LinksGolf Antalya, a luxury new 100 million euros development by LykiaWorld, in southern Turkey.

Beautifully situated on the coast about 60 kilometres east of Antalya with the sea

on one side and the Taurus mountains on the other, LykiaLinks is a first for Turkey and the Mediterranean region, designed to take advantage of the natural terrain and textures to create a particularly chal-lenging and rewarding golfing experience.

Created by Perry Dye, the eldest son of legendary designer Pete Dye in a family whose contributions have become an inte-gral part of the history of golf course design and construction, the newest addi-tion to Turkey’s growing portfolio of courses opened in November last year and has wasted no time in turning a few heads – including its own architect.

“LykiaLinks is one of the best courses I have ever designed,” said Dye. “My vision was fulfilled. Golfers will find that noth-ing has been left out.

“It turned out to be even better than my expectations. While I would like to have LykiaLinks all to myself, I know that I am going to have to share it with thou-sand of golfers from all over the world,” he added proudly.

The missing link between East and West

as Peter Simm writes, LykiaWorld and LinksGolf antalya is the first course in the Mediterranean region to boast a true links course.

16 GME MarCh 2009

faCTfilE;

LykiaWorld & LinksGolf antalyaDenizkaya KöyüKöprüçay Mevkii

PK 31 07600 antalyaTurkey

TEl; (90) 242 754 4343faX; (90) 242 754 4344

EMail;lykia@lykiaworld.com

dirECTor of Golf;Kieron Morrissey

CoursE supErinTEndEnT;atilla Demirsoy

Club foundEd;2008

“LykiaLinks is the best golf experience in the Mediterranean and perhaps in the world. It offers warm weather, beauty and golf for all levels of players.”

Work first started on LykiaLinks in 2006 and the par-72 course, which meas-ures 7,536 yards off the back tees and covers 80 hectares, opened for business three years later – six months behind schedule after two major storms forced some of the fairways to be re-seeded.

But that is the only major setback that the venue has experienced and it has quickly won widespread praise from both amateurs and professionals since being launched.

Kieron Morrissey, LykiaLinks’ director of golf, said: “The course has been very well received and people are enjoying playing it. It’s getting some great comments.

“There were a few puzzled looks from some of the locals when they first came along. They immediately asked ‘where are all the trees?’ but they have quickly accepted it and are enjoying the challenge that the course presents.

“We have already held a European Player Development event, which is just below the Challenge Tour, and the feed-back was very encouraging.

“The pros enjoyed the test and the winning score over three rounds was three-under, while the Scottish visitors that we have had said it was very tradi-tional in design.”

As with most links golf courses, the prevailing wind is the key ingredient in providing a proper challenge to the cham-pionship course.

The four holes that run alongside the eastern Mediterranean – 13, 14, 15 and 16 – are dramatically laid out among the dunes and will test the ability of even the finest players.

The impressive par-three 17th hole calls for the most accurate of tee shots to a small, well protected green, especially in the prevailing crosswind, while the 18th finishes stadium-style, with a huge waste

area on the right, mounds on the left and a turtle-back green which golfers will need to approach with caution.

Rolling fairways and an assortment of pot bunkers – protected with characteris-tic Dye railway sleepers – guarding the greens will remind golfers of some of the famous courses in Scotland, especially those that host the Open Championship.

Punch-and-run shots are required at times to find the course’s tricky greens and those people familiar with Dye’s style of design will see traits more famously seen in South Carolina at Harbour Town and Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course.

Importantly, though, bearing out the architect’s design philosophy, LykiaLinks also allows higher handicap golfers to enjoy the test, with wide fairways placing the emphasis on hitting tee shots to strate-gic areas of the fairway to leave the best angle for the approach.

Morrissey said: “It’s important that the course is playable for all levels and we have five sets of tees to help allow this.

“The fairway bunkers are not too severe and the fairways are fairly wide as well, which means that higher handicap-pers will not be losing many balls.

“Where they will find it tricky and what sorts out the better players is around the greens because if you hit your ball to the wrong part then it will run off.

“Perry Dye has been to the course twice since it opened and he is coming back in the coming months to oversee extending the course by another 100 metres with some new back tees.

“The problem is that some of the holes become very short when they are down-wind and we want to make it the best possible test for everyone.”

As you would expect with such a venue and the new nine-hole Academy course that will open later this year, nothing has been left to chance with the maintenance of LykiaLinks to ensure the course is at its optimum condition the year-round, even throughout the hot Mediterranean summers.

MarCh 2009 GME 17

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The course has been grassed with Seaspray hybrid paspalum, an environ-mentally-friendly variety that requires minimal pesticides and application of fertilisers for long-term maintenance and is notoriously hard-wearing.

Its turf qualities and performance have been found to be equal to, or better than, most Bermuda grasses, especially in envi-ronments subject to multiple stress and salt water.

Water shortages is an issue that has dogged the development of a lot of cours-es throughout Europe but LykiaLinks has no such problems thanks to supplies from a nearby river.

Indeed, the biggest short-term problem at the Turkish resort has not been water but sand being blown inland off the adja-cent beach. Morrissey explained: “Some golfers unfortunately found themselves in a sandstorm on three of the fairways.

“We found around 12 inches of sand on one of the fairways but we have now built some wooden windbreakers to over-come the problem and it’s now under control.”

With such attention to detail on the course matched and even exceeded off it at the luxurious LykiaWorld and LinksGolf Antalya, it is no wonder that

Turkey’s newest golf resort is causing such a stir.

Set on two and a half kilometres of private golden beach with the Taurus Mountains and forest as a backdrop, LykiaWorld and LinksGolf Antalya opened in April 2008 and the five-star resort offers a choice of 449 accommoda-tion units.

LykiaWorld and LinksGolf Antalya really has something for everyone to enjoy with a selection of bars and speciality restaurants featuring different world cuisines, a wide range of sports, treat-ments and spa facilities, a variety of class-es and its own theatre.

It even has its own Zen Garden for those interested in eastern mysticism!

LykiaWorld and LinksGolf Antalya aim is to establish itself as Turkey’s premier resort, and LykiaLinks Golf Antalya sits proudly beside it.

It is a golf course that will leave a last-ing impression on those that visit. It has already agreed to host its second European Player Development tourna-ment next year and, with discussions already having taken place, it would be no surprise if its owners achieve their long-term aim of staging a European Tour event in the not-too-distant future. GME

“lykialinks is one of the best courses i have ever designed. My vision was fulfilled.

Golfers will find that nothing has been left out.”

18 GME MarCh 2009

the club pro

To paraphrase Mark Twain, rumours of the death of the club professional have been greatly exaggerated. This is not to say that everything is rosy in the golf

professional’s garden. There are tough times ahead and there will inevitably (and unfortunately) be casualties amongst PGA professionals.

However, tough times don’t last, tough people do, and the PGA professional has survived for 108 years and will continue to be at the heart of golf for some time yet.

PGA professionals are, and have always been hardy types. They have

had to be as golf has been an ever changing sports industry. Even before

the PGA was formed in 1901, the first golf professionals had to find ways of making a living in the sport.

The amateur gentlemen played the game purely for pleasure and it was the golf professionals’ role to serve them in this pursuit. That was as players, club and ball makers, teachers and keepers of the green. It was virtually impossible to earn a living from playing golf alone and all had

to supplement their living by combining playing with other facets of the game.

From these circumstances the tradition of the club professional was born. It is this tradition that has made the game so strong at all levels and has made golf the envy of all other sports.

Many sports would wish to replicate the model that golf has so successfully created. This provides a fantastic intro-duction to golf with a well qualified expert in all aspects of the game. This includes sound advice and guidance on getting started in the game.

It provides coaching for those who want to develop their skills, custom fitting and ongoing repairs to equipment, tour-nament organisation and rules advice and an almost constant presence at the golf club for everyone to benefit from.

At other sports clubs all these aspects have to be left in the hands of the well meaning, but occasional, volunteer work-force. Even the sports that have a well structured coach education structure lack the all-round service that a PGA profes-sional brings.

offering the club pro a helping hand to survive

In the November edition of GME, John Vinicombe wrote an article questioning if we were witnessing the demise of the club pro. In a response, Dr Kyle Phillpots, the PGa’s director of training and education shares his thoughs.

MarCh 2009 GME 19

It is the depth and breadth of the PGA professionals’ skills that enable them to earn a living from golf and therefore provide the service to golfers. The income earned from retail, coaching, club fitting and repairs and peripheral activities when added together can provide a decent to good income. All the other services come as a consequence of these activities.

The concept of the retained profession-al is in some ways a rather old fashioned notion. Again, it relates back as part of the traditional approach that golf has and in these economic circumstances may be seen as a potential cost saving opportuni-ty. To cut the retainer or to cut the club professional altogether would, on the face of it, save money. But what would the true cost be to the golf community?

The retainer is the element of the club professional’s income that binds them to the club. It ensures that the service is constant and consistent and that the needs of the golfing community (members, guests and green fees) are provided for.

This retainer means that in most cases the club shop is opened and manned within specific hours for a specified number of days. Typically, this will be at least 11 hours per day for seven days during the summer and eight hours a day for seven days in the winter. This is usual-ly for 364 days a year; most club professionals are given Christmas Day off and some even Boxing Day.

It is the club professional who is normally required to pay for and provide all the equipment needed to coach, repair and fit clubs and to stock the shop to the requirements of the club. The club professional is also responsible for the salaries of those who work for him or her.

These might include other PGA professionals, assist-ants in training and shop assistants. Although employment legislation now gives employees significant rights relating to how and why they can be dismissed, these do not apply to club professionals on a retainer.

They can have their contract terminat-ed with as little as 14 days notice. Even if the club professional does make it through to retirement, they do not receive a pension from the club. Most people who have built up a business will at least be able to sell on that business and the client base/goodwill they have developed will form part of the selling price.

The club professional gets none of this and aside from being able to sell off the stock (in a buyers market) receives noth-ing further from all the years they may have spent building up the business.

For those clubs who have moved away from the retainer and employed the professional while running the shop themselves, they have found it to be an expensive and time consuming exercise.

Just some simple maths demonstrates that even at minimum wage £5.73 having the shop open for all the hours identified as typical means a wage of £20,000 (plus tax and national insurance).

It is certainly true that the club profes-sional’s income streams have been under threat for some time. Income earned from crafting golf clubs or making golf balls virtually disappeared in the early

part of the 20th century as large scale manufacturers

took over. The shop trade has been under threat from the high

street and internet and even coaching

has been threat-ened by

so-called golf coaches who have achieved their quali-fications in

a week.

Despite these chal-

lenges, the club professional has

remained resolute. Many have used their skills

and knowledge to develop other aspects of their business.

Fitting the equipment (both clubs, putters and balls) to the player can reap benefits and demonstrates the superior skills of the PGA professional who can link coaching skills to an understanding of the golf equipment.

PGA professionals have used their marketing skills to appeal to a wider audi-ence and have backed their professional service against the cheaper off-the-shelf option of the high street.

Other PGA professionals have moved more into management as golf club managers or directors of golf. PGA professionals have been well-served by their Association. The three year training programme, with a degree level qualifica-tion awarded by the University of Birmingham, provides an outstanding foundation to a lifelong career.

A career that can encompass all aspects of the golf industry and so, the programme covers a wide range of differ-ent topics. The PGA also provides a comprehensive CPD programme and a membership ladder that allows members to climb from AA to Advanced, Fellow, Advanced Fellow and finally Master Professional.

In these difficult times, golf clubs need people with the broad range of skills and knowledge to help them survive and then thrive. It would be a strange decision to dispense with the services of the very person who is best placed to guide them through, the person with the real profes-sional understanding of golf, golfers and the golf industry.

There is a real need to grow the game, to get more people playing golf and it is the PGA professional that has the ability to do this.

Clubs should look to their profession-als, get them involved and not simply view them as an appendage.

The PGA professional is the heart of golf and like any heart, needs to be looked after. Club members should recognise the real value of their professional and give them their patronage rather than use their guidance and advice and then save a few pounds on the internet. Take the heart out of the body and it dies.

Clubs should take heed and value their club professional. GME

20 GME MarCh 2009

olympic golf

Given the immense clout of the golf industry worldwide it is hard to see the Royal and Ancient game being refused entry again to the 2016 Olympic Games.

A decision by the International Olympic Committee Programme Commision will be made in October at their meeting in Copenhagen. The host city and any of the new sports will proba-bly have been leaked by then.

But will golf get the nod? No less a heavyweight player than Peter Dawson, chief executive officer of the R&A, (pictured top right) is not anticipating a yes vote. For a pragmatist like Dawson it would be foolish to count chickens.

“There are only a maximum of two sports available and seven are competing. So there is competition and the odds are against us. There is quite a lot of water under the bridge at present,” he said.

Also under consideration are baseball, karate, roller sports, rugby sevens, softball

and squash. Representatives of them all made a presentation last November together with golf at the IOC’s headquar-ters in Lausanne.

Golf was in safe hands; Peter Dawson and PGA Tour executive Ty Votaw who is a big noise on the International Golf Federation Olympic golf committee and the PGA Tour. Among key points they highlighted were golf ’s global participa-tion and diversity; the sport’s economic and charitable impact and its commit-ment to the youth of the world.

Golf, they noted, has grown significant-ly in these three areas and would continue to grow as an Olympic sport thus influ-encing the relevance and attraction of the games.

During the presentation, the IOC bigwigs were shown a series of short films featuring top players expressing support for the bid. These included Lorena Ochhoa, the No. 1 ranked woman golf in

olympic bid aims to grow the game globally

Golf is one of seven sports competing to be included in the 2016 Olympic Games. John Vinicombe takes a look at golf’s past Olympic involvement and asks whether or not it deserves another shot at the gold medal.

MarCh 2009 GME 21

the world and closed with Tiger Woods who needed no introduction to anybody.

Further support came from Annika Sorenstam, Phil Mickelson, Suzanne Petterson, Vijay Singh, Paula Creamer, Karrie Webb, K.J. Choi, Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia, Ryuji Imada, Anthony Kim, Camilo Villegas and Mike Weir which pretty well covered all of the world.

Said Dawson: “It was good to see so many top players, both men and women, speaking up in favour.” The IGF went in at Lausanne, you might say, mob-handed, but that was only a beginning.

“We felt it was critically important to show that many of the game’s biggest stars are saying supportive and positive things about the bid,” said Votaw. “We obviously believe there is a very compel-ling case and this was the first official step in what essentially is a year-long selection process.”

Ty Votaw pointed out that the current top-10 ranks for men and women feature players from 12 different countries.

Professional golf is televised every week in 216 countries, translated into 35 languages with a reach of more than 500 million households. Another weighty statistic was that 120 players, or half of the LPGA’s membership, are from coun-tries outside the US. Also, the European Tour’s “Race to Dubai” this year will feature 57 tournaments in 27 countries.

This month the IGF was submitting responses to a detailed questionnaire constituting the formal and technical bid together with an overview of their initial thinking which includes 60-player fields for both men and women playing in a yet-to-be determined invidual format.

Explained Dawson: “We envisage the individual athlete competing for his or her country to ensure geographic balance among the players and to maximise the number of countries that can earn a medal.”

Both Dawson and Votow were not slow to note the ease with which golf would fit into any of the four final venues to host the 2016 games due to existing golf facili-ties in those cities - Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janiero and Tokyo.

A second presentation is to be conduct-ed in June by which time there will have been even more intensive lobbying.

So what took golf so long in attempting to get back into the Olympic picture?

Peter Dawson said golf had been turned down for Beijing last year. Now all the golf playing countries were united in a desire to be represented in the 2016 Games.

“They are all affiliated to the R&A and we have golf speaking with one voice. The R&A have played a principal role but I don’t want to blow our own trumpet. There is a lot of enthusiasm in Europe to get in, chiefly from Spain and France. The Americans have taken some time to come round to it but are on board now.

“I am a firm believer in golf in the Olympics. It is the biggest grow-the-game opportunity there is and particularly true in countries where golf is starting up and not just Asia but South America, all over the world in fact.”

The IGF, comprising 116 national bodies, didn’t exist when golf made a first appearance in the 1900 Paris games. The American Charles Sands won with 167 from five others (three Brits, another American and a Frenchman) and Margaret Abbott became the first US woman to win a gold medal.

Miss Abbott, a 22 year-old Chicago socialite, went to Paris with her mother so she could study art. Ten women played in the final nine-hole round of the ladies competition and Abbott said she won because all the French girls turned up to play in high heels and tight skirts. Nobody remembers them now.

But George Lyon, an eccentric who didn’t pick up a club until he was 38 after a successful career in baseball, tennis, and the pole vault, is commemorated in the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame.

Mr Lyon won the individual stroke play at the 1904 games in St Louis when 77 golfers represented just two nations, 74 from the US and three from Canada.

This unlikely Olympian was 46 when he journeyed from Toronto to St Louis having to endure the indignity of being compared to a coal-heaver. On the course he cracked jokes, sang and performed hand stands.

He was good enough to make the quali-fying and in the final licked the American champion Chandler Egan. George went home with a $1500 silver trophy which he accepted walking down the path to the podium on his hands.

Four years later he was in London for the 1908 games but an internal dispute among the Brits led to a boycott leaving George the only man standing. Offered the gold medal by default he refused.

Twenty years later he was still winning championships and shot his age until he was 78.

They don’t make ‘em like George Lyon any more. Without doubt he personified the true amateur spirit and enjoyed himself into the bargain. GME

“There is a lot of enthusiasm in Europe to get in, chiefly from Spain and France. The Americans have taken some time to come round to it but

are on board now.”

MarCh 2009 GME 23

in personWEblinK; TOrO.COM

In global business history, there can’t have been too many teenagers who grew up within a stone’s throw of a major worldwide company and went on to assume one of the most important roles in the firm.

But that is exactly the destiny that has befallen Darren Redetzke, lifelong resi-dent of Bloomington, Minnesota in the United States, and general manager and vice president of the International Business division of The Toro Company.

Toro is a name that has become synon-ymous as one of the world leaders in providing turf and landscape maintenance

equipment and precision irri-gation systems for golf

course maintenance since being founded nearly 100 years ago.

Since 1914, the compa-ny has built a tradition of excellence around a number of strong brands to help its customers care for sports fields, public green spaces, commercial and resi-

dential properties - not to mention golf courses.

At the last count, Toro’s global presence extends to more than 140 coun-tries worldwide and the company record-ed sales of nearly $1.9 billion in 2008.

The international market represented 31 per cent of Toro’s total business last year and Redetzke oversaw it all. Not bad for a man who, as a teenager, used to sell Toro’s mowers at his local hardware store and wasn’t even interested in working for the firm initially.

Redetzke, 44, recalled: “I grew up about half a mile from the Toro main headquarters. When I was 14 years old, I went to work for a hardware store selling their lawnmowers.

“I had no plans to join them. When I went to the local university, it was my ambition to become a biomedical engi-neer and be the person who designed the first artificial heart. That was my goal and I never dreamed I would start working at Toro.

“But I used to talk to the guys about the different machines when I walked past on my way to university and that got me interested. My experience in selling the hardware was the reason I got the job – I was the first electrical engineer Toro had ever hired and I’m delighted they did.”

After joining Toro in 1988, Redetzke has spent much of the last 18 years travel-ling around the world under various job titles and he is now responsible for servic-ing the needs of approximately 16,000 courses in all corners of the globe – the same number as Toro provides for in America.

local boy Made Good

Darren redetzke is the original local-boy-made-good. Born and bred in Bloomington, Minnesota, the former lawnmower salesman is now one of Toro’s leading lights, and the man tasked with steering this global giant through the worldwide economic crisis. Interview by Peter Simm.

24 GME MarCh 2009

Responsible for looking after the inter-ests of continents as diverse as Europe, the Americas and Australasia, he is no stranger to airport lounges across the world but the married father-of-two clear-ly loves working for Toro and the chal-lenges that his job throws at him.

“Once I went to Toro I got a better feel-ing all the time,” he said. “It’s a great company to work for and the great thing is that there is a family atmosphere here.

“Toro is a large company in scale but very much family in feel. Our CEO knows everybody who works here at Bloomington (around 1,000 people) by name and I used to be the same until I started travelling as much.

“Thirty five per cent of my time is spent on a plane. Most of that is spent in Europe but I try to get to Latin America and Asia as much as I can. We have 16,000 courses that we provide products for internationally so it takes a bit of covering.”

Providing the latest in maintenance equipment including mowers, aerators, sprayers, trimmers, blowers, compact util-ity loaders and vehicles – not to mention an extensive range of water management tools – golf courses have played a large part in Toro’s business plan both in the past and for the future.

Like most companies involved in the golf industry, Toro has felt the effects of the current economic downturn over the last 12 months. It announced cutbacks to its worldwide workforce of around 5,000 people last month while employees and officers salaries have been reduced for 2009 to help offset the present financial climate.

Redetzke knows that this is a difficult time for everyone but believes that Toro’s business strategy and forward planning will allow them to emerge stronger in the long term.

He said: “Every day we are watching the media and it’s bad news, whether it be with the banks or the housing market. There is too much bad news at the moment and people are waiting for good things to happen.

“Golf courses are still being built but not to the extent they were as little as eight months ago. The devaluation of currencies across the world has had a big impact and the credit crunch has hurt the golf industry.

“I have gone through recessions already since I joined the company. Some were quite severe but this is different in that it is worldwide and not just the United States. It has had a big influence on the company.

“We have been restructuring our company to ensure we remain healthy so

we are in the right position to take advan-tage of the recovery.

“The way that we handle situations like these is that we try and watch the market-place before changes happens, look far enough ahead and predict what might happen.

“In this case, we saw it starting to happen in the middle of last year and we then started to plan for an economic downturn worldwide.

Like everyone else, Redetzke is waiting to see how long it will be before the worldwide gloom begins to lift but one thing is clear; that Toro will continue to invest in new product development to ensure it meets the changing needs of the customer.

“Our policy at Toro is to turn our prod-uct portfolio over every three years. To do this, it takes a large investment,” added Redetzke.

“We have cut back a little bit on some project strategies but overall we are still spending the same. The lifeblood of Toro is our innovation and we need to keep raising the bar.

“We have undertaken studies with golf courses in Europe and customers have told us they are still going to invest in our product. The slowdown has been on the real estate side of things but stand-alone golf courses are doing a lot better,” added Redetzke.

“The golf management companies that we work closely with still see the need to invest in their expertise and services because they are trying to match them-selves against their competitors.

“The multi-course owners are also still spending and buying product. It’s the businesses that have a little bit more diffi-culty having access to credit that are not doing anything at the moment.

“Our business is heavily weighted towards Europe because that region has been important to us for a number of years.

“But Japan and Australia are big markets for us and China is going to grow. We established facilities in Asia in the 1980s and continued to keep them open when that region suffered a severe downturn, so we continue to be well placed to serve our customers now as a result.

“What you see right now is that we have been growing our sales there and doing a good job of supplying customers with the products and services they need because of our commitment to the International business and new product development.”

With the experience and foresight of Redetzke and co, it appears the long-term future of Toro is in safe hands. GME

“Our business is heavily weighted towards Europe because that region has been important

to us for a number of years.”

MarCh 2009 GME 25

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26 GME MarCh 2009

eco issues

Green CrusadersOnce-mocked eco-initiatives have become a bonafide part of running golf resorts. Mark Alexander looks at some of the leading exponents of going green.

Despite the current economic uncer-tainty, the environment is still holding its own when it comes to grabbing the head-lines. Just ask the management team at Celtic Manor who are using 150,000 tonnes of pulverised ash from Aberthaw Power Station to build a new practice range for The Ryder Cup in 2010.

The material is an inert by-product of burning coal and makes an ideal sustaina-ble replacement for expensive primary aggregate.

They’re not alone. Tales of eco-ingenui-ty are plentiful and invariably inspiring.

Take Fiddlers Ferry Golf Club near Warrington which is using recycled cook-ing oil donated by local eateries to power its machinery, or Luttrellstown Castle Resort in Dublin, which became the first club in Ireland to achieve certified status for excellence in environmental manage-ment.

Each one has taken on the challenge of doing things differently because it makes eco-sense to do so. But the move towards sustainability isn’t simply about isolated projects or periodic awards. Many clubs have seen value in nailing their colours to the mast by producing environmental statements.

For instance, the Gleneagles declaration confirms the hotel is “committed to the implementation of proactive measures to help protect and sustain the local, national and global environment for future genera-tions,” by “pollution prevention, increased staff awareness and continuous improve-ment.”

Typical of a large corporate’s commit-ment to the environment, the statement covers all the bases. For a more detailed approach, Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf and Spa, which is part of the Elite Hotel chain, pinpoints a number of specific areas where staff and guests can minimise energy consumption and reduce waste.

The goals of sustainable purchasing, eco-friendly transport policies and waste minimisation are all highlighted in its manifesto but as Richard Biffen, estate

manager at Luton Hoo, explains being environmentally friendly is as much about balancing customers’ expectations as it is about saving the planet.

“You can put it under one umbrella because we follow the environmental poli-cy throughout the site, but naturally we spilt it up between the kitchen, house-keeping and the golf course,” he explains.

“Elite’s policy is to restore and preserve English country houses, but increasingly guests and corporate clients are asking about our environmental policy. We have to balance that against our five-star rating which is associated with opulence.”

The juxtaposition of providing top-end leisure facilities and being kind to the environment isn’t lost on Biffen who says golf clubs and hotels can be contributors to the energy cycle rather than merely users.

“Most hotels generate huge amounts of food waste which goes into landfills,” he says. “We separate our food waste into biodegradable bags which get collected three times a week and go to a plant in Bedford where they are turned into biogas and electricity. It’s part of the cycle.”

With 250 staff, Luton Hoo’s food-recy-cling policy is applied as equally to guests as it is to staff, but the golf course also plays its part. “When the golf course was being constructed, we were able to consider how we would irrigate it,” says Biffen, “so we built four lakes which are connected down to a reservoir.

“The water in the lakes is run-off from the golf course, so when it rains we collect water into the reservoir and when we need to irrigate, we pump it back out.

“The lakes and reservoir aren’t connected to a water source, so it is pure-ly a recyclable process.”

Paul Keen, Luton Hoo’s golf club manager, agrees: “The drainage channels are designed to feed the lakes so that water collected off the fairways runs through the channels and into the reser-voir,” he explains.

MarCh 2009 GME 27

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“We capture as much water as possible so the golf course will be playable all year round. A couple of years ago I said water would be the biggest commodity in golf.

“With the last two summers we’ve had, I should probably revise that statement but I still believe the way climate change is going, water will become increasingly important.”

Without doubt, a reliable supply of water is crucial to successfully maintain-ing a healthy golf course, and securing a system that not only hydrates but is also recyclable is a winning formula for balancing the expectations of your clients with your environmental responsibilities.

But there are other ways of going green, as Megan Wallace, the environmental administrator for the Fairmont Hotel in St Andrews, explains: “Before this was a Fairmont resort, the owner wanted the grass to look emerald green, as they do in America, so the courses weren’t true links courses,” she says.

“Ever since the takeover, the emphasis has been to regress the courses back to a proper links set-up. This meant allowing the wild areas to grow out and not placing as much emphasis on the grass being an emerald colour. This change encouraged the regeneration of the wildlife which had

been lost and the taller grasses are great for birds that want to find shelter.”

She says the introduction of attenuation ponds has also attracted geese and breed-ing ducks back to this beautiful stretch of coastline.

Not surprisingly, the resort has won a clutch of awards. Already a member of the Green Tourism Business scheme with

a gold rating for the hotel, the Fairmont’s trophy cabinet groans under the weight of local commendations for its resource effi-ciency and trail-blazing approach to sustainability.

Perhaps the most impressive initiative has been the introduction of a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) gas-powered turbine which not only generates electrici-ty but also produces heat which is pumped back into the hotel to keep the place warm and heat water for ten months of the year.

At a cost of £315,000, it’s certainly not cheap, but Wallace says it will pay for itself within 40 months and in the mean-time will prevent 2,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide being released into the atmos-phere.

Clever technology aside, she says the most compelling aspect of environmental best practice is engaging staff.

“CHP doesn’t involve anyone else apart from the engineers who keep tabs on it,” she explains.

“The biggest challenge and the most joy you can get out of an initiative is if people are doing it. If you haven’t got the people on board, or if your staff don’t care, then the initiative isn’t going to work.

“And if you ask them, the staff will say they’re proud to work in a place that does its bit for the environment. If you have staff like that, they’re going to be more willing to work for you.”

The Fairmont’s eco-credentials are undoubtedly impressive – it has 19 recy-cling lines rather the typical six adopted by most hotels. But not all businesses are able to invest as heavily, and certainly not in these economically tentative times.

So how do you get started on the road to environmental redemption?

Wallace says it’s about knowing what your weaknesses are before you make them your strengths: “In order to improve anything, you have to conduct an audit to find out where you’re lacking.

“You can’t make improvements if you don’t know what you need to improve upon. Once you’ve done that, you can put together a plan of what to do next.” GME

“The biggest challenge and the most joy you can get out of an initiative is if people are doing it. if you haven’t got the people on board, or if your staff

don’t care, then the initiative isn’t going to work.”

28 GME MarCh 2009

egcoa

When we take a look back at the devel-opment of golf throughout Europe, three

distinct categories become apparent, beginning with the ‘amateur period’.

This is probably best defined as the classic period when golf clubs were owned by their members, and were run not for profit, but for the benefit of the membership.

The clubs were associated to their regional and national golf unions, primarily as a way in which they could participate in competitions and administer hand-icaps. In turn, these national feder-ations later joined the European Golf Association to co-operate on an international level.

At the time, golf was regarded as a game of the elite, a tag it has strug-gled to shake off even in the modern

era.However, in the 1980s, golf grew in popularity among

the general public, and a growing number of entrepreneurs started to buy golf courses with a

view to running and managing golf as a commercial

enterprise. This resulted in a ‘commercial push to growth’. During this commercial growth period,

the number of players in the UK doubled

whilst in Europe, the number tripled. At the same time, the number of golf courses doubled on the continent and grew by fifty percent in the UK.

However, a lot of the new courses were structured on the old values of the ‘amateur period’ resulting in commercial-ly viable golf clubs being burdened by an out-dated membership structure.

The ‘commercial push to growth’ peri-od lasted roughly until 2000 for most countries, although in other countries the period has yet to reach a climax.

The difference however between this second period lies in the changing demand side of golf, which didn’t take into account the segmentation of the golf-ing population.

As many will testify, growth is no longer with the classic golfer who is content to pay an annual subscription at a golf club, but with a new group who have entered the golf market; younger people who are no longer members of one particular golf club, but who are happy to play with no membership rights on different courses.

This group is known today as the ‘free golfers’, ‘casual golfers’ or ‘nomads’, — they do not appreciate the added value of a club membership with all of its social aspects, nor do they wish to commit just to one club.

Research shows that membership golf is on the decrease and any growth across Europe is caused by ‘free’ or ‘nomadic’ golfers.

a key objective of the EGCOa is to grow the game of golf in Europe, but Tibbe bakker questions whether or not the national golf federations share the same goal.

WEblinK; EGCOa.EU

are the Golf federations paying their way?

MarCh 2009 GME 29

Although in many EU countries golf is still growing and more are playing the sport, the number of memberships has hardly grown and in many cases has fallen.

Some clubs in Europe are now facing bankruptcy as they fight for survival, and this is obviously a very serious situation which has ramifications right the way across the industry.

Without the fixed income from month-ly or annual memberships, clubs are reli-ant upon the casual golfer to supplement their income – and when they choose not to play, clubs feel the pain.

At the European Golf Course Owners Association, we have seen big differences in the growth rate of golf in the various European countries and have tried to figure out if the national golf federations play an active role in the growth of the game.

By collecting data from most golf unions across Europe we have concluded that there is no correlation between the budgets of the golf unions and the growth of the game.

In figure 1, opposite, the growth per country of players from 2000-2008 and the budget per golf union is shown, and it can be seen that there are big differences between the budgets of the various golf federations in Europe.

Figure 2 represents the budget of each golf union against the number of regis-tered golfers, but as before, their appears to be no correlation between the revenue per player and growth.

Is this big difference between the vari-ous countries not remarkable? Why is the revenue as high as €90 in Italy and less than €20 in many others?

When we examine the number of staff of each federation (figure 3), again it represents no correlation — more staff does not mean more growth.

Again, we see big differences in the numbers of staff per player, and it does appear as if the golf unions are doing very different things with varying intensity.

It does appear however, that they appear not to focus on growth, at least not effectively.

We also see no correla-tion between the fee per player of the golf unions and the growth achieved, although we do see big differences between the various federations which begs the question, why are these differences so big?

We almost see a reversed correlation: higher fees equals lower growth.

A few golf unions across Europe offer registration for free golfers which is repre-sented in figure 4. Interestingly, when examining the data it appears as if the lower the fee, the higher the growth rate, which maybe something to think about.

In conclusion, we can clearly see that golf is in its third development period, and is facing different customers.

The golf industry needs to find new ways in which to embrace new players and if we fail to do so, many clubs will not

bare witness to the recovery when it takes place.

National golf federa-tions should allocate their budgets far more efficiently and should focus on growing the game at all levels, and on a national and a European level, ‘free or casual golfers’ should be taken far more seriously, and perhaps welcomed by

many ‘traditional clubs’.Providing them with

handicap certificates is perhaps one example of how

we can do this. If federations cannot or do not want

to follow the trend in the market, then solutions should be found elsewhere, and perhaps others should offer handicap registration.

On local levels, golf courses should offer new golfers products that fit and meet with their life-style. If we as a golf business miss this opportunity, we will live to regret it. Golf needs to understand that the world is changing and to survive, golf needs to change with it. GME

30 GME MarCh 2009

donnafugata

Castello Donnafugata, from which this impressive resort development takes its name, is not a true castle typical of the Middle Ages but a sumptuous palace built in the late 1800s for the wealthy Arezzo de Spuches family.

The Donnafugata Golf Resort and Spa is situated about three miles south of the castle and will feature a five-star hotel with 211 rooms, an annexed convention centre, sports facilities, fitness and health centre, riding stables and two 18-hole golf courses.

In addition, a little over five kilometres away on the coast, the resort will boast a private beach with watersport facilities.

The resort is being built by Donnafugata srl, an affiliate of the Spanish golfing giant, Sotogrande SA at a cost of €45.5 million and will be creating around 900 jobs in one of Italy’s poorest regions.

Scheduled to open in the summer of 2009, the development will be adminis-tered by NH Hotels, the third largest hotel group in Europe and a majority share-holder in Sotogrande SA.

Sitting within a protected wildlife zone of some 280 hectares, the resort is subject to strict environmental rules and adher-ence to these was a significant factor

when the planning agreement was signed back in 2005 with

Sviluppo Italia, the national agency for inward invest-

ment and enterprise development for south-ern Italy.

There is only one significant original building on the devel-

opment and that is the Piombo Tower, an old

manor house with an historic connection to

Mussolini, who was seen as a benefactor to the local children of the region during his dictatorship. This is being refurbished and will become one of the main restau-rants at the resort.

There are two 18-hole golf courses on the complex; the first is Campo del Nord, which is just beginning to be developed and will meander through existing trees and wooded areas. The second and most developed is the Gary Player-designed Campo del Sud which is in the latter stag-es of grow-in.

The golf superintendent is Roberto Rossi (pictured top right), who took me on a tour of Campo del Sud. He is a specialist grow-in superintendent and joined the project at the start of this phase.

He has an excellent CV and has been responsible for growing-in courses at Conero Golf Club in Ancona, Pescara Golf and Country Club near Rome, Golf Le Rovedine near Milan, Castelgandolfo Golf and Country Club in Lazio and Larontecchia Golf Club in Padova.

Rossi has a team of five for this initial phase, which will increase to 20 when both courses are fully operational. He explained that they have used a significant amount of Bermuda – on the tees, fairway and rough – with Creeping Bent on the greens and perennial Rye Grass for the surrounds.

They have used Bermuda because the temperature, this far south in Europe, never drops below five degrees Centigrade and in summer will reach 47 degrees.

“We seeded quite late on and in some areas germination has been poor, so we need to get on now, eradicate the weeds and overseed as soon as the temperature allows,” said Rossi.

“Come the end of Summer, we’ll have it looking a whole lot better.”

orange in abundance at new sicilian resort

Donnafugata Golf resort and Spa is a new 36-hole development set in 280 hectares of rolling countryside in the municipality of ragusa on the south coast of Sicily. Kevin Marks visited the €45.5 million project to see the progress being made.

MarCh 2009 GME 31

The greens, tees and fairways all have irrigation from a Rainbird system which is fed by the lakes that have been created around the course. These, in turn, are fed by a bore hole that has been sunk with the permission of the local authority.

These water features were incorporated into the design as part of the environmen-tal agreement with the municipality of Ragusa to ensure that birds from North Africa, which is only 150 miles south, would have a wetland sanctuary on their migration route.

Each hole has five tees to accommodate golfers of all abilities and to aid mainte-nance; there are three holes with elevated tees and six ‘blind’ holes where the green can not be seen from the tee. The 8th green is an island.

Dotted around the course are a series of derelict buildings, one which is being rebuilt as a halfway house and the remain-der which are being converted into holi-day homes by the original landowner, who has retained ownership.

NH Hotels have signed an exclusive contract with Agri Celotti srl of Milan to supply Jacobsen turf maintenance equip-ment to the resort. This was done on the insistence of Roberto Rossi and is a departure from previous NH Hotels course management practice, which normally sees other equipment used through their Sotogrande connection.

“Jacobsen were definitely not the cheapest,” said Rossi, “but the best when judging on quality and price.

“We are using Greens King IV triple mowers because I believe the Jacobsen cutting units are the best for greens and tees. The HR 5111 batwing rotary is very good and we have really been testing it here, using it to cut down vegetation that’s over 80 cm high.”

While driving back across the course to the temporary maintenance facility Rossi explained that during the initial shaping much of the natural vegetation was removed. Under the environmental agree-ment this has to be reinstated and a budg-et of €500,000 has been allocated for this task over the next five years.

Work on the hotel and other buildings had been interrupted prior to my visit following a dispute between the construc-tion company and the developers, which provided an opportunity to have a closer look at the work being undertaken.

Rossi and his team will have an excel-lent storage and maintenance area as it is being incorporated into one maintenance facility to serve both the golf course and the hotel. The clubhouse has yet to be started, but the designated area has been cleared and levelled. The work on the structure of the main hotel is advanced and the refurbishment of the Piombo Tower is underway.

How long the dispute will take to resolve is a matter for conjecture, but Campo del Sud is maturing quickly and the Donnafugata Resort is sure to be an attractive addition to the golf offering in southern Europe. GME

32 GME MarCh 2009

my view

Spring is in the air and the new golfing season is nearly upon us. Club managers across the land hope and in some cases, pray that the weather will be kind and that revenue streams will flow heavier and

faster than in the past few years. Sadly for a proportion of clubs this will not be the case in 2009 for many

reasons. Mainly because no

time has been put aside to produce a market-ing plan or put a strategy in place to ensure that every opportunity for membership, golf day revenue, food and beverage spend, retail and green fee is

exploited fully. In the past year or two

much has been written concerning the growth of

the golf industry and how a downturn can be avoided. Our

governing bodies are working hard on our behalf with many incentives to encourage more participation, especially encouraging junior golf and getting the nomadic golfer to play regularly and part with more of their hard earned cash.

The various schemes that the Unions are looking to implement with the Golf Foundation and PGA will reap rewards in the years to come. There are numer-ous governing bodies and associations in the UK and therefore the process for change is slow and sometimes involves much duplication.

Many club managers suggest that until there is unification of some, if not most of the organisations that represent clubs and golfers, then promoting the sport will remain slow, fragmented and arduous.

The latter thought maybe so and could indeed prove correct. Having a national mechanism for promotion to the general public would certainly help everyone involved in our beloved game, but is anyone naive enough to wait around for its inauguration?

The great white knight driving masses of beginner golfers, juniors and green fees down the club driveway appears to have fallen off his horse. Indeed, it is reasona-ble to ask why these new golfers should take up the game when some clubs with a draconian outlook have turned them away in previous years.

It is our responsibility to generate reve-nue, grow the business and increase the national participation in the game. This applies to each and every individual that works in the industry, regardless of posi-tion, status or standing.

In running a business of any descrip-tion there are a few fundamentals that are constant, you “reap what you sow” when it comes to the sales and marketing plan for your club.

Have a plan in place and the trained resources to implement it and a successful outcome becomes a reality rather than a wish or a hope. The current economic climate is a convenient excuse for many committees and directors to explain the lack of growth in the clubs revenue streams.

The industry has struggled to encour-age new players, and management teams should ask: “Have I done enough?”

Grow your ownGreen shoots

David Reeves has worked in the golf industry for 16 years, specialising in sales and operations. having worked for three different golf clubs as general manager, he shares his thoughts on customer service and how to best market your club in the current market.

WEblinK; PrOMOTEGOLF.COM

MarCh 2009 GME 33

What more can be done? The opportu-nities are endless and diverse and here are just a few to explore.

There is no doubt that the recession is a contributing factor, but perhaps decades of failing to plan and promote the game to the masses is also coming home to roost? Let’s not dwell on the negative, let’s perpetuate the positive!

Clubs are opening their doors to new business; this is the first step towards growth and needs a lot of cultivating. Creating an attractive green fee or membership promotion alone will not guarantee success. The culture of the club and every single member of its staff are responsible for delivering the growth of the business.

Whether it is giving great service, help-ing with a mailing, encouraging the use of a loyalty card or referring a friend to the club, getting everybody buying into the marketing plan is the key to its success.

Swish websites and good data collection are essential ingredients to promoting a club, however these are just the bare basics in creating a recipe for successful marketing. Targeted marketing is more cost effective than “spray and pray” prac-tices such as an advert in the local paper.

The marketing plan should have a real mix of incentives that involve raising the profile of the club. The average golfer is aged 30 – 50 and as a percentage this is in the region of 45 to 50 per cent.

Therefore it is important that your club identifies the correct demographic that

represents your business and then target it accordingly. Once this is done, use a mix of initiatives to tap into your target.

CommunityIncreasing the awareness of the club

within the area is often a very cost effec-tive way of driving increased enquiries and revenue. Examples being building relationships with local schools, having a presence at schools fêtes, providing fund-ed junior tuition, which can be on or off site.

Presenting the clubs services at the town’s fête or carnival, entering a team for the villages annual pancake race, sponsor-ing the community egg hunt at Easter. The mechanism is irrelevant so long as it achieves the purpose of raising the profile and promoting a warm welcoming perso-na for your club.

local businessesSetting up contra-deals that have a win-

win factor such as a display at a top end car dealership in return for the same at the clubs foyer. Initiate an open day at the tennis club to promote golf in return for the same for their sport. So long as it doesn’t conflict with your facilities or members then strike that relationship, before your competitors do!

press releasesWhen was the last time one was sent to

publications, community newsletters and the local papers?

Whether it is the Turkey Trot results, open days, captain’s drive-in, team matches or how much money the staff have raised from wearing red noses and plus fours for Comic Relief. It doesn’t matter, take a fun picture, write some text and send it in.

dataOn the basis that only seven per cent of

the UK population play golf and an even smaller percentage play regularly; when your staff come into contact with a golfer let’s get their invaluable details for future reference.

Golf days, function attendees, green fee players, guests, enquiries these are just a few of the examples of those already in contact with the club. Perhaps increase this with a prize draw in your local news-paper.

Communication methods can be varied, phone calls, letter, e-marketing, so long as any initiatives are in accordance with the data protection act.

Throw into the mix the more tradition-al methods of referral campaigns, promo-tions and new member days, etc. Suddenly your team is armed with a strong strategy, marketing plan and a healthy amount of interest from potential members and new golfers.

It is our responsibility to get golfers golfing as often as possible and even more importantly, putting a club in the hands of people for the first time. We will only reap what we sow... GME

34 GME MarCh 2009

the last word

I’m writing this just after the Oscars, to which this year I wasn’t invited.

It was a big disappointment, though not too much of a surprise, as I’ve never been invited. I’ve even missed out on the golf columnist of the year award twice in this magazine!

I remain undaunted in my efforts to secure a Pulitzer prize, however, despite the handicap of possessing no discernible talent whatsoever.

The omens are good. This year I have received an invite to the London Golf Conference as a member of the media and I’m tempted to attend.

It is only the second of these myriad industry conferences to which I’ve been invited where the invite was not accompanied by an invoice for an amount which would require a small mortgage.

I can drive to London and as a respected member of the golf media – I added the term ‘respected’ just in case any lawyers are watching – I’m allowed in free. and there’s coffee and stuff…

I’m hoping my presence is required because, at last, my writing talents are to be recognised by my peers in the golf industry.

I’m also hoping that Nicole Kidman will be on hand to give me a massage and then cook me steak and stilton followed by bread and butter pudding. Somehow I think the latter’s still more likely than the former.

So if I’m not going to be rewarded for my efforts I will set up my own golf awards scheme based upon the Oscars and BaFTas.

and the winners are...

best Wardrobe...anybody brave enough to wear Loudmouth Golf trousers.

best Stunt...aquaman Woody austin’s underwater adventure in the

President’s Cup.

best Picture...The one taken by the guy just before John Daly smashed in

his camera.

best Supporting Role...John Daly’s belt.

best Animation...Boo Weekly riding his driver, in the ryder Cup.

best Female...Natalie Gulbis: Do you really need to ask?

best Short... Sandy Lyle’s appearance, in the Open Championship.

best Direction...George O’Grady, for the race to Dubai. GME

and the winner is... Well, not me, clearly!

“i’m also hoping that nicole Kidman will be on hand to give me a massage and then cook me steak and stilton followed by bread and butter pudding.”

david bowerseditorial@portman.uk.com

0870 241 4678 | ppcgolf.com

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