The Golf Club Manager: October 2019

THE GOLF CLUB

MANAGER ISSUE 30 | OCTOBER 2019

THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE GOLF CLUB MANAGERS’ ASSOCIATION

GRASS ROOTS

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

H O W CO P T H E AT H R E J U V E N AT E D THEIR JUNIOR SECTION INDUSTRY

MORE THAN JUST A COURSE

T H E N E W R O YA L N O R W I C H H A S A VERY DIFFERENT ETHOS INDUSTRY

‘MODERNISATION IS IN THE DNA OF CARNOUSTIE’ MIKE WELLS ON RUNNING A BUSINESS AND A CHARITY

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CONTENTS ISSUE 30 | OCTOBER 2019

NEED TO KNOW

CAREERS

13

64 The latest jobs for GCMA members

Is the club membership model dying?

INDUSTRY

GOOD PRACTICE

27

Interview: Carnoustie’s Mike Wells

50 How does the modern day pro fit in at a club?

39

How to modernise a private members’ club

INDUSTRY

GRASS ROOTS

46 The new and inclusive Royal Norwich

62 Meet Huddersfield’s Chris Duffy

62

46

27

WELCOME

THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE GOLF CLUB MANAGERS’ ASSOCIATION GCMA Bristol & Clifton Golf Club, Beggar Bush Lane, Failand, Bristol, BS8 3TH Tel: 01275 391153 | hq@gcma.org.uk CHIEF EXECUTIVE Bob Williams - bob@gcma.org.uk COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER Mike Hyde - mike@gcma.org.uk GOLF MANAGEMENT RESEARCHER Jim Cunning - jim@gcma.org.uk EDUCATION COORDINATOR Niki Hunter - niki@gcma.org.uk FINANCE ADMINISTRATOR Shirley Edmondson - shirley@gcma.org.uk COMMUNICATIONS EXECUTIVE Marie Taylor - marie@gcma.org.uk MEMBERSHIP SERVICES Julie Knight - julie@gcma.org.uk PRESIDENT JR (John) Jones 2019/20 CAPTAIN Ian Symington BOARD OF DIRECTORS Phil Grice, Amy Yeates, Andrew Rankin, Judy Barker, Stuart Leech, Brad McLean THE GOLF CLUB MANAGER IS PUBLISHED BY: SPORTS PUBLICATIONS LTD 2 Arena Park, Tarn Lane, Scarcroft, West Yorkshire, LS17 9BF, UK Tel: 0113 289 3979 | info@sportspub.co.uk PUBLISHER Tom Irwin - t.irwin@sportspub.co.uk EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Dan Murphy - d.murphy@sportspub.co.uk OPS DIRECTOR Will Shucksmith - w.shucksmith@sportspub.co.uk EDITOR Steve Carroll - s.carroll@sportspub.co.uk PRODUCTION EDITOR James Broadhurst - j.broadhurst@sportspub.co.uk CHIEF DESIGNER Andrew Kenworthy - a.kenworthy@sportspub.co.uk DESIGNERS Emmi Parry - e.parry@sportspub.co.uk Becky Clark - b.clark@sportspub.co.uk Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, but the publishers cannot accept responsibility for omissions and errors. All material in this publication is strictly copyright and all rights are reserved.The views expressed in The Golf Club Manager do not necessarily represent the views of the company or the editor. Every care is taken in compiling the contents but the publishers assume no responsibility for any damage, loss or injury arising from participation in any offer, competition or advertising contained within The Golf Club Manager.

THE GOLF CLUB

MANAGER ISSUE 30 | OCTOBER 2019

THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE GOLF CLUB MANAGERS’ ASSOCIATION

GRASS ROOTS

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

H O W CO P T H E AT H R E J U V E N AT E D THEIR JUNIOR SECTION INDUSTRY

MORE THAN JUST A COURSE

T H E N E W R O YA L N O R W I C H H A S A VERY DIFFERENT ETHOS INDUSTRY

‘MODERNISATION IS IN THE DNA OF CARNOUSTIE’ MIKE WELLS ON RUNNING A BUSINESS AND A CHARITY

ED U C AT E | I N FO RM | I N S P I RE ‘

001 GCMA October 19 Cover.indd 3

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ON THE COVER: Carnoustie’s Mike Wells

ISSUE 30 | OCTOBER 2019

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know I commenced my welcome message last month by making reference to the forthcoming National Conference in November, but now with just one month to go and the momentum gaining pace, I am once again suggesting that all members consider attending our flagship event.

Since I took on this role nearly seven years ago, this will be the third Conference that I have headed up the planning team – and, in my view, this one will probably deliver the most interesting and diverse programme of presenters yet.

As we have combined this with a great venue, which is fairly central in the country, I am sure it will serve to be an excellent conference.

As we have done in the last two conferences, we will present the winners of the Manager of the Year awards on the Monday evening at the gala dinner.

As I am writing this article, we are in the middle of visiting the nominated managers at their respective clubs. This is one of the aspects of my job that I will never fail to enjoy. These nominations have been made for a reason and those reasons are clearly evident on this occasion with some great examples of best practice, as well as stories of how some clubs have been completely turned around from a failing business to progressive thriving clubs.

To those managers who do not succeed in winning their categories, I would like to take the

opportunity to wish you well for the future – carry on the great work.

Looking back over the last month I was delighted to be invited to the grand opening of Royal Norwich, which was graced by the presence of Ian Poulter.

Whilst the golf course is a great credit to the hard work and dedication from the Royal Norwich team, it was an excellent effort on Ian Poulter’s behalf to not only play but entertain the crowd and indulge with the junior members, whom I’m sure thoroughly enjoyed his exchange of banter with them.

I look forward to seeing you at Conference.

Bob Williams – chief executive

“This year’s Conference will probably deliver the most interesting and diverse programme of presenters yet.”

2019/20 Seminar Series

Essential Skills for Future Club Managers Perfect for anyone interested in a career in golf club management, or somebody already in a junior or middle management role in a golf club.

These seminars will be free of charge, and attendees will learn more about: - Insights into great leadership and building successful teams - Change management – how to improve and evolve together - How to increase sales through improved customer service - Career progression discussions Q&A with a GCMA Director The first two events are open for registration now, and the remainder will open later in the year.

30 October 2019: Moor Park GC – led by Amy Yeates 26 November 2019: Formby GC – led by Stuart Leech 11 February 2020: Thorpeness GC – led by Brad McLean 24 March 2020: Bishop’s Stortford GC - led by Judy Barker 30 April 2020: Moor Park GC - led by Phil Grice

gcma.org.uk/diary

r ste i g re ow n

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

Pictures of the

MONTH

Alex Taylor, Corhampton and GCMA Wessex Regional Manager (red and white)

Winter Hill's Ian McMahon and Robert Shaw, from Tyrrells Wood

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Tony Moon from Copt Heath

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Ben Tawell, from Newton Green

Paul Gibbons with his trophy

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London & Home Counties triumph at the Fairway Credit Finals Day While the Southern region put up a spirited defence, Winter Hill’s Ian McMahon and Robert Shaw, from Tyrrells Wood, ensured the Fairway Credit trophy headed to the London & Home Counties region after combining effectively to top the leaderboard with 70 points at the 2019 Fairway Credit GCMA Finals Day, held at The Oxfordshire.

Paul Gibbons, of Singing Hills in the Southern region, took home the spoils in the personal competition with a superb 39 points.

Sincere thanks to our partners at Fairway Credit for their continued support of the Finals Day – and we’re looking forward to 2020 already. Remember to look out for the qualifying competition in your region next spring.

GCMA.ORG.UK | 7

2019 CONFERENCE

10-12 NOVEMBER DeVere Cotswold Water Park

conference speakers: Ross Matheson All England Lawn Tennis Club Wilma Erskine Royal Portrush GC Rob Hill Global Golf Advisors Gregg Paterson Tribal Magic Kevin Fish Contemporary Club Leadership Amy Yeates Moor Park GC Fred Popp Team Up David Bancroft-Turner Matrix TC Stuart Gillett Golf at Goodwood Karen Drake Burnham & Berrow GC Mark Hunt Headland Amenity Steve Isaac The R&A Daniel Sommerville The R&A Iain Carter BBC Golf Colin Burns Winged Foot GC Stuart Gillett Golf at Goodwood Chris Spencer Glasgow GC Mike Timson & Keith Robertson Newmachar GC Dr Roger Hawkes Golf & Health Project

The full programme, with details of every session, is available on the GCMA website

Don’t miss the chance to: Learn new ideas Network with golf club suppliers and industry experts Catch up with friends and colleagues Grow your personal network Share best practice Improve your team Be inspired!

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Need to

KNOW All the relevant news, opinion, and expert insight from around the industry

Is club membership

DEAD?

Gary Firkins, founder of Landmark Golf Marketing & Communications, takes a transatlantic tour to review the state of the club industry – and reveals the strategic characteristic that drives all successful club businesses

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GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

A

fter almost a decade of decline following the global financial downturn, golf club membership appears to be stabilising both in the United States and the UK. In fact, there was modest growth in 2018, according to England Golf.

But there’s a problem. The largest age group in English clubs is 65 years and over, reflecting an aged, retired demographic.

Despite a growth in entertainment range golf and high levels of interest in the sport, especially among the young, it would appear prospective customers are not being converted into golf club members.

So is the club membership model dying – or can clubs on both sides of the Atlantic evolve to answer the needs of today’s customers?

Over the past year, I’ve been fortunate to spend time in North America and Europe, speaking to leading club managers and fellow consultants. I’ve also visited a number of clubs that are taking a very different approach to the traditional club model – and are succeeding.

What’s clear is the clubs that are prospering all one have one simple but essential strategic characteristic in common.

Lessons from North America It’s said that when the United States sneezes, Europe catches a cold.

So what is happening now in the world’s largest golf market – and what might be in store for the UK and Europe?

Market studies indicate participation is stabilising. There’s even been a small increase in oncourse play – the first in 14 years – albeit thanks largely to over-65s, according to the National Golf Foundation.

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Where golf is growing is in offcourse participation – up nearly 10% in 2018, the NGF says – driven by golf entertainment ranges such as Topgolf and Drive Shack.

The number of people who played their first ever round or say they are ‘very interested’ in playing golf are also at near historical highs.

But there appears to be a missing link in the journey from interest and initial engagement to membership – if indeed such a journey still exists.

So what’s going on?

One leading expert with a finger on the pulse of the club industry is Henry DeLozier, partner at specialised consulting and market intelligence firm Global Golf Advisors.

DeLozier estimates only onethird of clubs in North America are prospering. Doesn’t this indicate that the club membership model is indeed dying?

“I don’t believe that traditional club membership is dying as much as it is evolving,”DeLozier says.“Many clubs have been quite agile when it comes to adapting their membership offering for upcoming generations.

“However, there is still a large proportion that is stuck in the trap of thinking short-term, lacking the strategic vision that will ensure that their clubs remain relevant 10 or 20 years from now.”

How many clubs have a longterm strategic plan? Indeed, how many clubs think about being relevant? The reality is very few.

DeLozier believes clubs need to look beyond the obvious and recognise the deeper purpose clubs offer members.

“There is something about clubs that is vital to understand,”he explains,“Members’ commitment to their club is more emotional than transactional. While many clubs worry about joining fees, in

actual fact the key is whether or not the club fosters an emotional value to its members. Does it give a sense of belonging, a sense of gratification for the whole family, is it a safe haven?

“The clubs that are prospering are doing a very fine job of communicating that value proposition. The others struggle to establish that emotional value and to communicate its importance.”

The point DeLozier stresses is it is understanding the customer that matters for clubs – and then putting those insights into a strategy that creates a route map to success.

And that’s what makes the two contemporary UK clubs I visited in the past year so interesting – and perfectly aligned to DeLozier’s sage advice.

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Revolution at the Royal Readers of this magazine will be familiar with the story of Royal Norwich Golf Club, its historic relocation and the visionary leadership of the GCMA’s Chairman Phil Grice.

Back in April, chilled by an icy easterly wind, Phil and I stood overlooking the immaculate EGD designed golf course and recorded a podcast interview for Syngenta Growing Golf. (You can listen to the interview and view the full multi-media version of this feature at www.growinggolf.com).

What he told me chimed precisely with what Henry DeLozier had said about clubs fostering an emotional value to their members.

The phrase Phil Grice likes to use is creating a ‘community.’

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“Community is the fundamental pillar that we are building our business on,”he says.“You have got to create a community and a reason for people to want to be part of it.”

Grice and his colleagues consulted all the market research available and spoke to leading venues and clubs, learning from their experiences.

“We’ve taken a top down approach as to what we can do – and a bottom up approach as to what people actually want,” continues Grice.“We’ve looked at the technological world, we’ve looked at the time-based world, we’ve looked at what youngsters and families want and what fits today, more so than telling them what we offer and hoping they want it.

“We are absolutely,

fundamentally, 100% a private members’ club, but we believe we operate in a customer-focused way.”

There it is: customer focus.

And it’s for this reason that what might first appear as marketing gimmicks – a microbrewery, wine room, nature trails – are in fact important amenities and experiences designed to create an emotional bond with the club and make membership both necessary and indispensable.

Club membership isn’t dead, says Grice – but Royal Norwich would not have survived had it not had the opportunity to change.

All good at Goodwood The story of Golf At Goodwood’s transformation to Credit Membership, accruing 2,500

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GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

members and a waiting list, is also familiar.

Value might be the watchword, but what’s important is that behind the product, precisely the same philosophy resides: a clear focus on the customer.

Both the business model and the customer experience is different to the norm, but it is relevant to the audience. And that’s why it works.

“It’s a model that works for today’s society and the demographic we are targeting,” says Stuart Gillett, General Manager of Golf At Goodwood.“But I am concerned that there are clubs out there that still have the same business model they had 30 or 40 years ago and haven’t evolved.”

So does Gillett believe in the future of clubs and membership?

“If you look at the growth of private members’clubs in London, they’ve boomed over the last 10 years because people want somewhere to call home,”he says.“People want the loyalty, they want to be in an

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environment they feel comfortable.

Golf clubs should do that.

“Part of the problem we have is the word golf. People think that everything you do at a golf club should be centred around golf. It shouldn’t. For half the year it is dark at 4.30pm. Actually, if clubs get their food and beverage operations right there are revenue streams there.”

The future Successful businesses understand their customers. They know who they are, how they live and what makes them tick. They then adapt their product or service to match what customers want.

Golf clubs, in my experience, do not spend enough time thinking about members (a.k.a. customers).

They spend even less time considering research or asking them what they might want. When was the last time your club asked members what they wanted, via a survey or focus group?

The result is that golf clubs

frequently carry on operating in the same way they always have done, relying on assumptions instead of insights. The result is a mismatch between what is offered and what today’s customers want.

And with no long-term strategic plan in place, change at many clubs is restricted to tactical tinkering.

Consequently, more and more golf clubs are becoming less relevant to customers.

Is club membership dead?

Absolutely not. Contemporary clubs prove it. But yesterday’s clubs will soon be dead if they don’t evolve to meet the needs of today’s customers.

This article is adapted from the multi-media feature ‘Is Club Membership Dead?’ first published

by Syngenta Growing Golf. To sign up for more customer insights and access to Syngenta’s market research reports, visit: www.growinggolf.com

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INDUSTRY The latest news, insightful opinions and in-depth features from the golf industry

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

In the

LOOP

The news you need to know from the last month in the golf industry…

Women and Girls’ Golf Week a roaring success The second staging of the Women and Girls’ Golf Week proved a big hit on social media, The R&A have revealed.

Activities timed to coincide with the Women’s British Open at Woburn generated more than 12 million twitter impressions through the #WhyIGolf hashtag – more than the first campaign last year.

Delivered by the home unions, The R&A, along with the European and Ladies European Tours, as well as the PGA and the Golf Foundation, were among those supporting the venture.

and campaign video content generated over 274,000 views.

The week was highlighted on Sky Sports Golf during the Women’s British Open, while other supporters included Georgia Hall, Catriona Matthew and Lexi Thompson.

Nick Pink, outgoing England Golf chief executive, said:“Women and Girls’ Golf Week again proved a great success online, as we all look to inspire more females into the sport at all levels.”

The R&A’s Women in Golf Charter was launched last year with the aim of inspiring an industry-wide

Welcome to our newest GCMA members Shaun Hall, at Boundary Lakes, in Southern region Craig Ferris, at Luton Hoo, in Chiltern & Home Counties region Tony Martin, at Dulwich & Sydenham Hill, in London & Home Counties region Steve Rowley, at Belton Park, in East Midlands region Paul Green, at Ely City, in East Anglia region Craig Bell, at SGCMA, Iin Scotland region Greg Diddams, at Upchurch River Valley, in South East region Tom Widley, at Worlebury, in South West region

The campaign told stories of women and girls involved in different areas of the sport, celebrating their successes and challenging perceptions. Online content featured a theme for each day, including careers, volunteers, health, participation and performance.

More than 800 people contributed across Great Britain and Ireland, as well as abroad,

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commitment to a more inclusive culture.

This year’s Women and Girls’ Golf Week also built on the first ever Golf and Health Week held in April, which again saw various golfing bodies working collaboratively.

We want to hear from you!

We want to hear from you!

Send your correspondence, on any subject, to letters@gcma.org.uk

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From the

ARCHIVES We scour the GCMA magazine archives to find out what managers were saying in years gone by Ten years ago ‘Do you talk to your members?’

That was the question GCMA chief executive Keith Lloyd asked in his column in October 2009. The panel for the Manager of the Year awards had been out and about on site visits and were struck by the rapport the finalists showed with members who approached them.

“Now you might say that this is exactly what you do at your club,”he wrote.“But, I can assure you that many GCMA members have fallen into the trap of becoming slightly reclusive, often as a result of the need to be ‘busy’ all the time, which in fairness may not be design.”

Lloyd advocated spending 15 minutes each day either walking around the clubhouse, or course, and stopping and chatting with the members.

“Let me know what reaction you get,”he continued.“I am willing to bet there will be more positives than negatives, not to mention the goodwill factor you will create.”

So let’s ask the question. If you do this still today, how do you get on?

25 years ago They say history is cyclical and,

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looking back through the archives, that certainly seems true as far as golf club management is concerned. In his column, Daniel Davies posed the teaser ‘Is golf too cheap for seniors?’

Arguing that the golf market was getting progressively older – what’s changed? – he said the shifting demographic was having

implications for a club’s annual revenue.“The people who are playing the most are paying the least,”he wrote.“There is a growing awareness at clubs that the fullpaying members cannot continue to financially shoulder the growth of senior sections.”

So what to do? Davies said

reduced playing rights could balance the reduction of a set percentage fee or taking into account the ability of members to pay the full fee.

50 years ago In what was perhaps a snapshot of the era, Sdn Ldr Geoffrey Ayres, the secretary of Hendon, had a bee in his bonnet about the use of the term ‘Lady Captain’.

Now you might think the old military man would have enough on his plate, but he found time to write in to complain about the following in October 1969.

“Unless a club is unusually constituted it cannot justify a ‘Lady Captain’. Of course, there may be clubs which are, in fact, divided into two separate entities, Gentlemen and Ladies both carrying the same generic title. In such cases the captain of the Ladies’ club would be the ‘Lady Captain’.

Personally speaking, I have not run across such a set-up. Generally, golf clubs have a ‘Captain’ or, more correctly, a ‘Club Captain’, and a captain of the Ladies’ section, or the ‘Ladies’ Captain’. The ‘Ladies’ Captain’ is subordinate to the ‘Club Captain’.”It’s a wonder he could sleep at night with all the stress.

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The interview...

MIKE WELLS Mike Wells is Carnoustie Golf Links’ first Chief Executive. He talks to Mike Hyde about the links’ place in the community, Opens and how the venue should be at the forefront of modernising the game

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ou’re Carnoustie Golf Links’ first Chief Executive. Can you talk about how you arrived at the position?

That particular question goes back quite a long way. I’ve got an emotional link to Carnoustie.

In 1999, I worked at the Open Championship as a summer job. Golf wasn’t a career choice I designed but it was something I fell into. I was very fortunate and I couldn’t have messed it up too much, as Sir Michael Bonallack and Peter Dawson, who had just taken over as the Chief Executive of The R&A, said ‘Do you fancy coming on board and going on the Championship team?’.

That’s where it really all started for me and 18 years later, as Director of Championship Staging for The Open, I find myself looking at a job advert, advertising the position of Chief Executive here at Carnoustie.

I knew that Carnoustie had so much potential and was instantly drawn to the challenge. I wouldn’t say it wasn’t without its questions. I loved my job at The R&A as Staging Director for The Open and I was part of a fantastic team. I’ve still got a lot of friends there and memories that will last a lifetime.

It was a big decision to make, but the right one.

Looking at what your responsibilities are in this role – you’re presumably responsible for a lot more than just the Championship links…

We have got 120 staff here. The golf courses go without saying, but there are lots of moving parts and major stakeholders to think about.

How do you structure looking after that scale of operation?

There’s not a formula for this. What I’ve found, and this is my first Chief

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Who is Mike Wells?

Mike Wells was appointed Carnoustie Golf Links Management Committee’s first Chief Executive in 2017. He joined from The R&A, where he was the Director of Championship Staging at The Open.

Educated at Madras College St Andrews, he spent nearly five years as Championship Assistant at The R&Aand seven-and-a-half as Assistant Director – Championships before taking on the Director’s role in December 2011.

Executive role, is that you have to be prepared for anything. Every day is different and it is just really important that you keep a high level view across everything. Try not to become involved in granular decision-making. We are very much about empowering our teams to make their own decisions. We want to collectively create goals and strategies which enables us to focus on our vision.

I am very much just another member of the team. We’ve got a fun environment here and that’s how we like to approach things so that we are ready to tackle whatever might come at us. We like to think we are a bit different to how golf can, sometimes, be perceived.

You’ve got a unique place in the heart of the community. How does Carnoustie’s Trust go about creating those links?

Our structure is very similar to St

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Andrews Links Trust. As a worldleading organisation, we need to be commercially successful in order that we give back to our local community through our charity benefits programme.

There is definitely a skill to balance the commerciality of the business, while maximising social value. Every decision must be made with that in mind. I think it’s really important to be honest and open and authentic on how we approach things.

The last thing I want to do is skirt around issues. We will make decisions that are perceived to be bold, but are done with a view to remaining relevant and benefiting our local community in whatever way we can.

We are a major championship venue. This means a huge amount of investment is required to maintain these standards and so that’s why we need to be very successful as a business.

And so when you have an event like the Open Championship, which can cause disruption, the community embraces it…

Yes. I’ve talked about this quite a lot in the past. When I first came here, we had some issues from individuals around the Open Championship being disruptive and I think we need to get past this ‘one week’ thing.

The Open Championship is not a one-hit wonder. The benefit to us as a host venue is in perpetuity. It’s every day, of every week, of every month. It underpins our business and is really the foundation stone which enables Carnoustie Golf Links to be a sustainable large employer.

Linked with that is the huge work that you do on the sustainability and environmental side. Presumably that helps with getting the message across that you are more than just a golf course?

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

business partner

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With the insurance documents on the Members’ area of our website, all the necessary information is readily accessible.

In addition, Alex is always contactable for any advice & support.

Trisha Leonard | General Manager | Old Fold Manor GC • Take this policy out at your golf club today and cover your members as beneficiaries • Stand out from the industry and add these members benefits into your membership package PLEASE NOTE: Terms and conditions apply, for full details of policy cover/benefit limitations and exclusions, please refer to our policy wording and summary of cover, a copy of which is available upon request.

Call Alex and his team today to find out how: 01527 868160 | golfplan.co.uk Golfplan is a trading name of A-Plan Holdings, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

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GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

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E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

Sustainability is one of our core pillars. We have a sustainability KPI across the business and so it is very important to us. We can lead the way and we are trying to be the modernisers of golf. We want to be accessible. We want to break down the perceptions that surround golf.

And we’re different.You come to Carnoustie and it is not like coming to a traditional golf club. It’s very different – in the way that it feels and in the way that we operate. Our social conscious is right at the centre of that. Whether it’s working with local school groups, or with leading universities looking at landscape character assessments and how we can influence the wider area and their sustainability challenges, we want to be absolutely pushing the way on that front.

Yet there are no big declarations on the golf courses about these things.They are done because they are the right thing to do, rather than to present how good you are…

That’s day-to-day for us. Going back to how we run our business: sustainability, inclusivity, being authentic are things we just need to do. The Carnoustie Way, to coin a phrase that we use in the office, is to do things differently. All of that for us goes without saying. We don’t need to put an additional focus on it. It is part of what we do every single day.

You’ve got a huge number of tourists and visitors coming here for that bucket list experience.

How do you ensure they get that phenomenal day?

Across all businesses there is established theory and models for customer experience. It doesn’t start when they walk through the front door. It starts from the moment they interact with your product. That can be from the initial conversation in

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a bar, to looking online. We want to create a great experience and accumulate brand ambassadors, so people talk positively about Carnoustie. When you speak to us, we want it to be friendly and feel confident that we are the custodians of your particular tour or journey.

For us, it starts way back so when you get here, you already feel part of the family and you are making the pilgrimage to Carnoustie – for whatever reason it might be.

The customer service piece is something we work extremely hard on. There’s a culture here in the organisation that everybody goes above and beyond. If somebody’s phone rings, and they aren’t there, somebody else will pick it up. We want to be creating a great service no matter what. It’s a culture, rather

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than something that’s tactical.

How do you maintain that every day?

This is a really interesting topic.We’ve all been to seminars or conferences where they talk about change management or how to engage people and create fantastic, happy and fluffy teams. It’s not always that easy, particularly when trying to shape a business with teams who have been established for a long time.

I believe the difficult bit is getting everybody bought in. Unfortunately, that just takes time.The key messages have to be continually repeated.

People need to believe they are part of something special and that’s where I think the essence of that lies.

Innovation is at the heart of

what you do. How has the Trust developed and driven this forward?

Modernisation is in the DNA of Carnoustie. It’s a natural position for us to assume to being a leader in our sport and I do think we see ourselves as becoming more relevant in that space.

I was talking not too long ago about how there are so many different bodies and organisations and foundations trying to increase participation in golf – all trying to do pretty much the same thing.

When are we going to get together and actually collaborate to achieve more value from the energy that is spent on all this stuff? We need to think outside the box, be more collaborative, link up our ideas and put more energy into the golf

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

Carnoustie Golf Links Consisting of the Championship, Burnside and Buddon Links courses, Carnoustie Golf Links is run by a trust, which consists of 15 elected members.

There are two from each of the local clubs – Caledonia, Carnoustie, Carnoustie Ladies, Dalhousie, Mercantile and New Taymouth – as well as a trio of representatives from Angus Council.

A limited company, and registered charity, the company invests all its profits into the course and facilities “to ensure that future generations will benefit from the game of golf at Carnoustie”.

Carnoustie staged the Open Championship as recently as 2018 and has played host to the Claret Jug on eight occasions.

development piece and the family piece. Family is so important.

It’s not a difficult thing for Carnoustie to be leading the way in that space, along with the like of The R&A. We heard Martin Slumbers earlier in the year pledging £200 million investment into golf development over the next 10 years.

That’s great and that’s something we want to be a part of.We want to live and breathe that position that bodies like The R&A want to see golf take.

That vision, of being at the forefront of golf as it modernises, is quite a lofty one to deliver…

Optimists live longer than pessimists and we want to be optimists. We want to be right at the forefront. I don’t see any reason why we can’t do that. We are a public organisation.

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We’re here for the people. We are also a successful commercial business. We are also a charity. We have 200 kids that come every single week that have a fantastic collegiate feel about them at all different levels.

We think we’ve got as much right to fly that flag as anybody else and I think it would be wrong of us not to have and share that ambition with like-minded bodies who want to collaborate.

If clubs came to you to ask how they could change how they deliver their golf experience what would you tell them?

You need to consolidate what your vision is. What is your purpose?

When you understand that you can focus on what’s important.

A private members’ club’s purpose

might be very different from ours.

That is a position it chooses to take.

What I would say is that if a club came to us and said ‘how do we attract more people in to play golf, how do we increase memberships, how do we tackle the problems that are common in the golf industry at the moment?’ I would say you have to ask people what they want. If you can start with a why you will find out the how. Why are we here? What do our customers want? What about people who are not our customers but are in the local area? What’s preventing them from coming down and enjoying our facilities?

We have to work hard to get people to support us.There is so much pressure on peoples’ time and there is so much choice.With that choice, you need to be better at what you do.

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ADVERTORIAL

The challenges for the“sandwich

GENERATION”

Research has highlighted the financial hurdles facing those in their 40s, 50s and 60s

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E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

F

OR many people, retirement represents freedom. The freedom, after decades of work, to choose when to get out of bed, how to spend your day, and to explore new interests.

Yet, while some of today’s retirees are lucky enough to enjoy just such a lifestyle, future generations may not be so lucky.

For a growing number of people, retirement is likely to be marked by financial strain as they are caught between supporting their own kids and caring for ageing parents.

This increasingly applies to those in their 40s, 50s and early 60s – a group often referred to as the ‘sandwich generation’. Supporting an adult child or ageing parent may come at the expense of your original retirement plans.

And with finances pulled in different directions, the amount you will be able to eventually pass on could be significantly impacted.

Indeed, today’s working population is expecting to leave much less of their retirement pot to family members compared with the current crop of retirees.

According to research by St. James’s Place, those with £50,000 or more in household assets who are not yet retired expect to pass on £74,000 as an inheritance. This is down from the £125,000 those already retired expect to pass on (Opinium Research carried out an online survey of 4,000 UK adults aged 18+ from 18 to 24 April 2019).

A quarter of future retirees expect to be financially supporting family members, up from 7% currently. Everyday living costs, school or university fees, and childcare topped reasons why people expect to be supporting loved ones in retirement.

Young adults may return home to live with their parents, or require

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

financial and emotional support.

Elderly parents may move in with their children, or need help to move into assisted living.

“Passing wealth on to our loved ones is one of the final acts of kindness we are able to make, so it is concerning that the amount many believe they will be able to pass on is eroding,”says Claire Trott, Head of Pensions Strategy at St. James’s Place.

79% of those who receive ongoing face-to-face advice believe they have sufficient funds to fulfil their retirement plans...

... compared to 35% of those who don’t receive advice

£50k

Average inheritance set to drop by more than £50k among wealthier families in future, from 48% of total pot to 32%

“Building sufficient funds for your future whilst supporting other generations can seem a daunting task and it’s unsurprising that one in five people say they either feel ‘pressurised’ or ‘worried’ by having to provide financial support to others.

“We see consistently the value of advice in navigating this complexity and our research found that eight in 10 people who receive ongoing face-to-face advice believe they have sufficient funds to fulfil their retirement plans.

“This compares with only 35% who don’t receive advice. It’s clear advice has an important role to play in ensuring a comfortable and confident financial future.”

With the added pressures of managing your own career, as well as the need to contribute to your own retirement, you may be faced with significant financial and emotional stress. However, putting in place the right plans at an early stage will allow greater opportunity to build wealth over time and leave behind as much as possible when you’re gone.

Proactive planning will also help reduce your financial stress if you are already supporting offspring and parents, or if you think you may be faced with this balancing act in the future. Please be aware that past performance is not indicative of future performance.

The value of an investment may fall as well as rise. Returns on equities cannot be guaranteed.

Equities do not provide the security of capital characteristic of a deposit with a bank or building society.

• Fortress Wealth Partnership LLP, who will sponsor 2019 GCMA Newcomer of the Year award, is an Appointed Representative of and represents only St. James’s Place Wealth Management plc (which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority) for the purpose of advising solely on the Group’s wealth management products and services, more details of which are set out at sjp.co.uk/ For more information, contact Henry Irwin, Principal Partner of Fortress Wealth Partnership, on 07866 590993, email henry. irwin@sjpp.co.uk, or visit fortresswealthpartnership.com

GCMA.ORG.UK | 3

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How to…modernise a private

MEMBERS’ CLUB Mark Allden has worked at some of golf’s most commercial organisations. Now, as general manager at Camberley Heath, he’s transferring what he’s learned into a traditional environment

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T

he queues were four hours long and it wasn’t just weekends. It was every day of the week.

Getting a bay at Mark Allden’s branch of Topgolf, in Surrey, demanded a degree of commitment and planning. Still they came. The 62-bay range was rammed and, watching on, general manager Allden was learning what, if you’ll excuse the pun, drives people to pick up a club.

Pine Ridge Golf Club was a similarly minded beast – one of the UK’s highest rated public courses and a place where there were no barriers to entry or participation.

Having learned his craft in such a commercially driven environment, it was natural that when Allden was appointed the general manager at Surreybased Camberley Heath he’d try to use what he’d learned to take the private members’ outfit in a different direction.

So what has he done at this Top 100 venue and how could that translate to your club?

“It’s about embracing the future and maximising your potential,” he explains.“Wherever you go, no matter what business you work for, being the best that you can be isn’t something to shy away from.

“You need to embrace the future, roll with the times, embrace your audience and reach out to them in new and innovative ways.”

Here, Allden lays out what he reckons are some of the keys to success and how they can be implemented…

Communication Number one on my list is communication. At Topgolf, they were relentless in their communication online. At our Surrey branch, we had a Facebook

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audience of 20,000 and 20,000 followers on twitter.

It’s the communication platform the next generation inhabits.

You’ll find a lot of private clubs out there are still sending out newsletters. They have their place – as do noticeboards and so on – but what I’ve tried to do is take to social media channels and be relentless with my communications every day.

Recently we had Colin Montgomerie at Camberley Heath and, in the past, that would have just gone underneath the radar.

We shouted loudly and proudly about it on all our social media platforms and the video of him teeing off was viewed by 15,000 people on Facebook and 6,000 on LinkedIn. He then tweeted how impressed he was with the course to his 65,000 twitter audience.

Topgolf created a brand and they shouted about it every day to grow their online audience. That’s the message I learned there and brought to Camberley Heath.

For the members, that’s nothing to be afraid of because what they now have are daily updates of club news on a platform where they can get access to all the latest course data. We recently had our club championship and we had a live feed on the 1st tee. Anybody around the world could view the first drives of every participant and there was a lot of engagement from that.

It’s something our club members are going to receive well because it’s an improvement in our communication. It’s an improvement in the exposure of the club to a wider audience.

You’ve got to identify: who is your audience? Who are you reaching out to? Then find the communication platform they inhabit and go after that new

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audience.

Create a culture Our audience is those people who want to get a golf club in their hands and experience the satisfaction and sense of achievement of participation.

We want to break down the stuffy, old-fashioned stereotype that private members’ clubs have.

Topgolf created a culture. They had core values like fun, caring and excellence. That was through engaged staff members and that is something I am really looking to achieve here.

You recruit the right people, train them well and indoctrinate them into a culture of creating experiences for guests. Have fun, smiles on faces, warm welcomes, interaction with people when they are here and fond farewells.

That level of customer service means when people cross the threshold to investigate private membership they feel at home.

Be flexible with your tee sheet and don’t be afraid to diversify One of the commercial lessons I am bringing to Camberley Heath is proper analysis of the tee sheet and dynamic pricing.

For example, with societies, visitors, guests and so on, what we want to do is analyse the quiet times on the tee sheet.

We know that after 2pm on a Saturday is usually very quiet so we’re going to try and utilise the asset better but with the least amount of conflict to members.

Members have all their populated tee times on a Saturday morning and then in the afternoon, when they go home, we can bring visitors in and bring in much needed revenue to the club.

Visitors see the quality of the venue, subsequently join the club,

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and are engaged by the process.

One of the things we are really trying to push are weddings because a reception will usually take place on a Saturday night. All the members are at home and we’re working hard as a team to get functions into the business.

We can take £12,000 or £15,000 for one Saturday night and it’s not conflicting with the membership experience at all. We take that revenue and plough it all back into member facilities.

Build your audience Data capture is now the most valuable industry in the world, particularly after GDPR where your marketing base has almost vanished overnight.

When I joined Camberley Heath you could play as a members’ guest and we would take your fee and you’d go out. Now we’ve introduced a loyalty club that is just a way of harvesting all the data

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that comes into the business. You need to register your name, email, and we will send the latest joining offers and social activities that are going on around the club. We will build up a marketing audience.

At my last two venues, we would get out into the community and spread the brand. At Topgolf, I remember we went out into the centre of London on ‘Hugs Day’, with a big team and signs saying ‘free hugs’. That really attacked our core value of caring. We produced a viral video and pushed the brand.

Back in the 80s a private members’ venue was hidden away.

You didn’t have to get out there and fight for business. People came to you. Those days are gone and a few private members’ clubs are still too relaxed about attracting an audience. To do that, you have got to be pro-active.

At Pine Ridge, we had a regional sales manager and a pro-active team at the venue. We created

sales plans where we could generate interest in the business and would have set targets to convert that interest into functions, memberships, and so on.

When I arrived at Camberley Heath, there wasn’t a sales plan.

It was reactive and we sat there waiting for the phone to ring. If it rang, we would say ‘okay, if you want to join come in’ and if we never heard from them again so be it.

Now I have a structured sales plan, with a daily pro-active activity.

If someone phones in, or enquiries about membership, we treat it with the respect it deserves and we want those people to come down to the venue, have a round with one of the members, and to join.

You’ve got to move with the demands.There are a lot of demands on leisure time and a lot of fighting for business. If private members’ clubs don’t get into the thick of the fight and show the world what they’ve got to offer they will be left behind.

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ICING ON THE CAKE! Steve Robinson (rijo42 National Accountants & Sponsorship Director) visits Burnham & Berrow Golf Club and speaks with Managing Secretary / GCMA South West Regional Manager, Karen Drake.

W

e took time out to visit Karen Drake the Managing Secretary of Burnham & Berrow GC, who also holds down the position of South West GCMA Regional Manager. Karen has been a customer of rijo42 for over 9 years, dating back to her time at Westonsuper-Mare. I asked Karen was it an easy decision to make when deciding which coffee company to use when taking on her new role at Burnham & Berrow GC “I had no hesitation in making that choice, rijo42 had consistently provided quality machines, service and above all a quality product, trust plays an important part in any supplier customer relationship and I’ve been hugely impressed with the level of commitment to service Steve Robinson and his team at rijo42 have supplied. On the rare occasion I’ve encountered a problem it has been dealt with promptly and efficiently,

KAREN DRAKE, OVER THE MOON WITH THE BRASIL AND OVERALL RIJO42 PRODUCT PERFORMANCE AND SERVICE.

they appreciate we have members who expect a level of service and quality that mirrors our clubs long standing reputation.”

What are your thoughts on the equipment we have provided over the years?

“The Brasil machine we have just replaced had dispensed over 100,000 drinks in the past five year period, which demonstrates the true value in investing in quality Swiss made equipment. We have recently agreed to upgrade to the new RSD Touch which comes with an enhanced GCMA pack, price card and initial free drinks package. After having the new machine on site for almost a month now its apparent that the new features have been a real winner, not only have our members noticed an improved taste they have really welcomed the addition of the flat white, double shot and decaf options.

I personally am a big fan of the

RSD screen which now allows the display of any important information we feel would benefit our members.

We currently have our club’s flyover video playing, which is great for visitors and members alike.”

How have you achieved such great sales from your coffee offering?

“The introduction of coffee and a cake has been a real winner, we either make cakes in house or buy cakes from a quality local bakery and it’s the perfect accompaniment to a great cup of coffee, we generate around £3,500 per year in cake sales and this obviously works both ways.”

CONTACT STEVE ROBINSON FOR MORE INFO: 07977 244621 / STEVEROBINSON@RIJO42.CO.UK

ADVERTORIAL

In data

WE TRUST

A

s an industry we could, at times, be accused of operating in our own world.

The commercial considerations which would underpin the operations of big business, and the due diligence that goes into ensuring success, are perhaps seen as less relevant for golf venues than other profit-seeking operations.

The result of this is that some golf operators continue to fall short of required business performance without a clear strategy or understanding of the steps required to right their ship.

In times of golf industry health, this is less worrying. Organic interest in the game, boosting participation rates, can cover up for many ills.

It could easily be claimed, for example, that Tiger Woods singularly drove the industry to greater heights than it has ever experienced since the late 90s. The operations of individual venues had very little to do with this boon.

Despite recent figures emerging from the US, suggesting participation may again be on the rise, golf is far from realising the excitement of those halcyon days. There is no Tiger effect on the horizon, so passivity will just not cut the mustard. Understanding and strategic action will be the only saviour.

In any other business sector, all of this would begin in one area: research and data.

44 | GCMA.ORG.UK

First, understand the issue.

Secondly, act. 59club exists to convert the golf industry to this way of thinking.

As an industry, we have not historically turned to data solutions with zeal, although given some of the results our clients have

experienced over the past decade, this is starting to change, the penny having long since dropped.

59club has become the cornerstone of many clubs' factbased evolution. Providing insights into employee performance and customer experience, it’s a tool

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59club founder Simon Wordsworth explains how the company is leading golf’s data revolution

these venues simply cannot do without.

Critical, data-driven decision making has been missing from golf’s repertoire, but, with our software, the industry now has the words with which to speak this new and exciting language.

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

Thinking of the customer first, and being able to act upon facts and stats, has been transformative.

Through software, training and support, we are leading a growing number of international clubs down the path to reputational excellence in a peer-to-peer

dominated world.

A great example is Emirates Golf Club in Dubai, one of the Middle East’s leading clubs, which has seen a notable increase in revenue performance since beginning to work with 59club, growing at an average of 12% year-on-year.

It was named The Ultimate Members’ Club at the 2019 59club awards due to its outstanding performance. The club now sees 95,000 rounds a year across its two golf courses and has improved overall service satisfaction levels from 74% to almost 90% over the last five years.

One of the most rewarding aspects of my current role is seeing things that typically turn out to be good for the customer and good for revenues also having a postive impact on the reputation of golf.

Typically, stuffy, unwelcoming and male-dominated environments must change their ways to compete in the modern era. We have been at the forefront of opening people’s eyes to that.

And, as our growth now takes us into new domains, including a new dedicated office in Asia and a growing footprint in new regions, we look forward to making datainstigated change possible on a broader level than ever before.

For further information on 59club and its operations, visit www.59club.com

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GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

‘We are inclusive and

NOT EXCLUSIVE’ Royal Norwich’s new course is open for business but, as general manager and GCMA chairman Phil Grice tells Steve Carroll, the club is about far more than merely the fairways and greens

I

t wasn’t just the arrival of Ian Poulter that saw Royal Norwich’s new course on the Weston Estate open with a bang last month.

There’s been a buzz about the £10 million investment for more than a year – with membership figures trebling in that ensuing period.

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You can put that down to more than simply curiosity, or eager golfers wanting to play and enjoy the fruits of architect Ross McMurray’s labours.

The move has also cemented a change of culture that’s been ongoing ever since general manager Phil Grice arrived.

The latest evidence of that was

when Royal Norwich recently applied to Buckingham Palace to remove the “golf club”suffix from their title. They aspire to be so much more and, for Grice, that whole approach now starts with families.

“We wanted to cross reference everything with time and with families,”he explains.

“We’ve got a customer journey

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from a time perspective (at Weston Estate) – whether you want to go on the short game area, the putting green, the range, the 6-hole course, or play 9 or 18, there is a time window where you can find something to do.

“But not everybody always wants to come and play golf when they come to the facility. We wanted to make it everyone’s happy place.”

So whether that’s choosing the toppings and putting your pizza in the newly fitted ovens, going on a woodland walk, taking a bike ride or using the purpose built microbrewery, the aim, maintains Grice, was to cater for more than just people who wanted to putt.

“We always go back to Tesco for our fruit, veg and wholesale and now you buy your petrol from them,”he explained.“For us, we’ve got a big growing membership and it was looking at what other things they want.

“A lot of people in the industry want to get more women and girls into golf and, for me, that’s too narrow a driver.

“I think we want to get more families into golf and three generations of one family is absolutely at the core of what we are trying to do.

“If you’ve got more mums, children and more grandmas and granddads, what are the things they would like to do?

“We know that craft beers and ales are quite popular. There might be the corporate organisation that wants to come in and do a training day, a conference, and maybe brew some beers as well as the senior section or anyone else. ‘”Every space doubles up. The microbrewery doubles up as a chef’s table so you can have private dining in there. It’s a very special space.

“If you use the gin still, that’s

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also a conference room for eight people. You can go in there as a small group and hire it as gin still but you can also hire it as a conference room.

“Every single area has got a double use.”

Key for Grice and the Royal Norwich team is to make the club as open as possible, and as far away from the stereotypical idea of what a private members’ club has been. So the doors are not closed, membership is only part of

and no one else.

“The world that we live in is trying to become more inclusive.

For us, everything we want to do – all those additional activities – are to try and make it more inclusive for members, guests, friends and families of members. It’s not just because one or two members of the family play golf that they are the only ones that ever go there.

“There are the negative connotations which come from that. There is a classic term – being

the offering and the desire is for the club to become the centre of the community – not a place that sits apart.

Grice said:“There’s a really simple term, and it’s used a lot, but we are inclusive and not exclusive. Too many golf clubs, by having the words ‘golf club’ at the back end, are exclusive to their members

a golfing widow.

“That’s really not what we want at our facility. We don’t want members to have golfing widows as their partners.

“We want everyone to feel as much part of the golf club and the membership, and the use of the facilities, as the member themselves.”

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E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

Good

PRACTICE Advice on golf club management issues – from finance to clubhouse rules and employment law

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

From the Diploma:

THE IMPORTANCE OF

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GOLF OPERATIONS Joe Kelly, the PGA’s lead business relationship officer, outlines how the modern day pro fits in at a golf club

B

efore we can scrutinise the current role of the PGA Professional, we must first examine the symbiotic evolution of the game and the role of Golf Professionals within the game.

The formal version of our sport was originally pursued by the wealthy and entitled. This select group of wealthy individuals recruited the services of the lower classes to carry their equipment, prepare the course and use their artisan skills as tradesmen to create, develop and repair the equipment required to play.

In crude terms, the workforce that was engaged to provide the necessities of golf participation had access to the equipment as well as the normally exclusive field of play. This access enabled these individuals from the lower classes to develop skills in the necessary disciplines of the sport. Many of these artisans would develop playing skills that outreached the ability of their masters. This led to the more accomplished players being financially retained to represent clubs or wealthy individuals for the purpose of competition. This activity also created a platform for bragging

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rights as well as a gambling opportunity where the successful player would be financially rewarded. In essence, these early competing players were the ‘prize fighters of golf’.

The skills required to make and maintain fragile equipment, the preparation of the course, the ambition of those less talented but wealthy individuals hoping to improve their own game by receiving tips and guidance, led to the evolution of a workforce that ensured that the wealthy would enjoy their golf! It is the provision of these services and/ or competing as golf’s ‘prize fighter’ that saw the birth of the professional within golf. In 1901 this group formalised to create the Professional Golfers Association.

If we fast forward 118 years, professional golfers are still competing against each other and The PGA are still training and educating a workforce to service the golf industry! What has changed, and probably at a more rapid rate over the last 20 years than at any time before, is the type of skills and competencies the industry requires PGA Professionals to possess.

For several reasons, the cost associated with running a golf

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facility has escalated exponentially.

The impact of this heightened need for cash is the requisite for higher footfall. This dynamic has positioned the customer as king and, overall, eradicated the historic exclusivity enjoyed by many golf facilities.

The need to satisfy customer expectation to attract and retain revenue streams has meant the entire customer experience must be examined to ensure the product aligns to the expectation of current and potential customers.

Ironically that original driver, the needs of the early, minority wealthy gentleman golfer of a bygone time, has now been replaced by the needs of a much wider demographic and the most important type in our business – the customer! Whether existing or prospective, any individual that currently crosses, or has the potential to cross the threshold of your business and spend their

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money must experience attention that satisfies their expectations.

This patronage may come in many forms. Whether it’s golf participation or associated activity that the customer seeks, then the department that facilitates this is identified as golf operations.

If we accept this premise then, as a golf facility manager, the question becomes ‘what and how does the role of the PGA Professional positively impact on golf operations and the customer experience?’ Subsequent questions then quickly follow: What are the roles and responsibilities of a PGA Professional?

What is the best operating model?

How do I recruit the right PGA Professional?

Should I employ PGA Professionals or retain the services of a PGA Professional

through a Service Level Agreement (SLA)?

Where do I acquire the right SLA? How do I effectively manage a service provider?

How much will it cost if I employ?

Is it more efficient to employ or retain?

Should the club deliver retail themselves?

How do I get the best from a PGA Professional?

Due to the diversity of golf facilities, there is no ‘one size fits all’ answer to these questions. As a golf facility manager, you should have the skills and competencies to analyse the business and make strategic decisions based on fact and not what may have been accepted as normal practice for decades.

In terms of golf operations, adopting the design principle ‘Learn, Improve, Enjoy’ will

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ensure sound building blocks when considering the influence of golf operations and the role of a PGA Professional within your business.

Learn – Grow the game, expose new customers to the game.

Improve – Develop the competencies of those playing, keeping them engaged.

Enjoy – Enjoying golf is multifaceted; it combines a variety of elements and emotions: achievement, success, friendship, belonging, health, wellbeing, competition, value for money, luxury, exclusivity. Understanding and satisfying your customers’ needs on as many levels as possible will undoubtedly make you more relevant to more customers more often.

If golf operations are recognised as a key component to achieving this deeper, wider link to your customers, what are the key elements that will determine success, mediocrity or failure in this now pre-determined critical department of your business?

The PGA’s team of Business Relationship Officers are equipped to use their experience and knowledge to scrutinise their diverse exposure to a wide and eclectic collection of golf operating models.

This exposure has enabled The PGA to develop a unique insight into golf operations. A specific element that is universally clear, is that success is achievable if you are managing these three particular enablers: 1. Skills and Competency – Is your team the right team?

With 8,000 PGA Professionals,

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commanding a variety of skills, getting the right team is critical.

2. Communication – Does everyone understand what is expected of them?

Whether through a job description for the employed, or a service level agreement for the retained, communication is critical. You must review, appraise, measure, plan and evolve.

But be cautious, the employment status of your golf operations team will determine how you can implement and execute these actions.

3. Resource – Is your golf operations resource sufficient to deliver a service that satisfies your customer’s expectations?

Whether employing a team or retaining a contracting professional to deliver services, if golf operations are not resourced correctly then you cannot expect success.

Whether employing or retaining – have you budgeted correctly?

Have you forensically analysed the manpower required to meet your customers’ expectation? Have you forensically analysed the income stream potential at this specific and possibly unique facility that you are charged with sustaining?

If you are not clear about the most important person within your business, if you have not identified the profile of your customers or what their requirements are, if you have not recognised the importance of golf operations and if you cannot answer yes to the three questions above then I would question whether you have the skills, competency or intellectual agility to successfully manage PGA Professionals and/or golf operations?

What is the Diploma in Golf Club Management?

Representing a fundamental shift in the approach to professional education in golf facility management, the three partner organisations of the Golf Club Management Partnership – GCMA, PGA and BIGGA – have combined forces to create the ASQ Level 5 Diploma in Golf Club Management.

Suitable for, and open to all levels of skills and experience, this accredited golf-specific qualification is perfectly suited for existing managers, and those looking to move into a managerial position, perhaps from related roles in the golf industry.

The Diploma can be studied at your own pace, over a maximum of three years, to accommodate the varying schedules of working managers or aspiring industry professionals. With an emphasis on flexible learning, it will be delivered through a combination of online and face-to-face workshops.

Existing expertise will be taken into consideration, with students being able to undertake an assessment in the appropriate module to prove their ability by completing the workbook and providing evidence of previous work.

The Diploma consists of nine modules that cover all the core skills required to manage a golf club and notably is an ASQ externally quality assured qualification, visible on the framework of regulated qualifications.

For more details, log on to gcma.org.uk/diploma

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From the

HELPDESK This month: Should we display application forms and...are we discriminating on equality?

We have experienced several parents that like to walk the course while their child is playing a junior medal. In some cases, they have been over passionate towards their child’s play and not only spoil their day but upset other juniors in the same threeball. We have decided to bar parents from the course during competition play and I would like to know if you have any guidance on this?

I think that by banning the parents you may escalate your problems. If you have safeguarding problems, then the best way to deal with this is by having a robust policy.

England Golf are very proactive in this area and your first action should be to contact them for advice.

You can get some initial help here: englandgolf.org/article/ safeguarding-children-and-youngpeople/ but a chat with them regarding your specific issues should help you.

application forms is to redact all the personal information, apart from the name, before displaying on the notice board.

Better still would be to have a page, which is password protected, on the members’ section of the club’s website where only members can see the applicants.

Can the club display application forms for membership with personal details on the general notice board?

Under GDPR you should not display any information that could personally identify an individual without their express consent.

The best practice in the case of

We have had a complaint from some members that we “the club” are discriminating under the Equality Act. The complaint is the ladies’ section have decided that they have to wear a team uniform to play in team matches but members have to pay for the shirts. This is not the

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Do you know if a landlord has the right, after leasing land to us for over 120 years, to not renew a lease?

It will all depend on the lease itself.

In the UK, at the end of the lease the land and any building constructed on it normally reverts to the freeholder. This is commonly achieved via a reversionary clause, which transfers ownership of everything back to the owner.

Although in many instances the leaseholder will have a right to negotiate an extension, therefore if you have that right then it should be in the wording of the lease itself.

case for all sections...

You will only be discriminating if the club is funding the team shirts for other sections and is not for the ladies. As long as you support the ladies in exactly the same way as the other sections then there can be no discrimination.

We have just appointed an assistant greenkeeper. What I need to know is do we need this person to have a DBS check?

Some of the committee say ‘yes’ and others say ‘no’.

Your staff should not need a DBS check unless they are being employed to train, supervise, or be in sole charge of children or vulnerable adults.

There are some businesses who will carry out DBS checks on all staff, just in case, but you must ensure you do not discriminate and single out any individuals unless they are carrying out the above duties.

If you do need further information, to satisfy the committee, then see this England Golf link: englandgolf.org/article/ safeguarding-children-and-youngpeople/ An online helpdesk offers an advisory service to members. Visit gcma.org.uk/members to find out more.

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ADVERTORIAL

Golf Genius set to drive player participation

THIS WINTER

The leading golf event management provider has unveiled a new package that aims to keep members at the club when the cold weather arrives

T

he colder days and earlier nights don’t need to mean empty tee sheets at your golf club.

Golf Genius, the leading global provider of cloud-based tournament software, has announced a comprehensive winter league package to help clubs increase participation throughout the winter months.

The completely flexible package offers a great way to keep a

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membership engaged through Golf Genius’ innovative library of fun and varied formats which, together, form a bespoke winter league or order of merit.

Typically, clubs have to work hard to retain interest from their membership throughout the cold and dark winter period, however Golf Genius’ solution offers weekly signups through Golf Genius or BRS as well as purse management and league engagement to encourage more golfers to play regularly.

High quality printed materials, email communication, and instant availability of online results further enhances the player experience while in-app scoring speeds up scoring and simultaneously reduces work for the golf club administrator, who receives total support from Golf Genius’ team.

Many clubs have seen great success with the winter league proposal over the last few years, including Shipley Golf Club, in West Yorkshire, which has used

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the software to get more of its members on the course in wintertime.

Head PGA Professional Nathan Stead has been delighted with the implementation at the club:.

He said:“The winter league was a real success here at Shipley.

“The members absolutely loved it and their feedback was overwhelming. It definitely had a positive impact of golf participation.”

Craig Higgs, Managing Director of Golf Genius International, added: “The cold weather and shortened days often present clubs with a real challenge, however, our comprehensive winter league offering has proven to bring more golfers back to the course and increase revenue throughout the toughest months of the year.

“Using Golf Genius is a plug and play solution, setting up a simple best four of six monthly events with an order of merit play-off can be done in minutes, tailored to suit any number of formats.”

Clubs interested in receiving a free demo of Golf Genius’ winter league offering should contact Craig Higgs at craig@golfgenius. com.

EDU C ATE | INFO R M | INSPIR E

CASE STUDY Foxhills, in Surrey, are hoping to enjoy great success after establishing a winter series format using the Golf Genius system.

There are six monthly individual Stableford events, in which golfers’ four best scores will be aggregated throughout the winter season in an order of merit leaderboard.

They will use the software to collect multiple event registration from players with the option of taking payment through the event directory on the Golf Genius series web portal.

The top ranked players through six events will make it through to a series final, where they will play for the overall title.

The format is: • Six monthly events (individual Stableford) • A player’s best four scores are aggregated throughout the season Key features being used within Golf Genius: • Multiple event registration, with payment • Event directories • Order of merit leaderboards

About Golf Genius Founded in 2009, Golf Genius is the leading global provider of affordable, fully-featured cloudbased software for organising and managing golf events, leagues and trips. Trusted by the USGA and operating in over 40 countries worldwide, the Golf Genius product has saved time and eliminated hassle for PGA professionals, amateur and professional associations, event organisers, league managers and trip captains, enabling them to deliver a greatly enhanced experience to millions of golfers every year.

Golf Genius is utilised by more than 8,000 clubs and associations worldwide and was used to manage more than 22.5 million rounds across more than 525,000 events in the past 12 months.

Golf Genius powers golf event management in hundreds of clubs around the world, including The Grove, Trump International, Gleneagles, The Wisley, Prince’s, The Els Club, London Golf Club, Monte Rei, Castle Stuart, Turnberry and more.

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E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

Grass

ROOTS All the latest news, views and interviews from across the GCMA’s various regions in the UK

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

My success story...

TONY MOON

Sponsors of My Success Story

Whether it is improving their greens or investing in an improved practice area, there’s plenty going on at Copt Heath. Manager Tony Moon tells Steve Carroll about how they are striving to make the West Midlands club even better

W

ander down to Copt Heath on an evening and you’ll be greeted with a sight that defies any doom-laden statistics bemoaning the number of juniors getting into golf.

The numbers are static at best, we’re told, but the practice ground at the West Midlands parkland is teeming with youngsters “knocking the hell out of the mat”, says club manager Tony Moon.

This hasn’t happened by accident. The professional team at the West Midlands club have put in significant effort to nurture their junior and lady academies.

And it’s also the result of investment across the practice facilities and course, which are making Copt Heath the envy of their neighbours.

Anyone who has ever played this course, a combination of the craft of two Harrys – Vardon and Colt – knows it’s renowned for being impeccable.

But that’s the result of a tremendous amount of hard work that has gone into keeping the Top 100 layout in people’s minds.

It’s been going on for the last four years as they have strived to

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improve their already impressive greens.

“They were of a high standard but, about five or six years ago, they became slower and slower,” explained Moon.

“We had an amazing amount of thatch. We followed a regime that dethatched it tremendously and we used a grading machine, where we took out something in the region of 3 to 4% every time we did it. Over the last four years, we we’ve taken something like 25 to 30% of the thatch out.

“You never should measure a course on its green speeds because it’s not all about that little piece of turf at the end – although most players and members measure a course on how fast the greens go. We have a target of 10 to 10.5. We’ve retained that all this year and we regularly do Stimpmeter readings.

“The idea isn’t just about how you swing a club but how you become a member of a club and what being a member means”

“We’ve maintained the leaf size and increased the speed. We are cutting at 3.1mm and we’ve still got 10.4 or 10.5, depending on whether it rained the night before or not.”

From there, attention has also turned to the club’s practice ground and the desire to upgrade it to the quality of the course.

A series of mats were laid down, while a new green and bunker was also built to give members, visitors and, crucially, the professional teaching team some different options.

Moon added:“This gives three good target areas where you can practice all year round, even when it’s raining.

“The mats look good and we’ve started the process of renovating

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The beautiful Tyneside Golf Club is a stiff test of golf

the bunkers to the same standard on the golf course and it will become part of the golf course, in terms of the regime.

“As opposed to having a different regime looking after that, it’s just we’ve got an extra four bunkers on the course on top of the 90-odd we’ve already got.”

“It’s a 30 to 40-metre teaching mat and it is full of kids really enjoying the sport and getting into it,”he continued.

“We’ve got some as young as seven, who aren’t allowed on the course unless they are with an adult, so that’s fantastic news for us.

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“We understand these guys might not become members of our golf course but hopefully they will take up the game and play somewhere.”

Add in a ladies’ section that, Moon confirms, is “growing and growing”and you’ve got a business that aims to be “slightly more than just a golf club”.

“It is growing and growing,”he explained.“It was all based around a desire to try and promote our ladies’ section.

“We have 100-odd ladies, who all play golf, so we’ve got quite a strong section and some

great junior girls that play for Warwickshire and have done well.

“This is a group session. The idea isn’t just about how you swing a club but how you become a member of a club and what being a member of a club really means.

“We encourage families, ladies, husbands and wives to participate in other facilities that we offer and having this practice area, combined with the blue course that we invested in last year, means when you first enter golf and want to play competitively with wife, friend, husband, daughter, son, there is the ability to do that.”

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Meet the

MANAGER

Sponsor of the 2017 GCMA Manager of the Year award

With Chris Duffy, general manager at Huddersfield, in West Yorkshire

Chris Duffyinhis officeat Huddersfield

H

ow did you get into golf club management?

I studied golf management initially and worked for the European Tour in their events and scoring department for three years.

I got to travel extensively and that was great. I then went to Dubai and Qatar and was an assistant golf operations manager in Doha.

I was also the event manager for

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the Qatar Masters and it graduated into a head of golf operations/ director of golf position.

I was there until 2008 and set up my own event management company in Qatar, specifically around sports and events.

I sold that in 2016, travelled for a while, and decided to go back into club management.

I re-educated myself, got my Diplomas, and ended up at Huddersfield.

What do you like most about your role?

It’s the engagement with a variety of people. I see myself as a people person. You’ve obviously got your day-to-day interaction with members but, working out in the Middle East, you get to meet a lot of different people.

Given this is your first foray into club management, what have been the challenges?

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I haven’t found any major challenges yet. I think that’s because of my background of running my own business and, through the education, I’ve got a lot of friends to lean on or a lot of club management colleagues that have helped me. There have been a lot of quick wins. The hardest part has been working from the ground up. As my chairman says ‘you can’t put the roof on without the foundations’. I love putting the roof on and I’m not very good at the foundations.

How do you see the state of golf?

Good in certain elements of the industry. There are a lot of courses closing at the moment and there are too many courses in the UK to sustain golf as a whole.

But depending on which club you are at will determine how successful you are. A lot of people now still aspire to be a member of a club but those that have just survived for the last 10 to 15 years are going to struggle. Everyone sees that now and we have got to be able to change and develop standards and how we do things at golf clubs and maybe loosen the chains a little bit to attract the younger audience.

For me, though, that’s not your teenagers or your 20-somethings, it’s your 40 to 50-year-olds. We have got to lower the average age of golf clubs from that 65 barrier down to 55 and 50.

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“If you’re running the right operation with the right team you should be able to spend time with the members”

Huddersfield

How do you see the role of a golf club manager in 20 years’ time?

I would like to see the role being the front face of the golf club.

This is the person the members and guests see as they come into the club, this is the person they see when they leave and not to be hidden away in an office somewhere. If you’re running the right operation with the right team you should be able to spend time with the members and guests who are coming to your club. The amount of clubs I’ve visited where you don’t see the secretary or the general manager, you only see the

pro, and it’s about being visible and making sure you’re putting a foot into every room.

What opportunities lie ahead for the GCMA? Education. There are a lot of potential managers that are already in clubs – maybe it’s a clubhouse manager, a food and beverage manager, an assistant secretary – and, coming back to a country where I’ve been away for 12 years, I just feel sometimes the reputation is that it’s still a gentlemen’s old club. I’d like to see less of the selling before GCMA events and getting some more high-end educators in who know their F&B, know their marketing, know their governance, and the varied areas of club management and deliver on a subject. That would certainly attract me to attend a lot more local meetings. Conference is built around the education platform but I’d like to see more local education seminars.

What is your proudest golfing moment?

Delivering three Qatar Masters from 2005 to 2008 and being the event manager at such a prestigious event.

Our winners’ list was Ernie Els, Henrik Stenson and Retief Goosen and Adam Scott.

Get In Touch To contact Huddersfield, visit huddersfield-golf.co.uk

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GCMA RECRUITMENT

FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE VACANCIES BELOW, VISIT GCMA.ORG.UK/JOBS

HAVERHILL ::: MANAGER

Haverhill Golf Club, situated on the boarders of Suffolk and Essex, is a testing parkland course.

The club is owned by its members and has a growing membership that currently stands at over 600 playing members. The role of manager is a highly visible one and provides a key link between the main committee and the staff, members and guests, thus ensuring the seamless running of the dayto-day operations of the club. In addition, the manager will help create and implement the longterm strategic plans to ensure the club continuously improves its offering.

To apply, candidates should email their up-to-date CV, a covering letter highlighting their motivation for seeking this role and details of current remuneration to simonjcousins@gmail.com Region: East Anglia | Salary: Competitive | Closing Date: November 8, 2019

THE NEW GC, ST ANDREWS ::: GENERAL MANAGER

Founded in 1902, The New Golf Club, in St Andrews, is one of the most prestigious golf clubs in the UK with a total membership of 2,200, which includes 1,850 ordinary voting members.

The current secretary, Mark Richardson, was appointed to the position in 2008 and intimated his intention to retire at the club’s AGM in December. The club are therefore looking to appoint an enthusiastic, forward-thinking, innovative and suitably qualified individual to take responsibility for the day-to-day management of the club in accordance with the strategies and policies determined by the committee.

For more details, visit www.gcma.org.uk/jobs Region: Scotland | Salary: Negotiable | Closing Date: October 18, 2019

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E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

Partner Network The GCMA’s Partner Network supports the association’s work to professionalise the industry and promote a culture of excellence in golf club management.

Thank you to all our partners who continue to support the association.

strategic partners

business partners

official suppliers

gcma.org.uk/partners

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

July 2019

STATISTICS UK&I 29,993

Hole-in-ones made during July competitions

Total competitions recorded

346 980,254

total rounds of golf recorded

Total hole-in-ones (all time)

15,215 236,973 Downloads of HowDidiDo app

6,936

eagles or better

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389,837 birdies

3,489,758

Stats provided by HowdidIdo.com

pars

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Join over 150,000 club golfers in downloading the HowDidiDo app for FREE

The largest, most engaging online golf community in Europe

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the FUTURE

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