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
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.
By winning the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on last Sunday, Shane Lowry has achieved a two-fold victory: became a full PGA Tour member + world golf ranking of No. 19. Actually this is Shane's first PGA Tour victory since 2009 when he became a special temporary PGA Tour member.
By winning the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational Shane Lowry earned $1.57 million.
He played with:
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.
On the 1st of July, I have already reported about American Golf 9 Hole Championship. In that time I wrote that Justin Rose, a TaylorMade brand ambassador will be the main prize (the winner can play with him). Then suddenly American Golf canceled (?) the tournament or Justin Rose/TaylorMade changed his mind.
Now I hear that half of the qualifiers are complete . There were 10 qualifying events take place over 10 regions. Today the organizer does not mention, with whom can play the winner from the TaylorMade brand team. It is good to hear that the England Golf endorsed the American Golf 9 Hole Championship.
Here is what will the winner get from American Golf and TaylorMade:
The two winning pairs and runners up from each region will win fantastic prizes from TaylorMade, while the winning pairs also make their way to the Grand Final at The Belfry in October. Once there each team will be competing for the once in a lifetime prize of a trip to the Bahamas for 2 people plus a round with a TaylorMade Tour player.
I hope this will attract more people to golf and reactivate "armchair golfers".
Ricoh, signed an agreement with the Ladies Golf Union and IMG on Wednesday (July 29, 2015) to continue as title sponsor of the Ricoh Women’s British Open through 2018. The company has been the title sponsor of the Ricoh Women’s British Open since 2007.
The sponsorship of Women's British Open is one of the longest serving sponsors in women’s golf. Last year worldwide spending on golf sponsorship was around $1.65 billion, up 3.1% from 2013, according to IEG Research. The 2 most active sponsor of golf worldwide were BMW and Rolex.
As we can see below, Ricoh's commitment to golf is a refreshing exception since the technology industry is less active in golf sponsorship. However it is not a big surprise as golf events are not typical B2B promotion and sales venues.
I think such sponsorship can only bring brand recall, understanding and may be engagement for Ricoh. Today, sponsors like Ricoh, are looking for gaining deeper and more emotional engagement with fans and staff. For this golf championship is a great moment.
Woburn Golf Club and Kingsbarns Golf Links will host the Ricoh Women’s British Open in 2016 and 2017 respectively with this week’s Championship being played on the Ailsa Course at the Trump Turnberry Resort.
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.
Couple of years ago I asked why don't we have crowdsourcing campaigns and project among well established golf equipment brands like Callaway Golf. I still think that it is an untapped source of growth and tactic for content marketing (good examples: P&G's Connect+Develop; Lego's Mindstorms).
To utilize the power of crowdsourcing Wilson Golf launches a new television show called “Driver vs. Driver.” This show, scheduled to air on Golf Channel in Fall 2016, is being created to open the door for valuable insights, generate buzz around the brand and to enhance customer engagement with the Wilson Golf brand.
To enter, individuals and/or teams need to submit a short video on their concept, why they think it can work as the next driver innovation, and a brief synopsis of who they are. Entries can be submitted at www.wilson.com/drivervsdriver. The deadline for entries is 11:59 PM CT, August 15, 2015.
A set number of contestant concepts will go through prototyping and vigorous testing within Wilson Labs and the individuals and/or teams will work alongside the Company’s engineers and designers to refine the concept until a winner is determined.
The winner of the contest will get $500,000 grand prize and an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with Wilson Golf’s Wilson Labs innovation team of engineers and designers. The winner's concept will be a Wilson Staff 2017 branded driver and it sold at golf shops around the country (=US).
What can Wilson Golf to maximize its "Driver vs. Driver" crowdsourcing campaign?
Within a year, I had the chance to write reviews about Arccos Golf, Game Golf, Zepp Golf and Microsoft Golf Tile (in association with TaylorMade). Now, here comes another golf training gadget.
Ojee Golf's Talon (a digital display; see picture below) is promising to enable us to achieve our optimum posture position before you strike the ball. Talon is able to show if you are doing something wrongly (e.g. club-face is open).
Ojee Talon is crowdfunding its product development in Indiegogo.com. Within 14 days they were able to collect £9,642 (out of £20,000). £149 gets you the Talon suite, the RRP will be £229.99. Shipping forecast is November.
To implement Talon (digital display unit) you have to attach it to the top of any golf club, together with a separate wireless back unit, which uses patent-pending technology to remove guesswork by calculating and clearly displaying four critical angles of address: spine angle, club shaft angle, club shaft to spine angle, and rotation angle of the club face.
This is the good part, but to be able to utilize Talon you will also have to wear a kind of back brace.
It is good that we get immediate information. Ojee Golf's Talon provides 8 hours of continuous use. It seems like it will be more accurate than Zepp Golf. I miss couple of things from this device:
A new era will start at the National Golf Course Owners Association. Jay Karen will replace Michael Hughes on October 1. Hughes served for 25 years as CEO of NGCOA. Some of the achievements of Hughes are:
He also served as Chairman of the Executive Committee of GOLF 20/20, a member of the Board of Governors of the National Golf Foundation, an Advisory Board member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and Chairman of WE ARE GOLF.
Jay Karen is not new to NGCOA. Prior to this assignment he was the Director of Partner Relations and Membership of the NCCOA from 1997 to 2007.
However, he will have to come up with solutions to turn round/back of closing golf courses and decline in golf participation. More golf courses closed than opened in the U.S. in 2013 for the 8th straight year, according to the National Golf Foundation.
A total of 14 18-hole courses opened in 2013, up from 13.5 in 2012, while 157.5 courses were closed during the year, three more than a year earlier (source: Jupiter). Public courses made up 97 percent (151.5) of the closures, with private courses accounting for 4 percent (6). A total of 8.5 public courses opened last year, compared with 5.5 new private courses.
The decline (13% in 2013 from 2009 - Sports & Fitness Industry Association) in participation among people aged 18 to 34, is a big problem since they are the future of golf.
It was also worrisome last year when Dick's Sporting Goods decided last year to restructure its golf equipment business (it costed $20.4 million). This is a clear sign of decline in sales. The share of golf equipment sales was 20% couple of years ago, but now is around only 10%.
Companies like TaylorMade have to find answers how to cope with the new reality of golf retail.
I think the new NGCOA CEO, Jay Karen will not get bored...
I am a digital marketing strategist with 10+ years experience with addiction to golf: http://www.linkedin.com/in/breitner.
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