Golf Business Monitor

Ernie Els' latest golf design project in Malaysia

Ernie Els will open in early 2016 his 3rd Malaysian golf course, the Desaru Coast North. Just like Els Club Teluk Datai it will be managed and operated by Troon Golf. In this golf course development project Vijay Singh joined his team (beside Johor Bahru). Ernie Els' first golf course the Els Club Teluk Datai was recently opened. The second, The Els Club Dasaru Coast will be opened in 2015.

The Els Club Desaru Valley facility will include a stunning 25,000 sq. ft. clubhouse, is planned to complement the nearby 27-hole Els Club Desaru Coast venue. It is natural that Ernie Els would like promote his Els Performance Academy and Els Residences overlooking the golf course.

The big question what can such golfers like Ernie Els, Vijay Singh contribute to golf course design as they are not professional golf course architects.

 

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Are drones the new rangefinders?

First drones were used for military mission (e.g. for spying, bombing), but now it seems to me that they are gaining momentum in civil life as well. Last year Golf Channel tested drones in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.

I think it is clear what are the benefits of drones versus helicopters.  The Telegraph used drones at Gleneagles on this year's Ryder Cup to give better coverage about the game. Drones can go where helicopters can't, both in terms of proximity and cost. 

 

 

Today, men of the street can buy a consumer drone outfitted with 4 battery-powered motors and a gyro-stabilized video camera for about $1,000 (a basic version without camera can be around $300 and 350 GBP). You can even control such drones with your smartphone or tablet with a GPS-based system.

From the price you can see that these drones are able to compete with rangefinders (e.g. with Bushnell 2014 Tour V3 that costs cca. $400).

So the question is when can golfers start to use them instead of rangfinders? What is the current USPGA and R&A opinion about using drones? On the website of The R&A I have not found any answer regarding drones.

At the same time drones can be useful for golf clubs for various purposes:

• Event management: to give better coverage of their events;
• Education: simulate a golf course;
• PR & Advertising: golf club and golf course promotion (e.g. West End Golf Club in Halifax);
• Security purposes (e.g. against burglaries, wild animals)
• Golf architecture: golf course planning and renovation: to be able to review cutting lines and shapes from the air and to to measure areas that had been raising questions from the membership.

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Quinta do Lago's North Course went through a redevelopment

For some golfers Quinta do Lago’s North course is a hotchpotch. This is a really a disadvantageous perception of a golf course that is situated in such a competitive golf marketplace as Algarve where there are 40+ golf courses and in addition to this it also has to compete with such golf destinations as Turkey.

Quinta do Lago owner Denis O’Brien and the resort’s chief executive John Dwyer recognized this problem in 2009. To be become more copetitive they started in 2009 a major €29m investment programme, with a further €21m is set to be spent on improving its facilities in the 3 three years.

Part of this program was the facelift and modernization of Quinta do Lago's North Course. The value of this project was €9.6m. Paul McGinley with Beau Welling (graduate of the Tom Fazio school of golf architecture) have redeveloped the course  with the new venue being completed in the space of just 10 months. The redevelopment is the first golf course design project that Paul McGinley has collaborated on together with Beau Welling.

As part of a commitment to the environment and to a sustainable golf course, Quinta do Lago will plant more than 2,000 trees in the next 5 years. 

Here are the changes:

• North Course has been transformed with the focus on precision and strategy. This is a really good solution to tackle with nowadays super forgiving golf clubs and to avoid extending the golf course. This is also in line with what responders said in recent Syngenta's survey ('Growing golf in the UK) said about golf courses. Namely they are looking for challenges. It is also good that the new golf course is playable and fun for golfers of all abilities.
• All greens, tees, bunkers, irrigation, drainage systems and cart paths have been rebuilt using the latest state-of-the-art technology, with multiple sets of tees introduced on each hole to accommodate players of all levels. The biggest difference on the course is around the greens.
• Bunkers have been replaced by humps and hollows and an extensive fringe that can be shaved or left to grow.
• The 18th hole received many complaints so it went through to make it more playable (see picture below)

What I have not heard from Quinta do Lago are:

• how they are going to make for golfers more comfortable with the course and surroundings?
• when will be fast and simple the online booking.
• how they will facilitate such technology solutions as Wi-Fi access (not just in the club house) on the fairways; NFC to improve the pace of play and provide extra information about the golf course to improve golf experience (tap to the tee to show the position of a player); or drones (Golf Channel is already using drones to film golfers.) for security reasons, but also as a service for members and guests.
• when will they come up with mobile application(s) to help: booking tee times, communicate with club house during a game or simply get extra information about the fairway (what to expect) etc. Troon Golf's mobile application solution could be a good example to follow.

 

 

 

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Royal Blackheath Golf Club is under a multi-year renovation process

Creative Golf Design won the pitch for 5-year restoration of Royal Blackheath Golf Club (instituted in 1608!!; According to Bernard Darwin, it is the oldest golf club in the world). Creative Golf Design will work in tandem with John Nicholson Associates. The value of the project is not disclosed.

Ken Moodie (owner of Creative Golf Design) will be the second Scottish golf architect to be chosen after James Braid.

The first phase at Royal Blackheath Golf Club, including bunker modifications (see photo below) on the 2nd, 17th and 18th holes, started in August 2014 and was completed in the second week of September.

The 3-phase renovation project includes new tees and bunkers, extensive alterations to existing bunkering and teeing grounds, plus a wide range of general course improvements. They will restore the golf course aesthetically to its 1920s state.

This is nice, but I would take in consideration of our days golf club capabilities, namely the ability to hit further then in those days...For this reason I would modify a little bit the old golf design to challenge golfers to pay more attention how they hit the golf ball.

 

 

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Las Colinas Golf is shortlisted for the Golf Resort Award

Last year PGA Catalunya Resort was the lucky Spanish golf club to win at the European Property Awards as the best golf development in Europe.

At this time Las Colinas Golf & Country Club is close to win the Golf Resort Award at the International Hotel & Property Awards (hosted by Design et al). The winner must be the best in interior design, architecture and innovation.

Well, architecture is not necessarily their biggest strength, but neither have to worry about this criteria:

 

To demand "world peace" in this competition is not enough. The Golf Resort Category rewards those resorts that not only offer world-class golf facilities but that also provide additional attractions and services, all seamlessly integrated with cutting edge designed property. 

I think Las Colinas Golf's International School of Falconry Las Colinas and new Las Colinas Experiences will increase their chance to win. 

What will really increase their chance to win is the Los Colinas Golf mobile application (Android, iOS) that really help golfers to have a pleasant stay at Las Colinas Golf & Country Club. I would highlight some special features that made my day:

• Car find - it helps you to find your car after the game
• Special offers from local and national companies
• Fun Cam - let's make a lot of selfies

The developers forgot only one thing: how this mobile application could be used for loyalty program.

 

So, I think we should vote for this golf club. Voting is now open to the general public and runs through to 13 June 2014. http://thedesignawards.co.uk/voting2014.

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What is the best golf development in Europe?

European Tour’s latest destination, PGA Catalunya Resort was awarded at European Property Awards as the best golf development in Europe.

For PGA Catalunya Resort this is not the first recognition. They hold the 5th position in Golf World magazine's TOP 100 Continental European Golf Courses for 2014. I hope this recognition is reflected in golf club membership, tee time sales and F&B figures as well. 

I think the photos below are speaking for themselves:

Stadium Course - Hole 11:

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Hole in one in Malaysia

When we read in the Golf's 2020 Vision (by HSBC) report about the rise and importance of Chinese and Indian golf market, we should not neglect such golf markets like the Malaysian one. The Malaysian golf market's value in 2011 was 94 million USD. Probably this figure also justified the foundation of the Malaysian Golf Tourism Association in 2011 plus the fact that Malaysia is Asia's second most important golf tourism market. As the world's 9th most visited country (in 2011 Malaysia received 24.7 million tourists according to UNWTO), golf tourism should be part of the national tourism strategy like in Vietnam, Cuba and Abu Dhabi to attract more golf tourists in the country. There are signs of such strategy as Malaysia is cooperating with companies like Golfasian and Diethelm.

Although HSBC  sees that golf will continue to move towards shorter formats due to increasing time pressures and shortage of space in cities, Ernie Els has just built 2 golf courses in Malaysia: a 18-hole championship course at Teluk Datai located on the island of Langkawi and a 27-hole design at the highly-anticipated Desaru Coast, located on the South China Sea in south eastern Johor. 

A hidden opportunity for growth of golf in Asia is the rising number of women golfers. Golf is becoming less male sport. This can create new expectations about golf courses. We also have to think how to develop a platform for golf as a family game.

 

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Are you Pinterested in golf??

There is no day when we hear about a new social media platform is emerging. Intentionally I check them how we could use it in the golf industry (golf courses, golf HR, golf architecture, golf apparels etc.). This is how I found Pinterest. Today more than 20 million people (my estimation) are using Pinterest. To my greatest surprise we spend more time here (15.8 minutes/day) then on Facebook (12.1 minutes/day).

Even more impressive that Pinterest is now the 4th biggest traffic driver to websites on the internet, according to new data released by shareaholic.

Needless to say that not all social media platform are equal and not all of them fit to our specific need(s). There are certain social media channels where men are dominating like Reddit.com, Google+ or LinkedIn. Accoriding to Digital Flash NYC, reddit seems to be the guy’s version of Pinterest as they dominate the social aggregator with 84% of the membership. Retailers and lifestyle companies (including golf courses) can gain the most benefit. I think LPGA will be happy to read this. So when we define what kind of people we would like to reach and get in conversation with them the above mentioned stats should be taken in consideration.

Some golf media, golf apparel companies and golf courses have already discovered and using Pinterest. One of them is Callaway Golf. Throughout this example I will explain how we can utilize Pinterest.

First of all, Pinterest is a virtual (Read: V.I.S.U.A.L) bulletin board. It’s imperative to have a plethora of large, easy-to-see, high-resolution photos. Pinterest is based on this, so if your brand does not have a brand-based content it could make things extremely difficult.

What to pin? I recommend the followings:

• images of your products (golf club, golf ball, golf shoes, golf apparels other golf related products) and services (golf course photos: every interesting part of your golf course that can be interesting to people)
• Photos of your workplace (including employees as well!!)
• Infographics with useful info
• Videos - it can be also funny
• Customer testimonials
• To show that you enjoy the same/similar thing they do

Callaway Golf focused more on its golf clubs and golf balls without showing the company from inside. They should add a "board" that shows real moments within the company or create a new page for it.

Relevant business areas where Pinterest can be a lucrative social media platform/tool: 

• PR - both for golf course, golf architecture and golf apparel
• Marketing - product communication, event marketing, golf club membership etc.
• HR - recruitment - to show how great to work in your company
• KPIs: all depends on your brand and what you want out of it. I would choose more brand related metrics.

Callaway Golf focused on PR and marketing. I think it is early to think about how we can drive more sales via Pinterest due to its size and the missing technical solutions. 

We should not forget to add on our website "Pin it" and/or "Follow us on Pinterest" like we we already added similar buttons for Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Callaway Golf should add this on his website. Similar to Twitter and Facebook posting automation, you can do similar on Pinterest by using PinGraphy. 

If you want to know what are the most popular pins on Pinterest.com, then go to Repinly.

 Here are some of the pioneers of the golf industry on Pinterest.com:

• Callaway Golf
• TaylorMade - adidas golf
• Cobra Puma Golf
• Cleveland Golf
• Greg Norman Style
• Whistler Golf Club
• PGA.com
• Golf Digest Magazine
• Golf Galaxy
• Golf Channel
• Golfbreaks.com
• National Club Golfer magazine
• The Belfry

 

 

Redesigning golf club scrubs

When I am visiting new golf courses I am always looking for something unique (beside the design of the golf course). I am sure that some small tools like golf club scrub always look almost the same.

So I say let`s start to decorate our golf club scrub. James Keyser`s solution is really lovely a friendly.

Environment awareness in golf course management

Do we remember how disappointing was Kyoto and than Copenhagen climate conference? Especially when Obama posed as the world's savior....uhhhhhhhhhhhhh Now I think I found something real serious environment protecting initiative. Because I have doubt about Golf Environment Organization's fairness and it reminds me Superbrands competition.

So the organization called Groundwater Guardian. They have a Green Site program that recognizes good stewards of groundwater by encouraging managers of highly-managed green spaces (golf courses, ball fields, education campuses, parks, etc.) to implement, measure, and document their groundwater-friendly practices related to chemical use, water use, pollution prevention, water quality, and environmental stewardship.

Just to understand how important is to preserve groundwater: half of the U.S. population depends on groundwater for drinking purposes. It is funny that groundwater is rarely found in underground rivers or lakes in Instead, groundwater is water that fills the cracks and pores of rocks and sediments that lie beneath the surface of the earth--much the waywater saturates a sponge.

The organization is based in US and focuses as far as I know on the local golf courses. where will their first partner in Europe? Will Golf Environment Organization cooperate with them? Who will provide worldwide benchmark for golf courses?

 

We can follow up Groundwater Guardian's activities on Twitter and Facebook as well:

http://twitter.com/groundwaterfdn

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Groundwater-Foundation/45882768475?v=feed&story_fbid=296263038475#!/pages/The-Groundwater-Foundation/45882768475?v=info