The 2015 Troon Challenge has just ended at Troon North Golf Club (August 22-23, 2015) after 12 weeks of hard-fought competition contested on 35 courses, spanning 16 states. The game attracted more than 1,200 amateur golfers. This was a shamble type (combines elements of scramble and stroke play) of competition.
The winners are:
Gross division: Steve Blackford & Joseph Fox, Poston Butte Golf Club: 63-64 = 127
Net division: Erin O'Hara & Marty McDonald, Centennial Golf Club: 65-65 = 130
Don't worry, the owner Todd Perry will not shut down his golf club. Instead he selected Honours Golf to manage his golf club.
The Calhoun-based golf club is considered as one of the best in northeast Louisiana. At the center of the club, is the 18-hole championship golf course co-designed by John Floyd (who worked under Jack Nicklaus) and Bill Zimmerebner.
In addition to golf, Calvert Crossing offers a fully stocked golf shop and a warm and inviting pub-style restaurant featuring specialty salads, freshly-prepared burgers and sandwiches, and weekly Sunday brunches.
The banquet facility hosts special events ranging from weddings and holiday parties to business luncheons and political rallies. The club also offers two hard-surface tennis courts and an outdoor swimming facility.
I wrote this down, because you will not find this information on the golf club's website...
One of the advantages of this partnership is that as an Honours affiliate club, members of Calvert Crossing now have reciprocal privileges at Honours Golf and Troon managed resort and daily-fee clubs throughout the world.
I think Honours Golf will have to come up with a more attractive and advantageous value proposition on the golf club's website. They will have to think about how they can improve customer experience as we can hardly find such services that would help us for instance to book tee time. Just to feel the difference, check out PGA Catalunya Resort.
Scotland is still excited about hosting The Solheim Cup in 2019. In March it was questionable whether Scotland will launch a formal bid in the summer. Now it is sure that they will officially bid for the hosting of The Solheim Cup in 2019.
Scots take this bid really seriously. The Scottish Government (Jamie Hepburn, the Minister for Sport, Health Improvement and Mental Health) is strongly supporting this initiative. The bid team has been lead by VisitScotland’s Events Directorate.
After a long selection process, The Scottish Government, the Scottish Ladies Golf Association, Scottish Golf Union, Transport Scotland and current Scottish LET professionals and of course VisitScotland selected Gleneagles (was acquired by Ennismore for around £150m) as an ideal bidding partner. The game would be played on the PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles.
They calculate with 30,000 spectators per day to the Perthshire venue including a strong contingent travelling from outwith Scotland and from overseas.
I think, the opportunity to host such a big golf event can contribute to women's participation in golf. It would be nice to boost women's golf club membership to above 20% in Scotland (and of course elsewhere also).
However VisitScotland has to come up with more convincing reasons to believe (RTB) than emphasizing Scotland's golf history and heritage. We also cannot be sure that the weather will be favourable to the event (see what happened during the British Open this year).
Other weakness of Scotland and Gleneagles is what can they offer to the spectators beside the game. My impression is that the crowds are largely made up of the ladies sections of golf clubs plus family and friends. If this is really the case, then what can the organizers offer to these ladies??(e.g. shopping opportunity, spas etc.) Well, when I think about Scotland, golf, whiskey and James Bond come to my mind first.
This is why I think Turkey, Spain, Portugal or Italy can be tough competitors for Scotland.
In this post, Hanno Kross, the CEO of Estonian Golf & Country Club continues to explain how can we get rid of obstacles of golf participation:
I heard already few years ago that there is a company in Italy which develops the ball and a club where it has a chip inside so when you hit your shot, you can see the statistics from your device in detail and of course you can search your ball also and find it.
I personally don't care if there is someone somewhere who says that this is not allowed and I wouldn't allow these also in our club championship but on a Sunday round when people want to play a fast round of golf or they want to make their own tournament using some software what is available for that - I would encourage to use the technology!
And think about the environmental impact for the golf courses when they could mow weekly less rough for example when these lost golf balls would be in use? For every golf course hundreds of thousands of Euros when combined the fuel, man hours, depreciation of the machinery, water management etc. The players are still in huge trouble when they find their ball and still the pros have a lot of work but the enjoyment from the game for certain type of players would be a lot better. Maybe we are losing these type of players today, we just don't know...
So the typical presentation in golf today is that someone steps to the stage and starts to ask, how do we modernize golf when the golf club membership is declining and juniors don't take up the sport as they did years ago. They start to suggest many things how to imply for the youngsters and rethink the sport that maybe we need to go online! And be more accessible.
Golf is few decades behind when we compare ourselves to flight companies or hotel businesses. Try to remember how you booked a holiday 20 or 10 years ago and how you do it now and think what there is available in golf... We are still using same methods as hotels used maybe 10 or 20 years ago. We are going to the tour operator or sending an email to book the tee time... And we are surprised to see some golf clubs or courses in trouble...
I think majority of the golf businesses have been very lucky, it's been easy for them and still the shock hasn't come, we are still lazy and don't look the businesses from the clients’ perspective, especially the new ones. They don't care so much about the speed of the green rather how they can spend time with their friends or family and have fun!
I think dealing with juniors is important but if we really want to grow in participation then we have to look new possible players from the age groups 30-40 who first time in their lives have some money and maybe flexibility and want to escape for few hours from work or small children. Preferably with their wives!
We have to advertise to the 60+ years as they have time and money and they live 20 years more than they grandparents did. They have 15-20 years very active life still ahead of them and golf is superb for them for socializing and being fit for the last third of their lives. How many associations or clubs are putting these age groups for one priority when they talk about growing the game? Not many so far, I think.
I would like to end this post with our clubs president’s words that we often do the same things and expect different results in our businesses... I think it is more than true in the golf business generally and those who have taken the guts to change and be more open they are sharing their win with the players already. Golf has been played more than 600 years and will be played another 600 because it is simply the best game in the World.
Last month, I had been to Estonia where among the others I visited the Estonian Golf & Country Club and met with the CEO Hanno Kross. What makes Hanno's golf club interesting is that they were able to think in strategy that includes such cooperations and partnerships like the European Tour or designing their new golf course by Annika Sörenstam. Now they are planning to build a hotel with spa.
In the following you can read his thoughts about how to get rid of obstacles of golf participation. Definitely for the last five years I have heard in many conferences, seminars and presentations that the golf participation is declining - new generation doesn't want to take up the sport because there are many alternatives to entertain yourself. As the latter might even be true, the first is not.
The statistics used is generally taken from the golf unions and associations which give the number of membership in the golf clubs. There has definitely been substantial decline especially in some countries like Sweden, where the membership has dropped from 800 000 to below 500 000. But when you look the statistics from the golf courses and owners associations you see that the number of rounds played is generally the same or even higher.
So what actually happening is that the old model of playing golf has changed! People still like golf - it is the best game in the World but they just don't need to access golf the way their grandfathers did. They prefer to go out and play and make their life not very complicated with membership and HCP' etc.
There are still many countries who for example don't let people to play if they are not the member of some golf clubs. For me personally it is very hard to understand that if someone invests a million or ten and builds a golf course he has to say to a client that I can't take your money because a third party non-profit organization (golf union) is saying that you can't play! I'm based in Estonia, our golf club membership is growing 10-15% a year (the gross numbers are still very low with 3000 golfers) and we couldn't afford this strange rules.
Golf Clubs themselves have to change if they want to attract more people. No-one has ever joined the club to save money - we want to be part of a society and share the same values, spend time, maybe even compete and be proud of the club! And if the clubs provide only the calculation of the HCP of course they will lose the members because there is no point to pay the membership anymore.
We can calculate our HCP with our smartphones if we want. We can use GameBook to organize tournaments for our friends every day. We are actually creating new clubs and societies with our smartphones because there is a huge need to play but many of the old fashioned clubs don't provide the need. These clubs will die and the new ones will be built, maybe even without golf courses. Maybe there is too many in the World anyway already?
It is strange to see that nowadays technology is not implemented in golf. I remember it was only a few years ago when in golf rules it was said that the smartphones are not allowed to use on the golf course. We have to understand that one thing is the R&A rules for which I have a huge respect and I hope these will be always used in big tournaments whether internationally or locally but when we talk about everyday play in the clubs then there is so much more we could do to help the golfers.
I've got good news for the 218,000 Scottish Golf Membership Card holders. Thanks to the new partnership with MacDonald Hotel & Resorts, card holders will get 15% discount at Macdonald Hotel & Resorts across the UK.
This means a cheaper access to more than 40 venues acrross the UK, as well as all 5 of Macdonald Hotels & Resorts golf venues which includes, Macdonald Spey Valley in Aviemore, Macdonald Portal Hotel, Golf & Spa, Macdonald Hill Valley Hotel, Golf & Spa, Macdonald Cardrona Hotel, Golf & Spa and Macdonald Linden Hall Golf & Country Club.
It would be interesting to know how the Scottish Golf Union is collecting data (e.g. where do they play, what payment method do they prefer, how they book tee time, do they take golf lessons? etc.) about Scottish Golf Membership Card holders' + how do they communicate and engage with their card holders.
Since an effective loyalty program will offer a choice of services or treatments in order to reveal more about a customer's personal preferences. It is not clear from the Scottish Golf Union's website, whether they enable Scottish Golf Membership Card holders to mix and match aspects to their own preferences or not. Such modular offerings can allow customer-driven personalization of a loyalty program.
Last year PGA Catalunya Resort was awarded as '2015 Golf Resort of the Year for Europe' by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO). Now PGA Catalunya Resort proves that they have not received the recognition in vain.
PGA Catalunya Resort has enjoyed significant year-on-year increases in visitor numbers, driven by a 16% rise from the UK, a 7% increase from Switzerland and a 5% rise from both France and the Nordic countries. A similar growth was seen at a domestic level, with 5% more Spanish golfers booking rounds to play the two critically-acclaimed Tour and Stadium courses.
An interesting trend in golf tourism is the direct booking. This resulted a 31% year-on-year increase from the French market. I was not surprised at this result since it proves what Michael Galosso COO of Golfscape.com wrote in his guest post about the growing importance of shared economy, crowdsourcing in golf tourism.
Golf travel operators are in trouble in these days as customization and social recommendations are gaining momentum. According to ASTA's 2013 Technology and Web Usage Report, 40% of travel agents don't see social media as valuable. Why???
Quite a big money is at stake in the golf tourism industry: $20 Billion+. According to the '2014 Golf Tourism Report,' 553 golf tour operators control more than 85% of the world's golf holiday packages.
Miguel Girbes, Director of Golf at PGA Catalunya Resort believes that “Staging the European Tour’s 2014 Open de España undoubtedly created an important platform for us to elevate the resort’s status as a world-class venue and boost our reputation among international golfers. Being named Spain’s official candidate host venue for The 2022 Ryder Cup has also helped raise our profile in Europe, and beyond.”
On Thursday will start the 39th Women's British Open Championship at Turnberry's Ailsa Course. This was not 100% sure if LPGA will agree to hold the championship at Turnberry after Donald Trump's remarks on Mexican immigrants.
LPGA, PGA of America, PGA Tour and USGA immediately dissociated from Donald Trump's view. However due to time constraints LPGA decided not to look for a new place for the 2015 Ricoh Women's British Open Championship.
However there were companies (Macy’s, NBC Universal, Univision, and Nascar have all cut ties with Trump in one way or another.) who cut ties with Donald Trump.
I found some golf championships that are still scheduled to be played at Donald Trump's golf courses, including 2017 U.S. Women’s Open, at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, and the 2017 Senior P.G.A. Championship, at Trump National Golf Club Washington D.C.
Will LPGA, PGA Tour, PGA of America and USGA be able to stand up stronger for their principles/values????
At the very same time Trump hopes that the 2015 Ricoh Women's British Open Championship will be successful and he will be awarded to host men's British Open after 2018.
Thank you Getty Images for the photos.
What can a UK golf club do when golf participation is declining and soccer participation is growing? The easiest solution is to enable footgolf. In the US, footgolf is so popular that even NGCOA has recognized the American FootGolf League (AFGL) as the “Governing Body for the Sport of FootGolf in the U.S.” and it’s “Official FootGolf Organization". Robert Balestrini (Founder, American FootGolf League) believes that footgolf is a good way to introduce both millenials and minorities (e.g. Hispanics) to the world of golf.
In the UK, footgolf is not totally new. Today, you can find cca. 120 golf clubs where you can play footgolf. Most of them are 9-hole golf courses, but we can find some 18-hole golf courses as well.
Heythrop Park Resort (UK) has just developed a custom-built 9-hole FootGolf golf course is adjacent to the championship Bainbridge Course. It has been purpose-built for FootGolf in an area not previously used for golf.
This is the 1st footgolf golf course in a golf resort in the UK. The FootGolf course at Heythrop Park was co-designed by UK FootGolf’s Head of Development, Gareth May, and the sport’s 2014 Order Of Merit Champion, Ben Clarke. It is interesting that Heythrop Park Resort unlike other golf clubs, they are not forced to offer footgolf to tackle declining golf participation.
The resort’s new FootGolf course is open seven days a week, and is playable during daylight hours from just £7.50 for 9 holes (£4 for under-16s).
Troon was selected to manage Tierra del Sol Resort & Golf's golf operations. It is a premium lifestyle community providing a choice of home ownership and rental opportunities. Tierra del Sol Resort & Golf has a 18-hole golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones II.
Oliver Riding will return to Tierra Sol Resort & Golf as the director of golf operations. He previously served here as head golf professional for 7 years.
They are planning couple of changes, among them new real estate ownership opportunities, the construction of a five-star hotel, and many improvements already made to the existing golf, villa rental, food & beverage, and clubhouse operations.
I would add some ideas for improvement:
I am a digital marketing strategist with 10+ years experience with addiction to golf: http://www.linkedin.com/in/breitner.
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