The Golf Club Manager: April 2018

THE GOLF CLUB

MANAGER ISSUE 13 | APRIL 2018

THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE GOLF CLUB MANAGERS’ ASSOCIATION

INTERVIEW

CAMERON DAWSON

MEET THE GCMA’S INCOMING C APTAIN EDUCATION

IDENTITY CRISIS

HOW YOU CAN IMPROVE YOUR BRANDING

GCMA

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

NEW WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP GROUP A D VA N C E S O U R I N C LU S I V E C U LT U R E

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

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CONTENTS ISSUE 13 | APRIL 2018

GCMA

CAREERS

04

GCMA chief executive Bob Williams

38

16

Signing off as national captain

The jobs board for GCMA members

INDUSTRY

EDUCATION

18

Putting women at the GCMA forefront

40

Using mystery shopping to your advantage

22

World Handicap System questions answered

48

How branding can transform your club’s image

INTERVIEWS

REGIONAL

28

62

Meet the Manager: Houghwood’s Peter Turner

64

Nigel Sweet on Leeds Golf Centre’s award joy

Cameron Dawson: 2018 national captain

28

64

18

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 MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY Ann Jones - ann@gcma.org.uk EDUCATION AND MAGAZINE ADMINISTRATOR Debbie Mereweather - debbie@gcma.org.uk FINANCE ADMINISTRATOR Shirley Edmondson - shirley@gcma.org.uk BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Tash Johnson - tash@gcma.org.uk COMMUNICATIONS EXECUTIVE Marie Taylor - marie@gcma.org.uk PRESIDENT JR (John) Jones 2017/18 CAPTAIN Howard Williams BOARD OF DIRECTORS Mike Hoare, Gary Steele, Phil Grice, Eddie Bullock 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 CHIEF DESIGNER Andrew Kenworthy - a.kenworthy@sportspub.co.uk DESIGNERS Vicky Jones - v.jones@sportspub.co.uk Emmi Parry - e.parry@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 13 | APRIL 2018

THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE GOLF CLUB MANAGERS’ ASSOCIATION

INTERVIEW

CAMERON DAWSON

MEET THE GCMA’S INCOMING C APTAIN EDUCATION

IDENTITY CRISIS

HOW YOU CAN IMPROVE YOUR BRANDING

GCMA

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

NEW WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP GROUP A D VA N C E S O U R I N C LU S I V E C U LT U R E

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

001 GCMA April 18 Cover.indd 3

27/03/2018 13:52

ON THE COVER: The R&A’s Jackie Davidson at the Women’s Golf Leadership Group meeting

ISSUE 13 | APRIL 2018

I

n my first paragraph of last month’s welcome, I naively suggested that February marks the end of the winter months – how wrong could I be?

The Beast from the East, which was then followed by the ‘minibeast’, has certainly interrupted the beginning of the season for most.

From our part at HQ, the weather took its toll – causing the first two Women Golf Leadership Groups to be cancelled, as well as our annual sponsors’ day at Swinley Forest.

However, from every negative there comes a positive and, in our case, it came in the form of more than 30 women attending the Women’s Golf Leadership Group at Foxhills, in Surrey, at the end of March. While the full details of the meeting can be read later in the magazine, this will not describe my own personal apprehension when addressing this group for the very first time – needless to say an extremely positive day was the outcome.

While writing this welcome note, my thoughts are beginning to veer towards the first major of the season – The Masters – and how good it has been for the game that Tiger is back in the fold. I don’t think there are many who would argue that the game of golf is all the better for having him back.

Over the last month, I was fortunate enough to visit the CMAA world conference in the US with Mike Hyde. Having not attended this event for the last three years, I found it really interesting to understand the

issues that CMAA are addressing at present. Their membership profile is now supported by a third of members who are involved in club management, but not the club manager. They have now appointed a task force to review the workings of their Chapters (our equivalent to Regions) and there is also a suggestion they are considering a name change.

Many of these actions are not too dissimilar to the findings of our own strategic review.

As the spring approaches, no doubt I will have the pleasure of meeting up with many of you at either the Regional meetings or the AGM on Monday, April 16th.

Bob Williams – chief executive

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The month in

PICTURES

1

Snow might thrill those who like to get a sled out but the white stuff is bad news for golf clubs – and we have had far too much of it over this winter.

This was the scene at The Berkshire, and it came after the so-called ‘Beast from the East’ had already blasted the country.

With courses closed, and revenue lost, let’s hope we can now look forward to a warm spring – and summer!

6 | GCMA.ORG.UK

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Spalding GC’s Maria Williamson test drives a greens iron during the agronomy session at the 94th GCMA Principles of Golf Club Management training course, which was held at

8 | GCMA.ORG.UK

Donnington Grove last month.

Maria was one of 13 attendees on the course, which lasts five days and gives delegates a grounding in the job. The next will be staged in the Midlands from September 10 to 14.

4

We were proud to stage the first meeting of the Women’s Golf Leadership Group last month and 40 industry figures attended Foxhills Club & Resort to share experiences, You can read a full report from the meeting, and the plans for the group going forward, on page 18.

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

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What you

NEED TO KNOW Relevant news, opinion and expert insight from around the industry.

Plus what’s happening around the UK in the world of the GCMA

GCMA | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | EDUCATION | REGIONAL

This GCMA club is famous for…

SANDWELL PARK This club, run by Angus Mackenzie, witnessed the birth of steel shafted golf clubs...

P

eople aren’t always great fans of change.

We often like things to stay just as they are, but progress and technology wait for

no one.

Steel shafted golf clubs were actually invented in the late 1890s but, in the following decades, golfers just couldn’t shake their love of hickory.

Then Sandwell Park came along.

In the 1920s, the West Bromwich course was the first British club to sanction a local rule that permitted the use of steel.

Depending on whom you listen to, there are two versions of how this epoch-making moment in British golf came about.

Walter Hackett was a prominent club member and the top dog at Accles and Pollock, a metal tube manufacturer based at Oldbury.

Hackett was a globetrotter.

He often made trips to the United States where steel had already surpassed hickory.

Picking up a set and bringing them back to use on the course, his new fangled sticks proved popular and soon plenty of members were ditching their old clubs.

But it was not a seamless transition.

12 | GCMA.ORG.UK

While the club committee forged on, and allowed their use in competitions, some members called a meeting looking to banish the metal newcomers from their fairways.

A crunch meeting came in 1928 but the traditionalists were voted down and steel ruled at Sandwell.

Another version of the tale says that Sid Saunders, also a club member, adapted cycle frames into golf club shafts during his work at Accles and Pollock.

It is claimed he perfected the art in 1912 and that Sandwell members had changed over long

before Hackett came onto the scene.

Whichever is right, what can’t be questioned is that Sandwell Park were pioneers.

The R&A legalised the shafts on November 26, 1929 and issued rules the following year that allowed them to be used by all players.

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

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GCMA | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | EDUCATION | REGIONAL

Meet the

GCMA

Sponsors of Meet the GCMA

Giving a voice to the people behind the scenes who help to run your Golf Club Managers’ Association

H

ow did you become involved with the GCMA? Having had 16 years in supermarket management, I decided, at the age of 32, I didn’t want to be doing that for the rest of my life and wanted to see if there an opportunity to combine my business management skills with my relatively new-found golf hobby. Hoebridge Golf Centre was my first management position.

Back in those days, you had a qualifying period before you could join the GCMA but a past captain, Tony Acres, was my immediate line manager and he encouraged and sponsored me to join. I was under the GCMA wing and realised what a big advantage it could be in doing my job.

What led you to the position of regional manager?

I stayed with Burhill for eight years and went to my first members’ club, Hartley Wintney, in 2008. I stayed there for eight and a half years. Originally, I was a member of London & Home Counties region and Hartley Wintney was part of Southern region. So I’m a member of two regions and took over as Southern regional manager in

14 | GCMA.ORG.UK

January. Last year, I was immediate past captain and Joan (Raffety) had indicated she was ready to step aside. I was sounded out. I had retired and I’m naturally a bit of an organiser anyway. The biggest single factor was I wanted to put something back in at regional level. I had been a captain but I valued the relationships I’d had down the years and it gives me a buzz to help colleagues do their jobs better.

So what have you enjoyed about the role so far?

“The opportunity is trying to grow the region and attract managers into our group” A specific example would be that we provide an opportunity where any member can email in a question – technical, advice, whatever – and we circulate that among the region and they reply to that manager direct. It’s very satisfying to hear of some of the problems or issues being resolved using us as a third party to facilitate the solution. I

Paul Gaylor – is regional manager for GCMA Southern region

enjoy running efficient business meetings and seeing the results of what we set out to do – getting the members interacting and newer members integrating.

What challenges and opportunities exist for the GCMA? I think managers have so many education opportunities thrown at them from lots of different directions and it’s quite hard for them to determine which of those opportunities to take. England Golf are doing seminars, training and education, BIGGA, CMAE and GCMA are doing education.

There’s an awful lot of seminars and choices and the manager has to determine which of those is going to add value to them and how many they can attend. I think it’s quite a minefield. If I was new to the industry, I’d find that quite a challenge to plot my way through.

The permanent opportunity is trying to grow the region and attract managers into our group that currently don’t engage with us. They are either not members of the association, or they are not members of the region.

In addition, there are people who are members but just aren’t active.

It’s trying to spark them into action.

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GCMA | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | EDUCATION | REGIONAL

Captain’s corner

HOWARD WILLIAMS

W

hen someone said to me on my appointment as national captain, ‘enjoy your year, it will be over before you know it!’

I did not realise how true these words would be.

This busy and fulfilling year has included: 15,750 miles by road, rail and air, 25 new golf courses played, 16 regional visits, 12 GCMA magazine articles, 12 flights, eight countries visited, five board meetings, five international matches, the national conference, the Open Championship plus many seminars and planning meetings.

It has been a great honour to be national captain and I would like to express my appreciation to the past captains for my nomination and their guidance through the year. I have received wonderful hospitality and been treated like royalty. My thanks go to the board of directors, Bob Williams, and the HQ team together with all the regions for their support and kindness. It has been a great period for the association which has seen the launch of the Diploma with our colleagues in BIGGA and the PGA. The magazine has been very well received and the editorial team should be congratulated on the award for best membership engagement presented by the Association of Association Executives. In addition to these excellent aspects of the

16 | GCMA.ORG.UK

As I ride off into the sunset, I can truly say ’thanks for the memories’

Fond memories from the GCMA AGM at Chesterfield last year

GCMA, national conference was a great success at Mercedes-Benz World last November.

I couldn’t have imagined when I first starting playing golf in my early 20s it would culminate in my tenure as captain of a national association. At that time my employer in the insurance industry was the Sun Alliance Group, who sponsored the PGA Championship and the 1981 Ryder Cup when it was really difficult to create public interest in the events.

How different it will be this year when Le Golf National hosts the sell-out Ryder Cup with worldwide coverage! My best wishes to Paul Armitage and his team in Paris.

Clearly the industry faces many challenges with falling participation, a lack of coverage

on terrestrial television and the competing demands of 21st century life. However, the national and international custodians of golf, including the GCMA, and indeed all of us as individuals, have a responsibility to ensure the game continues to develop, becoming more flexible and more inclusive. My initial involvement with golf gave me a great love of the game and a keen interest in its governance. This led to my role as a club manager, North West regional manager for the association and finally national captain. All of this has been a unique and unforgettable experience and ends my involvement in golf club management. Now, as I ride off into the sunset, I can truly say ‘thanks for the memories.’

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

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

GCMA.ORG.UK | 17

GCMA | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | EDUCATION | REGIONAL

Putting women at the forefront

OF THE GCMA

The attendees of the first GCMA Women’s Golf Leadership Group at Foxhills Club & Resort

18 | GCMA.ORG.UK

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

The newly formed GCMA Women’s Golf Leadership Group held its first meeting at Foxhills Club & Resort last month. Communications manager Mike Hyde was among those in attendance

T

he GCMA broke new ground when 40 leading golf industry figures gathered at Foxhills Club & Resort for the inaugural meeting of the GCMA Women’s Golf Leadership Group.

Chief executive Bob Williams announced the formation of the group at national conference last November as part of the association’s commitment to achieve a more inclusive culture within golf.

The focus of the meeting was to discuss how specifically to support the achievement of gender parity in all areas of the industry and especially within golf clubs.

A round table format aimed to encourage honest and lively discussion, while the floor was regularly opened up so attendees could direct the initial talks.

They raised challenges, that they were experiencing personally, which were hampering their development and achievement.

When asked what they wanted to achieve from the first meeting, common themes emerged and seven of those – including maintaining a work/life balance, changing attitudes of committees and golf club members and building a network of support – were the focus of the rest of the day.

The overall vision for the group is to develop best practice and create consistent opportunities to advance gender balance through the rest of the year, with the aim of

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

developing a wider programme of events and initiatives next year.

Williams kicked off the day with a explanation of the background to the group before GCMA Manager of the Year, Amy Yeates, talked about her career.

Jackie Davidson, assistant director – golf development at The R&A, passionately described her desire to develop female representation in the industry.

The Women’s Golf Leadership Group is closely aligned with The R&A’s Women’s Charter, which will launch on May 29.

Lauren Spray, England Golf’s Women & Girls’ participation manager, talked about her route into golf before the day closed with attendees discussing their own stories.

An audience that consisted of leading industry figures and club managers, among others, received the meeting hugely positively.

Yeates, who is director of golf, spa and leisure at Fairmont St Andrews and has recently been invited to join the GCMA board

GCMA.ORG.UK | 19

GCMA | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | EDUCATION | REGIONAL

in a non-executive capacity, said: “My thoughts on the group initially were quite reserved and I was almost a little bit wary of creating a group that may potentially be a further isolator.

“Having spoken to Jackie from The R&A, and also attending the event, it’s immensely positive and it has created a safe environment for women, who have the same issues that men have in club management, to share openly and honestly.”

Rachel Middleton, meanwhile, who is finance manager at Langley Park, added that it was interesting to be able to talk to women in the same position as herself.

She added:“It would be nice to get together again in the future at regular intervals but I think it’s also very important that men are involved because it is all very well and good us saying that we need to be more empowered, that we need to be recognised, but we are only not recognised because of the strong male characters in the

20 | GCMA.ORG.UK

game. They need to be involved to help develop the whole thing and move forward.”

Emma Ballard, marketing manager at Media8, believes the group will help promote the many positive stories about women in golf.

She is the UK ambassador for Women’s Golf Day and said:“People always think that whenever we talk about women in the golf industry that it’s all negative this and negative that, but there are positive stories, positive role models and it has been good to hear and see the visibility of women within the industry.

“I was talking to BIGGA and I didn’t realise how many women worked for BIGGA and, across the golf club managers, I talked to a lady who didn’t realise she had so many in her area. She thought she was on her own. So I think it’s having a network of people who are relatable.”

Marie Taylor, GCMA

communications executive, coordinated the meeting and said: “I am so excited about this group.

The GCMA really are breaking new ground in being the first organisation in the industry to focus specifically on ways to support female leaders within golf with practical ways to encourage and show them how to leverage

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

Jackie Davidson is assistant director - golf development at The R&A, which, in May, launches its Women’s Charter to encourage more females to enter the golf industry

their leadership positions.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing the group, and its members, develop.”

Williams added:“I was delighted with how the first event went, but we very much wanted the group to decide its future, rather than be dictated by us.

“It’s clear that there is a demand

for both physical meetings like this, but also digital communications networks and smaller informal get-togethers.

“Therefore, we have already created a dedicated Facebook group, which anyone is welcome to join, as well as planning more meetings around the country later in the year.”

How does the Women’s Leadership Group fit with The R&A’s Women’s Charter?

It’s important that, as part of the charter, we engage with the national associations and organisations that we have a relationship with – because everyone has a part to play in pledging and working towards trying to make golf more inclusive and changing the culture and environment within golf clubs.

I think the women who have been here have emphasised that there is a need for these types of communication networks and also that there is an opportunity to influence and make that environment within the golf club more diverse, more inclusive and encourage more women and girls into the sport.

How did you think the day went?

The energy in the room was there from the off and people spoke freely and openly. They also made connections and already were making arrangements to meet and follow up on different topics. I think the discussion element highlighted a number of things but allowed a platform for opinions to be aired and for the GCMA to take some things forward in terms of their education and training support.

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GCMA | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | EDUCATION | REGIONAL

Understanding the World Handicap

SYSTEM

22 | GCMA.ORG.UK

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

We’ve all got lots of queries around the World Handicap System and how it will work in practice. We put some of the questions to England Golf’s handicap and course rating manager, and CONGU board member, Gemma Hunter

T

he new World Handicap System, set to be introduced in 2020, caused quite a stir when the principles were announced.

The adoption of slope and the USGA course rating system, moving to a calculation of handicaps based on averages and allowing recreational rounds to count – it all seemed to be a massive change from the CONGU system we’ve all been used to. Since that announcement, social media has been awash with golfers trying to work out how the new scheme will work in practice.

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

It’s important to say a lot of the detail hasn’t yet been finalised, and it’s hard to estimate how the system will be different without knowing the USGA course ratings for individual layouts as well as the slope.

But we asked Gemma Hunter, a CONGU board member and England Golf’s handicap and course rating manager, what she could tell us about the World Handicap System and how it might affect day-to-day golf at our clubs...

GCMA.ORG.UK | 23

GCMA | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | EDUCATION | REGIONAL The outline principles of the World Handicap System have been revealed. For those of us used to CONGU, this is going to be quite a big change isn’t it?

People will think there’s a big change but, when you look at the components of the system, there is a lot that is very similar.

There are some things that will be fundamentally different – like going from a .1 and aggregate system to an averaging system.

That’s the biggest change, along with the incorporation of slope.

Everything else is something that we have seen or used before.

Other key things, such as what types of competition you can use for handicap purposes, are not going to change dramatically.

People get a bit excited that it is going to make a massive difference and, personally, I don’t think it will.

CONGU is not going to disappear when the new system comes in either…

CONGU is playing a really central

24 | GCMA.ORG.UK

role in helping develop this system and helping make sure that it stays relevant for our golfers. People think CONGU is not going to have anything to do with it but, actually, that’s not the case.

The average-based calculation of handicaps will be taken from the best eight of the last 20 scores.

Why eight?

They (The R&A and USGA) have looked at the systems that are currently in place at the moment – Golf Australia and the USGA are the prime two for using this. Golf Australia use eight, the USGA use 10.

They include additional calculations but, when you strip them back, using eight of 20 give you the most responsive index, which will improve equity.

So they have done work looking at the systems and have said ‘actually, if we take the average of 10 and the average of eight, which one gives us the most accurate figure?’

Eight gave that without the need to add anything else into it.

It’s going back to that idea of trying to keep it simple. A straight half – 10 out of 20 – would have been easier for people to get their heads around but the numbers didn’t quite match up. Eight was deemed to be the way forward.

That calculation will also factor in “memory of demonstrated ability for better responsiveness and control”. What does that mean? Does it remember good scores from the past, or stop you going up in a period of bad form?

We haven’t actually nailed this down yet – it hasn’t been finalised.

It’s the idea of taking the scores that might have dropped out of your last 20 and the system remembering what happened.

There are still discussions and trying to work out the best way to build this into the system.

Until we actually know what it is going to look like, it’s very difficult to say ‘this is exactly what it will do’.

There will be memory and that’s really key.

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

Will this also stop a ‘bandit’ putting in 20 bad scores over a short period to get a big increase – using recreational rounds as part of that – because the system will remember what that player has done in the past?

Correct. Within it, there will be an anchor to stop the handicap rising too quickly – this is part of the detail that is still being finalised.

It will also protect players who are having a bad run from going up massively?

Yes. Otherwise you are in an averaging system and a handicap could bounce quite dramatically.

People will still fluctuate but it just won’t be as dramatic.

Recreational rounds may be allowed to count for handicap ability. How will that work in practice?

People have got very excited about this. What people need to understand is that, because CONGU are so heavily involved in this, the scores we choose to accept for handicap purposes is going to be a CONGU decision.

Over the next two to three months, we will be having those discussions to say what we believe to be acceptable. Our current

”The key with the world system is that if you put enough scores in, your handicap will be more reflective of your ability”

view is that we do this a little bit at a time.

We’re not going to change everything on day one. Initially, we hope that it will be no different than where we are today.

It will be any singles competition – par, medal, Stableford – played on your own, with your own ball, that will be mandatory.

Social rounds will be singles again and they will be, as we have with the Supplementary Scores, opted into. It’s not a case of submitting a score every time you go out.

It’s a case of you and me deciding we are going to play and we are going to put a card in for our handicap. We sign in to play, to say that’s what happening, we play golf, come in and post our score.

It’s effectively Supplementary Scores under a different name.

We’re changing the name because it’s a global system and we need to come into line with everyone else.

Fundamentally, we are sticking with what we know now –

because we don’t want to scare golfers into going ‘hold on, I don’t want to put recreational scores in. If we can’t go out for a quick 9 holes and just throw balls down because we’re worried about putting a score in, we’re not going to play’.

The whole idea is to encourage people to play golf more often.

It is saying ‘if you are playing in America or Australia and you want to put a card in for your handicap – even though you are not a member at that club – you can do that and this is the way you go about doing it’.

There are procedures that you have to follow but you can do it and you can choose not to do it. It’s up to you.

The key with the world system is that if you put enough scores in, your handicap will be more reflective of your ability.

The more scores you put in, the more often, the more accurate your index reflects your potential ability.

WHAT WILL THE NEW WORLD HANDICAP SYSTEM ENTAIL? What is the World Handicap System?

Developed by The R&A and the USGA, the World Handicap System will transform the way golfers around the globe calculate their handicaps.

What are the key features?

The USGA Course and slope rating system will be implemented, handicaps will be average-based, taken using the best eight of the last 20 scores and both competitive and recreational rounds will be able to count for handicap purposes.

A new calculation will assess the impact of abnormal course and weather conditions on a player’s performance each day.

What is going to happen now?

Handicap administrators around the world have embarked on a two-year transition period, targeting implementation in 2020.

The new system will be governed by The R&A and USGA and administered by national and regional associations.

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In the

LOOP 1. Tough times ahead for Scottish Golf after vote setback What’s happened: At the governing body’s AGM in Edinburgh, members voted down a proposal to increase the annual affiliation fee paid by members.

What does it mean? Scottish Golf seem a permanent fixture of this page at present, but the organisation is going through some tricky times. Having been pilloried for earlier plans to double the fee, Scottish Golf proposed an increase from £11.25 to £15. It would have been the first increase in five years.

It had been outlined to try and cover Scottish Golf’s shortfall in sportscotland investment of £350,000 – with the remaining income to be invested in “front line services”. But it was defeated by 270 votes to 235 (with 10 abstentions) and now leaves incoming chief executive Andrew McKinlay with a significant headache.

Scottish Golf have reduced their overheads by £700,000 since October 2015, with staff count falling from 48 to 32. It appears more cutbacks could

Three things you need to know from the last month in the golf industry…

now be on the way. “We are deeply disappointed that we will be making more cuts at a time when we should be growing the game not just to make clubs more sustainable, but to hand the game over to our children and their children in a much better state than we found it after 10 to 15 years of decline,” said Scottish Golf chair Eleanor Cannon, who warned that some tough choices now lay ahead.

2. The R&A and USGA launch finalised Rules of Golf for 2019 What happened: After wideranging consultations and revisions, the two governing bodies finalised the Rules, from which we will all now play, to come into effect

on January 1, 2019.

What does it mean? Many of the proposals had been in the public domain for a year, but The R&A and USGA still managed to throw in a couple of surprises when the finalised Rules were unveiled.

Most interesting was making a local rule available to clubs that no longer forced everyday players to take a stroke and distance penalty for a lost ball or a shot out of bounds. Should committees bring in the rule, players will now have the choice of playing again or taking a drop in the vicinity of where the ball was lost along with a two-stroke penalty.

Both organisations also showed they had listened to the concerns of golfers when amending the proposals for dropping the ball.

Having advocated allowing a drop from any height, the finalised rules saw this altered to from knee height – preserving some of the randomness.

Penalties for double hitting will also cease when the new rules come into operation. A new Players’ Edition and a guide book, replacing the Decisions opus, will be published in September.

@GCMAUK Congratulations to all the 2017 European managers who have received their CMM accreditation @CMAA 2019 Conference @GCMAUK

26 | GCMA.ORG.UK

Great first day of education @DonningtonGrove with @Kandagolf Bob Williams and Niki Hunter @GCMAUK very informative #learning #lovegolf

@Maria11_09 Thanks to @PlayMore_Golf for leading the first ever GCMA webinar! We’ll be hosting more

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We want to hear from you!

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

3. Three year funding plan to grow women and girls golf What happened: The R&A announced it is providing funding to support the appointment of new development managers in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Australia.

What does it mean? An initial three-year funding package of ÂŁ75,000 per nation has been agreed between the various bodies and unions to bring in experienced sports development staff. The idea is that they will work

on campaigns to inspire and boost participation among women and girls. In Scotland, the funding is being matched by the Scottish Government and Visit Scotland as part of the 2019 Solheim Cup project.

Notably, Curtis Cup player Maria Dunne has taken up the post in Ireland. A recent research report commissioned by The R&A has shown significant growth opportunities for golf if the game can attract more women, girls and families.

Welcome to our newest GCMA members Howard Craft, manager at Berkhamsted, in Chiltern & Home Counties region Lee Curling, director of golf at Grim’s Dyke, in Chiltern & Home Counties region Margaret Carter, assistant at Boyce Hill, in East Anglia region David Wybar, secretary at Aldeburgh, in East Anglia region Richard Wheeldon, secretary at Derbyshire County Union, in East Midlands region Tony Clingan, manager at Redhill & Reigate, in London & Home Counties region Daniel Dodd, assistant at Burhill, in London & Home Counties region James Newman, secretary at West Surrey, in London & Home Counties region Ian Slater, secretary at North Downs, in London & Home Counties region Terence Nolan, secretary at Dudley, in Midland region Kerry Brown, manager at Eaton, in North West region Joan Clark, honorary secretary at Heaton Moor, in North West region Peter Whitehead, secretary at Cheshire Union, in North West region

regular free online educational sessions throughout the year for GCMA members. @GCMAUK

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Great session hope all you active secretaries and managers found the time to participate. @RodSavage1

Graham Clark, manager at The R&A GC of St Andrews, in Scotland region Brian McAuley, manager at Lanark, in Scotland region

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The interview

CAMERON DAWSON

C

ongratulations on becoming national captain. How do you feel about getting the role?

I’m obviously very honoured, not just for me but also for the Yorkshire region. It’s 15 years, I think, since (our last

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Yorkshire national captain) John Nicholson. It’s something I am really looking forward to. I think I’ve got something like 80 days planned from now until the end of October. It’s a big role but one I am really looking forward to.

You’re going to continue as the

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The Yorkshireman is about to step into the hotseat as the GCMA’s new national captain. So what does he want to get out of his year, and what does he think about the role and the GCMA? He tells Steve Carroll what’s on his mind…

Yorkshire regional manager. How are you going to do that as well?

Well, that role isn’t quite as onerous as some may make out – even though I think we have a good region and we run a lot of meetings, alongside the work that goes into those meetings. We only have a few matches. We’ve been

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talking about regional committees and some of those members are stepping in to run a couple of those events – really from start to finish.

Last year, the regional captain Ian Brogden did the whole of the build up to the Christmas meeting.

It was snowed off but he did all

the work and it would have been well organised on the day.

I was away and that was really a trial run, and the committee are stepping in and they are going to run two of the events where there is a clash – although I will get to every Yorkshire regional event.

I also feel that I am going to be

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sat in hotel rooms on my own a lot – the night before or after (an event) and I will sit at the computer. There will be time to do the work, just as I do now.

How do you see the role of captain and what do you want to achieve from your year?

When you are offered the position, you are given two pages of A4 which tells you what the role is.

What it really does is tell you what events you are expected to attend.

It doesn’t tell you what your actual role is and whether you have any involvement in the running of the association.

I personally tried very hard, when I was in club management, to change the role of club captain from being the main person running the golf club to being the person who is the ambassador for the club, the team captain for the club. I would like to think that’s what I am going to be doing for the GCMA – even though I will be attending board meetings, I don’t have a vote at those meetings.

My own nature will mean that if I am given the opportunity to speak then I will do. But, personally, I feel the role should be an honorary position and a reward for the work you have done for the association.

Yes, you’ve got to be somebody who can be the ambassador but I don’t think you should have that much input into the running of the association.

I ask because you come in at an interesting time for the GCMA – with the strategic review and a number of changes being planned to the regions among other things. If you wanted to, you could have quite a say…

At the recent regional managers’ conference I certainly did have my say, but from a regional manager’s

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point of view not from the incoming captain’s.

Although I feel the captain shouldn’t be a major player in the running of the organisation, because of my long-standing involvement – being on the national committee in the old days for five years and involved in the changing of the name and being a regional manager for six years – I will still have that role. Whether that will be me as captain, or as a regional manager, is a fairly blurred area in my specific case.

It will be quite a juggling act then: when you have your captain’s hat on and when your regional manager’s hat is on?

Certainly at regional meetings, the difference will be that I will be able to give my own personal views.

The chief executive will be giving the national position and I will be giving my personal position. I will also have to juggle and wear different hats at the meetings where I am there without Bob and I will promote and be the ambassador for the national positions.

I sit on the national and the

board committee and, as a committee member, I will follow that line and be ambassador in both positions.

What opportunities are in front of the GCMA? What are you looking forward to see coming to fruition as captain?

We need to raise our profile, and I don’t mean within other bodies, I mean within golf clubs themselves.

That’s where our biggest challenge is. Golf club committees are still almost totally unaware of the

GCMA. Yes, it helps that we are involved in R&A committees and England Golf committees, along with the other national bodies.

But we’re still not getting down to the grassroots. We need to get into golf clubs and into committees – certainly within Yorkshire we try to get committee members to come along to meetings. When we have specific subjects, such as food and beverage last year, we invited the house managers and committee members to come along and we managed to get 90 people at that full day seminar.

That had a great impact on

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awareness within those golf clubs.

We need to do much more of that.

The proprietary market appears to be an untapped resource…

It is. I am very pleased to see that Bob Williams is having meetings with the UK Golf Course Owners Association and we are trying to build links with them. I hope that is successful.

It’s an area I didn’t work in. I worked in the private members’ sector and we don’t have that much input regionally from the corporate sector. But it is something that we should, and must, work towards getting.

Do you feel positive about the strategic review? The GCMA are

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clearly moving forward…

Yes. Seeing that develop over the last couple of years, I have seen the willingness of the board and the chief executive to be flexible. If things haven’t worked, they have tried something else.

I think we are getting there. We are certainly getting there with the magazine and the electronic communications systems we are now providing. I do hope we keep our focus on our main goal, which is education and looking after the membership, and that finance doesn’t take over.

I imagine that’s one of the huge shifts you have seen during your time in the GCMA – from regional meetings being

essentially a social event to CPD being at the heart?

The education we provide at regional meetings is now almost total. At the regions that I have attended – Yorkshire, North West and Northern – education has taken over from the selling aspect.

Some regions used to take the easy way out. They would be given a list of sponsors from the national body and would run down and say ‘I’ll have them, them and them’.

They’ll provide a talk but there’s no real structure as to whether it’s educationally beneficial or whether it’s just a way of paying for the meeting. That has certainly changed within the area, within the region, since I’ve been associated with it.

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“It’s 10 years since the equality act became law - but how many clubs have embraced or found ways round it?”

What are the GCMA’s biggest challenges at the moment?

From a positive point of view, I think we are victims of our own success in as much as our communication and education, from a national level through electronic communication, has been transformed over the last few years. We still need to provide the education to the members on a one-to-one basis. Clubs have become much more business-like, which is something for which we have been striving for many years. The downside of that is club committees are much more aware of the time managers and secretaries are spending at the club.

They are having a negative influence on allowing them out.

We all know that education is key

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to moving forward in management and the success of clubs. But clubs are very short sighted in seeing the actual time taken away from the club for education.

They still say ‘it’s just a jolly’ too often. Even though every region offers a seminar-only aspect of the day and golf is only optional.

I don’t know of any region that would say ‘you have to play golf if you are attending a meeting’. The education takes precedence.

If I could give you one objective you want to achieve during your year in office, what would that be?

I have dreams, but I don’t think they are objectives. I would dream that equality comes much more to the forefront. It’s 100 years since women

got the vote, it’s 10 years since the Equality Act became law – but how many clubs have embraced it or found ways round it?

Most clubs are now charging equal subscription rates but very few have embraced it totally.

My ideal end result – and it is a pipedream and I know it is – would be ‘you are a member of a club’.

Gender, or anything else, is totally immaterial. You’d have a handicap based on which tees you played from – and that’s everybody.

Competitions are competitions.

Male only, female only – everything just disappears and you go and you play golf. It’s only the professional game that needs to differentiate.

Keighley, where I was manager,

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says you shouldn’t give them that choice and the law is the law.

was one of the first traditional members’ clubs to fully integrate and if you want to play golf down at Keighley in a competition it doesn’t matter whether you are a man or a woman. You just put your name down to play.

Is it disappointing we’re still not fully integrated?

I am hugely disappointed, yes.

It took 10 years back in the Suffragette days and it took 10 years to move it from 35-year-olds owning property to 25-year-olds being able to vote. It took quite a bit longer before every woman got the vote. I hope it doesn’t take us anywhere near as long to reach the same position in golf.

I want to get people thinking and stopping all the negative arguments, which, no matter how you look at it, are still prejudiced points of view. The negative arguments are ‘we’ll lose lady members’, ‘the lady members have voted not to do this’. That was not what the act was about. It clearly

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You also want to look at the selection of national captain…

I may end up running the past captain’s meetings later this year and having them not talking to me if I gave my views in public as strongly as I feel. We, as an association, and as most of the enlightened managers, have been trying to move the management of golf clubs forward and move from committees of 20 to manageable ones of four, five or six people. We’ve pushed club captains into becoming just that – not men’s captains that automatically ran the golf club while the ladies’ captain was on the side.

But a group of old men sit down and decide which one of their mates is going to be captain next year. We, as an association, still do that. When we meet later this year, we will have a game of golf, sit round a dinner table and discuss a list of names. Whoever comes out on top of that list of names will become captain. In the history of the association, as far as I am aware, no captain that has been selected has not been elected.

So are you proposing an election of the membership?

Yes, a much more open and easier way into the position. Hopefully that would see some younger people, and more women.

I’m sure it won’t be popular and I’m sure it won’t happen. I would certainly like to move towards that.

Make the position more attainable.

We’ve got 16 regions and it should be passed around the regions a little bit more.

So one of the criteria should be ‘it’s the turn of the South West’.

They still have to come up with a suitable candidate but the regions should be pushed a little bit more towards putting candidates forward.

I have accepted the role knowing I am going to be doing 80 or 90 days.

Maybe that has to be looked at. I was one of the people at the regional managers’ meeting who said ‘we really want to see the captain at least one of our meetings every year’. As a result, the commitment is huge.

Are you looking forward to the year?

Hugely. I am getting prepared and I am really looking forward to it.

The GCMA national captain The first meeting of what was then the Golf Club Secretaries’ Association was held at Cuddington Golf Club in 1933. The inaugural AGM followed six months later and J W Greenshields, of Hendon, was named national captain.

Early notables included C K Cotton (1947), of Stoke Poges, who is well known for his forays in the world of golf course architecture.

Five majors, three captains, a group captain, two brigadiers, along with squadron leaders, wing commanders and a lieutenant colonel, have held the mantle down the years – showing how much the world of the golf club manager has now changed over the decades.

The first woman to captain the association was Anthea Wilkinson, who represented Southern, in 1989, and Cameron Dawson is the eighth captain from the Yorkshire region.

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GCMA 2018 DATES FOR YOUR DIARY GCMA AGM INCLUDING THE CHANCE TO PLAY FOR THE CAPTAIN’S CUP

MONDAY 16 APRIL | MOOR PARK GC

NATIONAL GOLF DAY MONDAY 18 JUNE | BROADSTONE GC

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‘Open’up your events to more fun

T

o golfers, open competitions represent the perfect opportunity to play different courses and test their game in a competitive environment. To golf clubs, they’re a great way to generate much needed incremental revenue while boosting exposure to prospective members.

However, they’re often time costly and difficult to organise.

It’s become a congested market

36 | GCMA.ORG.UK

and clubs face stiff competition, with over 10,000 events staged around the UK each year, ranging from mixed opens for couples to scratch opens for single figure handicappers.

Consequently, clubs are continually looking for new ways to promote their events and enhance their offering, which is where Golf Genius’ industryleading tournament management system proves to be invaluable.

Golf Genius works with

thousands of clubs and resorts around the world to make the running of open events more efficient, as well as enhancing the experience for those taking part with interactive features and live scoring to maximise their enjoyment.

Using knowledge gained from managing more than 230,000 golf events worldwide in 2017 alone, Golf Genius understands what it takes to make a great golf event.

Trump International Golf Links,

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in Aberdeen, is one of the many venues which has successfully adopted Golf Genius’ software and is reaping the benefits.

Commenting on how Golf Genius has enhanced their product, Golf Operations Manager, Jonas Hedberg, said: “The tournament features within Golf Genius really add to the experience we’re now able to offer at our Open events, and we’ve found that guests thoroughly enjoy all that the system has to offer. It’s streamlined the whole process of running the days, and from the customised printed materials to the bespoke event portals, the software enables us to provide a level of tournament experience that we’ve not previously been able to deliver.”

South Herts, a members’ club in North London, is another example of a club that has improved its overall golf experience by investing in Golf Genius.

Describing how things have changed for the better, secretary Stuart Turner said:“Our members and guests really like the live leaderboard systems and

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interactive app and web portal systems.

“The printed branded materials bring a level of professionalism that presents the golf club extremely positively to its members and guests.”

Golf Genius is on a mission to make golf more fun and interactive for golfers who spend time watching golf on TV and aspire to experience what it’s like to play in a PGA or European Tour event. The software allows players to access live leaderboards on-the-go and see how they stand against their friends and the rest of the field, providing the ultimate tournament experience.

Golf Genius also enables clubs to offer their own event website, professional event registration, app personalisation and great looking customisable printed materials to support the event.

The company is always striving to improve the product based on the needs of customers, and the recent launch of the Quick Event Setup feature allows clubs to save more time than ever before.

The software also

accommodates the unique Peoria Scoring System, an artificial handicapping system used for one-off events where most of the players don’t have official handicaps. This proves particularly popular with corporate or charity events when many of the players don’t play frequently enough to maintain a handicap.

“Customer service is at the heart of everything we do, and we listen incredibly closely to the users of our product to continually improve our software solution and maintain very high customer satisfaction,” commented Craig Higgs, Director of International Sales for Golf Genius Software.

Subscription to Golf Genius includes responsive and reliable customer support, with a team of representatives available around the clock to troubleshoot and provide virtual assistance with the setting up, and running of, events.

• Clubs and resorts interested in receiving a free product demo to showcase Golf Genius should email craig@golfgenius.com

GCMA.ORG.UK | 37

GCMA RECRUITMENT

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

BROUGH ::: CLUB MANAGER Brough is an attractive and challenging parkland course in the East Riding of Yorkshire, with a membership exceeding 500.

The successful candidate will ideally have a proven record of golf club management, will manage and continuously develop all aspects of the business, and develop the strategic plan alongside the Board of Directors.

Apply with CV and covering letter to: The Chairman of the Board, Brough Golf Club, Cave Road, Brough, East Yorkshire, HU15 1HB. Region: Yorkshire Salary: Competitive Closing date: April 13, 2018

ENMORE PARK ::: CLUB MANAGER Set in the Quantock Hills, Enmore Park is a friendly and welcoming members’ club with a championship golf course and more than 600 members.

We are looking for an experienced and dynamic individual who is committed to both managing and driving our club forward. The successful candidate will have a proven track record in the management of golf club and excellent business, financial and planning skills.

Region: South West Salary: Competitive Closing date: April 30, 2018

PYECOMBE GC ::: MANGAGING SECRETARY

RICHMOND PARK ::: ASSISTANT MANAGER

Pyecombe, situated within the South Downs National Park, is a thriving club with around 500 members and a reputation as a good test of golf.

Richmond Park Golf Course is one of the UK’s busiest golf venues in a stunning location within London’s largest Royal Park.

An experienced and enthusiastic individual is required to drive forward the implementation of the management committee’s strategic plans.

Applications are invited by covering letter and CV and should be emailed to recruitment@ pyecombegolfclub.com

We are looking for someone with at least 12 months experience in a supervisory/ management role, preferably in golf, leisure or hospitality, and an understanding of what amazing customer service looks like.

Apply by emailing jon.dummett@glendalegolf. co.uk

Region: Southern Salary: Competitive Closing date: April 27, 2018

Region: London & Home Counties Salary: £26-£30k+generous bonus Closing date: April 30, 2018

38 | GCMA.ORG.UK

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Good

PRACTICE Advice on golf club management issues – from finance to clubhouse rules and employment law to staff morale – from our panel of experts

GCMA | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | EDUCATION | REGIONAL

Mystery shopping can transform

YOUR CLUB

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Mystery shopping, customer surveys and reviews can be vital in allowing clubs to measure the service experience. Mark Reed, director of 59club, reveals how you can use these tools to your advantage...

M

ystery shopping, customer satisfaction surveys and customer reviews are used as a strategy to glean critical information that assists clubs to measure and advance the service experience and sales etiquette afforded to their customers.

The more communication channels we create, the more consumer voices are heard and the more we scrutinise our experience, the better educated we become to deploy a plan that will better serve our customers.

59club, renowned industry leaders in measuring and comparing customer service levels, have taken the industry by storm.

Some of the world’s most prestigious clubs have very quickly established themselves as award-winning customer service providers, and credit 59club for the service they provide – and it’s not just big name, big budget venues that benefit from delivering a great service. There’s no quick win.

You have to continually invest in service. But what you gain from time spent with 59club is the perspective, direction, motivation and the skill set to advance.

Why introduce mystery shopper audits?

Insiders are often too close to their operation to identify flaws.

Strengths are seldom celebrated, and the club continues to

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deliver their interpretation of ‘good’ with nothing to measure this against, or to aspire to. An independent mystery shopper audit allows managers to view their club through the eyes of their customers. Feedback will pinpoint strengths and weaknesses, while the ability to make service comparisons – to chosen competitors, the 59club industry and best performing clubs – on a global scale, delivers the motivation to advance.

What does ‘good’ service actually look like?

Good service is delivered by staff who predict customer expectations and react accordingly, ensuring they work to exceed aspirations.

Service cannot be left to chance, staff need process, motivation and reward if we expect them to consistently deliver.

Let’s consider a prospective member calls your club to enquire about membership.

The call is answered in a very polite manner, the prospect is given the price, offered an email with the membership form attached and told to call back if they have any questions or wish to sign up. Polite, efficient and helpful you might say? How would you rate that experience and what would you compare it to?

I can tell you this club would score just 18%, while the current 59club industry average score for membership enquiry call

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handling sits at 60%, with the best performers achieving an impressive 82%.

What about visiting golfers?

The following statistics have been taken from audits at clubs where 59club benchmarking has NOT yet been introduced and serve to reflect genuine industry standards at venues who are not privy to our best practice visiting golfer criteria.

When it comes to group golf enquiries and visiting golfers, let’s just say there are many opportunities to improve • After they call to enquire about hosting a group golf day, they receive their golf society quote just 44% of the time, and you fail to call to chase the sale 89% of the time.

• When it comes to upselling, the message is tragic, you fail to

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discuss the option to pre-book a buggy on 96% of occasions.

Again at check-in, there is no mention of buggies 81% of the time – are they just for show?

• 73% of you fail to make any sort of attempt to sell additional items in the pro shop, such as those items that trigger impulse purchases, balls, gloves, tees.

• 71% of golfers, when playing the course, have not been made aware of where the yardage markers are measured, only 6% have been informed if there are on course F&B facilities available and just 8% are reminded of player etiquette.

• You fail to capture any personal data for future marketing campaigns 85% of the time.

All is not lost. The industry rates course condition at 77%, which takes into consideration the tees,

fairways, bunkers, greens and so on. If you rely solely on having a good course you might be happy with this but, if you value your sales, service and reputation, you need to act fast.

Staff are accountable for the service they provide and should be rewarded or penalised based on their performance.

We are witnessing great practice within our client clubs with some managers now choosing to recruit new staff based on their 59club track record. As the industry continues on the road to progression, clubs can choose to join or be left behind as a result of the service they choose to deliver.

Customer satisfaction surveys breed loyalty It costs five to six times more to recruit a new customer than it

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does to retain one. Any business needs to know what its customers think, want and what their future intentions are. Golf clubs are no different. Some clubs may conduct a mini survey or an exit interview, but the first tends not to be independent or thorough enough, and the second is way too late.

drive your business forward.

As clubs become more proactive, coherent managers are now utilising surveys to glean feedback in every conceivable manner.

We have seen surveys introduced to assist clubs to develop their social calendar, club professionals who rely on customer feedback

“Some would say you are brave to ask for customers’ opinion, we believe you are extremely brave not to ask” The best of the best are embedding satisfaction surveys into the framework of their club operation. As an example, new members are invited to complete a series of surveys in sequence after one, two, six and 12 weeks – critical touch points during their integration period.

Clubs who are running introduction to golf campaigns are using the survey tools in the same way to ensure the service that is expected is indeed received. The advantage of touching the same customers at pre-programmed intervals allows clubs to track satisfaction levels at the exact times that they deem appropriate.

Leading retailers are surveying their custom fit customers, their pupils and those who have made shop purchases, to strategically mould their service offering to deliver greater levels of satisfaction and customer retention.

For managers wanting to advance, 59club have developed pre-set survey templates with ‘quick fire’ questions to determine how the relevant customer experience is rated at your club.

Our managerial dashboard will track satisfaction ratings, make service comparisons and provoke immediate actions to constantly

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to better stock their shop, food and beverage managers are making seasonal menu changes based around customer favourites and some committees are even deciding what investments to prioritise both on and off the course based on member opinion polls. Clubs are asking the customer to assist them to shape the club’s destiny. That’s a powerful voice to be heard and a powerful direction to take.

Customer reviews Some would say you are brave to ask for customers’ opinion, we believe you are extremely brave not to ask. We have just unveiled our ‘member communication’ app, which complements our existing visitor review site golftell.net.

The app encourages club members (and their guests) to privately communicate their views direct with club management. The member selects their preference of anonymity, while the club receives feedback away from the public eye and with total confidentiality.

Managers can decide what feedback they wish to share with members at what time and in what way. The addition of the golftell member app to the suite of satisfaction surveys and mystery

shopping audits within our my59 software creates the complete quality assurance package to achieve sales & service excellence.

Where do we start? We start with change!

What you ask customers, how you measure and monitor performance and how you bring about change are the factors that will determine the successful outcome of any audit.

Clubs, committees and managers often assume that because a staff member plays golf, they will instinctively perform within their role. We look inside huge numbers of golf operations every month and witness numerous examples of nice people who are badly managed, poorly trained or both.

Staff need process, motivation and reward if we are to expect them to consistently deliver great service.

59CLUB’S MISSION Our mission at 59club has always been to drive industry standards.

We’ve never been expensive or out of anyone’s reach.

We have worked to create an affordable package that provides clubs with the complete solution to independently monitor their own service levels and achieve excellence.

Alongside unrestricted access to 59club’s ‘my59 software’ with its wealth of industry leading mystery shopper audits, customer satisfaction survey templates and customer review tools, 59club has created a package that also includes a trio of staff training opportunities for £500 a year.

Interested to find out more? Visit: my59online.com

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How asking questions can keep your

CUSTOMERS HAPPY

T

here will be more than 600,000 rounds of golf played over the course of a year at centres operated by Burhill Group Limited.

One of the UK’s largest owners and operators of golf properties, the vision of the company is to offer “great destinations for every golf and leisure occasion”.

Alongside three traditional clubs,

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there are seven further golf centres aiming to provide accessible and affordable golf no matter the ability of the player.

With so much footfall on a weekly, monthly and annual basis, how they handle and deliver the service they give to their customers is vital to their growth and prosperity.

“We put a great emphasis on customer service,” said chief executive Colin Mayes.“We monitor

it, both in the unit and through various surveys we encourage the managers to do.”

For the last 18 months, they have been part of a system known as Net Promoter Score, which is also used by big businesses including the likes of Lexus.

Mayes explained:“Every day we invite feedback from a portion of our customers to rate us, based on a score of 0 to 10 – with 10

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Providing exceptional customer service is critical at Burhill Group Limited.

With 10 centres to coordinate, chief executive Colin Mayes tells Steve Carroll what they do to keep people coming back…

Burhill

being outstanding and they’d recommend us to a friend and 0 meaning they won’t come back.

We monitor those on a daily basis.

“All of those results come to me, they come to the general managers and they come to the reservations team.

“Each of the general managers are tasked with following those up within 48 hours – and particularly any poor ones – to find out exactly

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what went wrong and see if we can put it right.”

Mayes receives three emails daily, one with positive responses, one with negative and a further email detailing which customers are yet to be contacted and how long it has been since their initial response.

It is all very hands on but, coming from a hotel background, he says clubs need to take that kind of

approach if they are to compete successfully in the busy leisure industry market.

“I very much view golf as hospitality,” he said.“People are spending their leisure time with us and they are not only there for a game of golf, they are there for the camaraderie of playing with friends and for a day of enjoyment.

“Golf has got to get in the real world. If we are not delivering

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“If we’re not delivering great service, then people will choose to go elsewhere. It’s as simple as that”

entertainment, if we are not delivering great food and beverage, if we are not delivering great service, then people will choose to go elsewhere. It’s as simple as that.

“It’s expected in a golf club now and, if you don’t monitor it, you are going to lose business. If you are not on top of it, you will lose business.”

Mayes isn’t afraid of hearing criticism, either – arguing that it is from some of the various centre’s ‘detractors’ that the greatest overall improvements can be made.

He has also had to curb the natural cynicism of his general managers and employees, some of whom initially thought the Net Promoter Score was a vehicle to criticise their performance.

Now, with managers taking action to respond to customers and therefore getting closer to them, Mayes argues that it is actually assisting them to deliver better customer service.

“You always learn more from

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what we call our detractors than those that praise us,” he said.

“Invariably, if they are thinking something then somebody else has thought it. It has been a bit of a cultural shift – I have to tell you.

“We are 18 months into our NPS survey and we have significantly moved up our score over that period.

“We have climbed about 10 percentage points and we are aiming to do a lot better in the next year.”

From an office point of view, Mayes added that the continuous desire to drive up standards has had another impact.

“It does create a good bit of positive competitive tension between each of the managers because they all pride themselves on the fact that they are offering a high quality of service.

“The fact that their colleagues down the road or another unit are doing better than them – they want to know why and they want

to know why they can’t do better.

“They pass that down to the heads of department and it is a learning process. It’s just a way of life that’s one has got to get used to.

“Some view it as constantly criticising.

“Well, frankly, that’s the real world because expectations have just got a lot higher.”

The group employ more than 700 staff across their 10 centres and Net Promoter Score has become a huge part of the business – with results discussed at heads of department meetings and downwards.

With such a varied golf offering, keeping the standards high and consistent can be a challenge, admitted Mayes.

But he reckoned allowing someone to suffer a negative experience and walk away without that being remedied could be hugely damaging.

“I always count that a good

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Burhill

experience, they tell three people.

A bad experience, they tell at least 12. You haven’t lost just one customer. You’ve probably lost 13.”

So what, in Mayes’ opinion, makes great customer service?

“The most important thing is the ability to engage. So often people now are numbers.

“They are an account number.

They do things from the internet.

“It’s getting teams and staff to engage and actually talk to and find out what customers want – whether they have enjoyed their game at the golf club.

“It’s as simple as a welcome when they arrive, making sure they know where the changing rooms are, making sure they know what their start time is, finding out whether they are playing with friends, have they got the equipment that they need?

“It really is about the welcome and it’s about making sure when they leave that somebody has at least checked that they have had a

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good time and, if they haven’t, then we try to do something about it in one way or another.

“That might be by perhaps offering them a complimentary round when they come back, if it hasn’t been all right – and thankfully that doesn’t happen very often.

“I would sum it up as the ability to engage – engage and talk to the customer.

“That’s not an easy task, because British staff are generally quite reserved. Thankfully, we’ve got some great ones who do talk to customers.

“There’s nothing like talking to a customer.

“If you go into a restaurant and you find a waiter that will engage with you, find out why you are there – whether it’s a birthday party or just having a quiet night with your wife – you have instantly got a relationship.

“It is all about building a relationship.”

What is Net Promoter Score?

Net Promoter Score is a management tool that helps firms guide the loyalty of their customer relationships. More than two thirds of Fortune 1000 companies use the metric.

Based on responses to a question on customer satisfaction, scoring is usually based on a scale of 0 to 10.

People who respond with very high scores are known as Promoters, while those who deliver scores of six or fewer are labelled Detractors.

Participants are usually encouraged to elaborate on the reasons for their scores.

Those reasons can then be delivered to management teams and staff to be followed up and acted upon.

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Give your club a memorable

IDENTITY

I

t may be the tired old sign that ‘welcomes’ people, or the uninspiring scorecard that holds the memory of a day’s play – some clubs are still stuck in the dark ages when it comes to establishing their brand.

But having a clear identity and

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the products to match can add a lot of value to how visitors, and members, perceive your club and its offering.

Get it right and the cash tills could be ringing a little more frequently. Whether it’s signage, yardage and green books or bag tags, it’s important to show your

business in the best possible light.

You would take action to repair faults on the course and in the clubhouse, so why would the message you send out to the community be any different?

We asked two leading companies, Eagle and Clere Golf, why branding is so important.

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Having a clear brand, and the products to match, can enhance the experience of customers. We asked two leading companies why it makes such a difference…

Phil McInley is managing director of Eagle, the UK’s leading golf course supplier,.

They produce some 45 million scorecards each year and work with more than 1,750 clubs in 30 countries.

Established in 1980, the company “take pride in

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helping golf clubs improve the impression they are creating through their signage, print collateral and online presence”.

If signage, architecture and accessories aren’t right, can the whole visitor experience be soured?

You’re absolutely right. Clubs can really differentiate themselves from the club down the road by improving the customer journey.

From the entrance sign, through the driveway, the car park, and being directed from there to the changing rooms, pro shop, and out onto the first tee.

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Eagle offer a full suite of branding products

Some clubs don’t realise how important it is...

materials when manufacturing outdoor products.

Why do you think that is?

It’s just an issue about understanding branding and positioning in the market place.

For the first time, a lot of clubs have to market themselves.

This means that you have got to get the basic foundations in place.

Design plays a big part in creating an identity that works – and this gives a structure, and a strategy, to get collateral products right. Signs, as well as print, fall into this category.

We like to offer value for money at the different levels.

Whatever we manufacture will make a difference, and look good for a long time.

We will ensure quality impressions on behalf of the club and this means using the right

What difference does a quality scorecard and products like that bring?

It’s all part of the visual journey of the visitors. It’s important for the member as well.

Every club has a golf community, which uses the club, and each scorecard is used for three to four hours and it creates impressions.

They look at the signs. These are the things people do notice and the first thing they notice is the entrance sign when they are turning the car into the main road.

That’s why it’s so important that all these items are designed to a style – as these impressions help shape the image of the club.

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So if I am a manager looking to

”Every club has a golf community, which uses the club, and each scorecard is used for three to four hours and it creates impressions” change the image of my club, how can you help? What’s the process?

Firstly, we would advise as to how the club brand could be adjusted to work better.

We find that a lot of clubs don’t have the basic digital files in place, so they can’t actually produce a consistent product – whether it’s print or signage.

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WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO PUT ON A RYDER CUP? LE GOLF NATIONAL GENERAL MANAGER PAUL ARMITAGE DETAILS A FEW OF THE PRACTICALITIES

They don’t have the files in place, or a brand guidelines document, which gives a strategy for anybody buying anything on behalf of the club.

What typeface? What support typeface? What colours they can use?

This is quite a basic thing that most start-up businesses would do as a priority, and then everything they buy, as part of their collateral, can start to tell a story about themselves.

Initially we would check their brand, maybe fine-tune it, maybe modernise it and produce a brand guidelines document.

From there, our design team can put together a whole collateral pack of products – scorecards, course guides, bag tag, green fee tickets. All of these things individually are just small items but together they become quite a

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powerful marketing tool.

How important is brand for golf clubs now?

Every business, and every club, has a brand but it is maximising the potential of that brand which is the key.

These days it’s pretty difficult to think of any activity involving two or three people that doesn’t have a namestyle, logotype, and an associated colour.

A lot of club brands do look rather dated. No professional designer has probably ever looked at the brand, and using scrolls and cross clubs can make it look quite dated. Most clubs are looking to attract new audiences and it is important they try and freshen up their brand so that it is more noticeable and stands out from other courses, so when they are

creating a marketing campaign, they’ve got a design strategy ready to use. Branding, or identity management, has become a significant mainstream activity and is ignored at great peril.

Steve Richardson is a director at Clere Golf. With Gleneagles, Sunningdale and Celtic Manor among their clients, the company also produce the famous Green Books proving so popular in the professional game…

What does branding mean for Clere Golf?

Branding, for us, goes far beyond just a well designed logo which is really just a visual identifier, the brand is what the members or visitors think of when they see or hear it.

For instance, do they have

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The Belfry are among Clere Golf’s high profile clients

positive thoughts when they see a particular club’s logo in a magazine or does it bring back negative thoughts about the greeting or service they received?

A club’s brand can be influenced by so many different touch points, such as staff, members, articles in trade publications and the quality of the course, which is why I believe presentation is so important across all items of media to re-enforce the thoughts members and visitors will have.

This is why an ever increasing number of the scorecards we develop nowadays carry lots of nice embellishments, from the rounded cornering that prevents snagging in the pocket to the addition of lamination for much greater durability when playing

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during inclement weather.

Why has this area been neglected by some clubs in a past?

It’s such a frustrating thing for us.

In the past, I think the scorecard has always been deemed as a commodity-based item – very much price driven – but, actually, it is the first thing that every golfer, without doubt, picks up and, of course, the last thing they handle before they leave.

It’s important that the experience they (customers) get, even if it is only for a scorecard, portrays the club’s brand as best as it possibly can.

If the scorecard looks poorly designed and disintegrates throughout the round how does that reflect on the club?

I have to say that clubs are

getting better educated about that and are beginning to take their scorecard, and all of their branding, a lot more seriously.

That’s where our heritage of creative design and experience of working with commercial brands can really add some value.

I suppose they aren’t just functional for everyone. They can also trigger memories of the day For sure, they are so much more and you’ll see that now not just with scorecards but course guides too, which have so much more information in them than ever before.

Course guides have had to evolve in order to compete with Laser and GPS devices. I’m delighted to see a resurgence in them over the past 12 months

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with features in them taken from our tour course guides, such as tee photographs showing the golfer the direction to drive the ball from the tee with associated distances to carry hazards and find the centre of the fairway.

It’s simple really but, again, it adds value, enhances their experience and I’m sure will aid speed of play too.

Many scorecards carry advertisements or sponsors to help fund them and you are beginning to see things like pin location sheets incorporated onto the cards.

So I think they are becoming a much more important part of a golf club’s armoury.

The scorecard should be treated as an integral part of a golf club’s identity. Wherever the club logo

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is seen, whether it be in print, embroidered or on-line, there needs to be continuity of brand across anything that is produced. If you’ve got continuity, the strength of that brand is so much greater.

So what is the process if I am a manager and I’m thinking about calling you in?

Well this may differ depending on the product or service we are discussing with you but, on the whole, we wouldn’t want to be seen as just ’order processors’ as that’s not adding value.

We do that by offering good advice, asking intelligent questions, challenging the brief and suggesting options to consider based on past experiences.

We want to understand what

isn’t currently working so that we can deliver something that either improves a process, enhances your club or adds value to the visitor/ member experience.

If we are able to do that then we are confident that we can build healthy long term relationships with our customers who will, in turn, refer us to other clubs. Simple.

We printed our first scorecard in 2006 and 12 years on we are proud to work with tremendous clubs, resorts and golf brands from around the world. Our success has been, and continues to be, based on the same core values on which we were founded almost 40 years ago. We strive to be approachable, collaborative and intelligent, working together to achieve common goals.

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What we learned from the CMAA World

CONFERENCE

Club Brands: Why different is better than better It’s good to be better, but it’s better to be different! “Find out who you are and do it on purpose,” said Dolly Parton. When an advertising company added what made their product different (rather than just simply better) to their digital marketing ads, the click rate went from 1% to 3.5%.

We learned that marketing

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messages should be just the same as if you were showing a prospect around the club – being as passionate in print and online as you would be in person.

I really liked the idea of Brandable Chunks,‘a micro-differentiator’ which sets you apart. Examples of this included the upmarket hotel that delivers homemade bread in a can, and the club with a Popscicle Hotline. There was a phone by the

pool which, when used, resulted in an instant ice lolly. These brandable chunks simply give people a chance to talk about you.

The art and science of storytelling This was one of my favourite sessions. Stories help set you apart and creating stories allows people to retell them and create a word of mouth buzz. We were asked to

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GCMA communications manager Mike Hyde attended the CMAA World Conference on Club Management and Club Business Expo in San Francisco. He reveals what he learned and how clubs might benefit…

consider what was our X-factor?

What is unique about your club and what would a member want to tell someone else about?

A nice way of beginning to craft short stories is to create a brief but memorable statement, which you should be able to deliver in six to nine seconds and should force someone to engage and ask the next question about you or your club. It’s like the worldleading surgeon who treats stroke patients, unblocking blood clots to restore blood flow, who describes himself as “an expensive plumber”.

This is the neatest example of how you can use different language to express the same thing and evoke an entirely new set of emotions.

We ran through a really nice exercise in which everyone described playing golf at their club in the most detail of which they could think.

“Describe the scene on your first tee and how that makes you feel” This was one of the first answers: “You walk out to the first tee past the towering century old pines, to the tee that has been cut that morning by Joe – whose family have tended to the course here for 76 years – surrounded by flowers planted by the members and your predecessors. As you swing back towards the historic white stone clubhouse and send your ball soaring into the crisp Californian air, and set off towards the lakes: you know it’s going to be a good day”.

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Planning Success The main takeaway was to present key documents as drafts, which allows you the option to continually update and prevents people from resenting you if they see a ‘final’ version and their ideas aren’t included.

If focus groups are held for a particular project, give good feedback for good contributions.

Keep a note of key suggestions in the meeting and follow up afterwards to say it was a good idea. They’ll feel invested, regardless of whether it makes the

Isaac Lidsky keynote Isaac Lidsky is a corporate speaker, author and entrepreneur. He was a young actor, playing Weasel on NBC’s Saved by the Bell: The New Class, before losing his sight and is the only blind person to serve as a law clerk for the US Supreme Court. He is currently a CEO. I took so much from this session and Isaac’s incredible outlook on the world – having lost his sight but gained vision – left a lasting impression.

His key messages were: • Improvement is all that matters, not achieving perfection. Striving is all that matters • We need to only consider two questions in relation to any one issue: What am I trying to do and What can I do about it / what’s the best next step • No one has ever gone from A-Z—only A-B. Take one step at a time.

Isaac offered a fantastic distillation of what he aims to do, saying:“I just want to build and motivate a team with a shared vision and strive for excellence.”

”The art and science of storytelling was one of my favourite sessions. Stories help set you apart and creating stories allows people to retell them and create a world of mouth buzz.”

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Scenes from the CMAA World Conference

final cut. If you are holding focus groups about a project in which you are personally invested, try to present where you were, where you are and where you are going.

Then have someone else facilitate the session and merely observe the discussions.

Curt Cronin keynote Curt Cronin is a former Navy Seal who is an expert at leading high performance teams. He has advised top businesses, including AIG and the Miami Dolphins on streamlining efforts to maximise results. Curt offered some fantastic insights into the possibilities of teamwork, once someone understands how their tasks fit into the greater picture.

I loved the way he turned the thinking of the NFL player who was solely motivated by becoming a hall of famer, and so played in a selfish way. Once it was explained he needed a certain number of games to likely be considered for Canton – based on the average

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of previous HoF players – and by contributing to team success he would add extra play-off games to each season, he began to teach the defensive players some of his offensive tricks, raising the team’s performance, and increasing the chances of him achieving his own personal goals.

Club technology trends We learned that one club is already investing in a fleet of driverless cars that will be able to collect members, bring them to the club and encourage spending in the bar as no one has to worry about driving home. Clubs should always be questioning their technology providers about their security plans. Have they updated and patched their systems to the latest releases? Clubs also need to create an IT security plan, with every aspect of their technological infrastructure mapped.

Even irrigation systems and CCTV cameras are liable to be hacked, and need to be secure.

”We learned that one club is already investing in a fleet of driverless cars that will be able to collect members, bring them to the club and encourage spending” Geofencing and beacons offer huge opportunities for personal service. The former allows your club app to recognise when a member is driving to the club and to alert them to which car park they should use. The latter works in closer quarters. When a member is walking towards the reception desk, their name and usual drinks order can pop up for staff.

Tame the chaos: overcoming complexity to achieve results One particular tool sounded

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NETWORKING FOR RESULTS

incredibly valuable – the Five Whys.

If you have a problem, try and identify what the underlying issue is (so what’s causing it or why you can’t fix it) and then iterating five times until you, hopefully, reach the root cause. For example, and thanks to Wikipedia…

Problem: the fairway mower won’t start 1. Why?—The battery is dead.

(First why) 2. Why?—The alternator is not functioning. (Second why) 3. Why?—The alternator belt has broken. (Third why) 4. Why?—The alternator belt was well beyond its useful service life and not replaced. (Fourth why) 5. Why?—The mower was not maintained according to the recommended service schedule. (Fifth why, a root cause) I also like the sound of the slight alternative – Five Hows – which gets you to a solution to a problem by continually refining how you can fix the underlying cause(s).

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I really like the concept of networking being a business strategy and professional competency that can be learned, and, more importantly, practised.

The process of networking was broken down into some distinct phases, all of which are clearly important.

The one I’ll take away is the start of the relationship, which happens in the first 0.7 seconds, and during which time you “only” have to make the initial contact, offer a smile and begin to introduce yourself.

We were advised to remember the T.E.S.T • Take charge of the conversation (imagine and act like you’re hosting your own party) • Enthusiasm – imagine the next person you meet might change the world • Smile (sincerely) • Total focus on the other person While this sounds like common

sense, that doesn’t make it common practice.

We were also advised to develop a “personal introduction strategy”– a short introduction which you can roll off the tongue without thinking about is invaluable to making new contacts.

It can be as simple as smiling and asking someone how far they’ve travelled, but it gets the ball rolling, minimises anxiety for both parties, and helps us come across as more professional.

It’s fine to ask for someone’s contact details early on and make sure to ask for permission to follow up. No one will say no, and it breaks down the initial barrier and makes a response more likely.

Finally, when you’re at a networking event, it’s fine to want to move onto a new conversation – just remember to take their feelings into account before you move on.

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

From the

HELPDESK This month: Contracts, lease arrangements and... do we have to allow a sixball on the course?

The current contract of employment for our steward insists that it is dependent on the steward and stewardess being a married couple. I have suggested this is discriminatory.

Am I correct?

I agree with you that this is discriminatory as the Equality Act 2010 makes it unlawful to discriminate against or treat someone unfairly because they are married or in a civil partnership, see acas.org.uk/index. aspx?articleid=1831, therefore the opposite must also be true.

The aim of the Equality Act is to improve equal job opportunities and fairness for employees and job applicants. Therefore to discriminate against someone who is not married definitely goes against that.

Are there any guidelines as to the maximum number of players in a group? I have had to take issue with members playing in a sixball, to be informed there is nothing in the rules of golf to enforce a maximum of four...

There are no set guidelines for the maximum numbers in a group.

Obviously if it is a competition, then the committee will set the group numbers and then be able to sanction those who go against

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that.

In normal play a lot of clubs have it in their rules and by-laws that the maximum is four, but other clubs do use higher numbers of groups in certain circumstances (charity and fun days and so on) and this flexibility is one reason for having no maximum.

I must admit it is quite rare for golfers to want to play in more than fours as the pace of play will undoubtedly upset other golfers and it could be argued it is not ‘in the spirit of the game.’

However, unless you have something in your own rules I’m afraid the Rules of Golf do not help.

At the start of last summer the club took out a three-year lease for seven electric golf buggies.

The buggies have repeatedly broken down.

The club has received complaints from members all summer and would now like to get out of this agreement and return the buggies as it considers they are ‘not fit for purpose’.

The buggy supplier state that they got all of their money for all of the buggies from the leasing company when the deal was done.

The leasing company are stating the dispute is between

the club and the supplier. All they can do is offer the club a settlement figure for the remaining term of the lease.

Can you advise what the club’s legal position is when it has leased goods that turn out to be not fit for purpose?

Neither the supplier or the leasing company want to take responsibility but the club feels one of these parties must be responsible.

It seems to me, from your description, that you definitely have a case under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 as the goods should be fit for the purpose they are supplied for, as well as any specific purpose you made known to the retailer before you agreed to buy the goods.

As I understand it, the retailer is the one that is liable here as they supplied the buggies.

How they were financed may be immaterial. However if, under your agreement, the finance company owns the buggies then this may make a difference.

You may want to have a look at this link: which.co.uk/consumer-rights/ regulation/consumer-rights-act for more information.

An online helpdesk offers an advisory service. Visit gcma.org. uk/members.

GCMA.ORG.UK | 59

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From the

REGIONS WESSEX Tuesday, February 20 Ageas Bowl, Southampton The Wessex regional meeting took place in the inspiring surroundings of the media centre at Ageas Bowl in Southampton.

As well as being the home of Hampshire Cricket Club, a brand new golf course – Boundary Lakes – also opened on the site in July last year.

Director of golf Shaun Hall, and course manager Andy Brown, attended the meeting and delivered a fascinating presentation about the process of both building and opening the new course. The pair explained the numerous challenges that they faced along the way, and the often innovative solutions they found to issues that arose.

Attendees were particularly interested in the methods that were used to handle the initial over subscription for membership – with two ballots required to whittle the demand down to a manageable level, while also ensuring that groups of people who had applied together were handled fairly.

Although the course benefits from occasional enforced closures due to large sporting events – which themselves bring their own challenges such as the course being used as a car park – Andy explained that “little and often” was the key to his team’s maintenance

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techniques, given that the course is full most of the year.

He said that was down to a thriving membership as well as strong visitor and stay and play traffic.

Sports Publications’ Tom Irwin led an interesting discussion about the importance of video production for golf clubs.

Several clubs explained that they have created video content with emphasis specifically on one particular area of their business – with both clubs seeing the value in creating marketing content with high production values for use in their corporate golf sales.

Other presenters during the regional meeting included BC Technologies’ Matthew Armsby.

He mentioned that any possibility of a grace period for organisations that hadn’t complied with the GDPR by the May deadline seemed to be diminishing, and that the date should be treated as a very firm line in the sand.

Albatross Digital Golf’s James Wilkinson introduced a new digital tool that his team have been experimenting with – Facebook messenger automated chat.

He said they had found it to be hugely successful in lead generation.

Alastair Higgs, from Rain Bird, also impressed the importance of a water management strategy for golf clubs, especially if it is reliant on mains water.

Regional Managers Full details at gcma.org.uk/ regions Chiltern & Home Counties

Martin Bennet East Anglia

Gary Smith East Midlands

Rod Savage London & Home Counties

Maureen Brooker Midland

Rob Wormstone Norfolk

John Barnard North West

Neil Annandale Northern

Terry Minett Northern Ireland

Jim Cullen Scotland

Bernard Flockhart South East

John Edgington South West

Karen Drake Southern

Paul Gaylor Wales

Mike Rees Wessex

Alex Taylor Yorkshire

Cameron Dawson

GCMA.ORG.UK | 61

GCMA | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | EDUCATION | REGIONAL

Meet the

MANAGER

Sponsor of the 2017 GCMA Manager of the Year award

With Peter Turner, owner of Houghwood, in Lancashire

Houghwood

H

ow did you get into golf club management?

I’m an owner and we built the course 25 years ago. We were farmers, as lots were at that time, and we were disgruntled with the profit that was in agriculture.

I’d always been very interested in sport and, at that time, The R&A report came out saying more golf courses were needed. We

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had a four-year plan to judge the viability of it and to do a design and business plan. We started construction in 1994 and we opened in 1996. We built USGA greens, and they were a good investment for us. We play on them all year round. We’re in quite a highly populated area so getting membership wasn’t a problem at that time.

What are the challenges of

owning and managing a golf club?

Keeping yourself fresh. It is a sevendays-a-week job. We do a lot of food and drink. We have a public restaurant – we did that from the beginning to make the clubhouse viable.

What parts of the role do you enjoy most?

Being outside on the course. In the summer time, I help the lads if they

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are short-staffed – when we get the flush of grass growth. I have two very good fellow directors, who are good at all the things I am not. We have a financial director and then my partner Trish runs everything else – staffing, wages and so on.

It’s always to improve. We’ve got plans to keep improving the course. It’s 20 years old now but there are always things you can do with it. With all these wet winters we are getting, it’s to improve drainage so that we never close.

It’s also really to maintain the

Is it a challenge with just the three of you in charge of a club with 600 members?

It is. You have to give it 100 per cent – because you are dealing with people. Houghwood is my life.

“It’s the inequality of it with us having to pay 20% VAT and members’ clubs not having to pay that. I’m 20% out before I’ve started”

What’s the best piece of advice you have been given?

It was from an Irishman, who watched me construct the course.

He told me that everybody likes to score 36 points – irrespective of their handicap – so don’t make the course, or set the course up, too difficult.

Do you play yourself?

Yes, about once a fortnight. I play in the members’ competitions.

What’s your favourite golfing memory?

Going to the Masters when Angel Cabrera won in 2009. It was wonderful – the best event I have been to for organisation and enjoyment. It was immaculate. I walked round Augusta looking for things that were wrong. I couldn’t find anything.

What opportunities exist for Houghwood in the future?

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Peter Turner

levels of golf membership and golf income so you have enough money to spend on the course to improve it. That’s the hard part.

How do you feel about the state of golf at the moment?

It’s in the doldrums a little. There are fewer golfers and less money being spent in golf. It’s about trying

to appeal to the younger ones.

We’ve lost the Tiger influence, where you used to guarantee that so many people would watch golf. It’s difficult. We need a new champion – who excites people.

Where do you see the role of the owner or manager in the future?

Since the 90s, there are a lot more proprietary clubs and it’s really to make golf accessible to all people.

We did a large ladies membership drive – to try and encourage them to play and give them free lessons, and tea and scones when they play, and encourage them to play golf.

What’s the one thing you’d like to change?

It’s the inequality of it with us having to pay 20% VAT and members’ clubs not having to pay that. If I’m quoting for a golf day, I’m 20% out before I’ve even started.

It should be an equal playing field, really. I think in sport in general (the government should take another look at the rule).

They always whinge about the cost of the NHS but, in a way, they are stopping people going into sport aren’t they? If they put a general rate of five per cent VAT on all sport, I think that would benefit everybody.

Get In Touch To contact Houghwood, visit houghwoodgolfclub.co.uk

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GCMA | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | EDUCATION | REGIONAL

My success story...

NIGEL SWEET Things are done a bit differently at Leeds Golf Centre. Their open door policy has seen them named England Golf Club of the Year. Operations manager Nigel Sweet tells Steve Carroll why they are so accessible...

B

y Nigel Sweet’s own admission, Leeds Golf Centre seven years ago was a “field with sticks in it and £10 golf”.

But the operations manager at the Wike Ridge course has overseen a huge transformation in the period since, and that was recognised at the highest levels of the game at the end of February.

The club were awarded England Golf Club of the Year honours during a black-tie event at London’s Royal Lancaster hotel and were applauded for an open door policy, the purpose of which is to get more people playing golf.

“We’ve worked hard to create something a bit different from a golf club – more welcoming and more open to everybody,” said Sweet, a former Yorkshire champion and now a senior professional golfer.

Leeds Golf Centre is surrounded by golf clubs of eminent prestige and history.

Barely a pitching wedge away are Alwoodley and Moortown. There are seven clubs within seven miles.

To thrive in that environment, the club had to find a different path and it has paid dividends ever since.

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“Leeds Golf Centre demonstrate an enthusiasm for developing golf across all ages and abilities and successfully cater for what their customers want,” the judges said.

“This is a continually improving club with some great initiatives to get more people playing golf, resulting in a big increase in membership.”

Sweet added:“The good thing is that we’ve got everything under one roof. We’ve got a par 3 course and on Tuesdays and Thursdays there are probably 50 people turning up to play the par 3 club, ranging from 50 to 86-years-old.

“We introduced FootGolf three years ago, which has obviously drawn different people to the golf club.

“FootGolf has brought more families in. It is something that golf clubs don’t do. It brings a lot of

“We’ve worked hard to create something a bit different from a golf club – more welcoming and more open”

people who didn’t think they were allowed to come to a golf club – and it’s not as bad as they thought it was.

“The driving range is all under one roof as well – an 18-bay range – and the club is open 100 hours a week. It offers accessibility after work and before work.

“Then it comes down to how the club is set up.

“We go into schools, with the academy, and draw kids into golf.

We have been working hard on getting local juniors into the golf club and I think every Sunday morning there are 50 playing in 9-hole competitions.

“Eventually, they will get handicaps and that’s where we see the future of the golf club, really.”

There are no barriers and no dress codes in the clubhouse. The pro shop sells jeans. Whether you

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Nigel Sweet celebrates Leeds Golf Centre’s award Pictures courtesy of England Golf

are a member or not, you can use the facilities.

“You don’t even have to play,” said Sweet.“Come and have a cup of coffee and read the paper and it’s just quite a nice environment to be set in.”

It’s an environment that’s soon set to be substantially enhanced.

A £9 million redevelopment project, which will see a new clubhouse, two-tier driving range, gym, spa and a 9-hole academy course modelled on famous holes from around the world, will continue the family theme that’s been so successful.

“It’s more family oriented and it will be like going to play ten-pin bowling – that sort of thing,” Sweet continued.

“You can sit and watch people practise. There will be TV screens to tell you your distances. There’s

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going to be a spa and gym.

“There’s four teaching bays with full technology and, down the line, there will be 38 lodges. North Leeds struggles for anywhere to stay and not just us but surrounding golf clubs will be able to benefit.

“It’s offering a service. Alwoodley and Moortown have got their niche markets – and they will always have. Everybody else is fighting for the other business.

It’s people’s leisure time and they want to enjoy it. If we can make it more enjoyable that’s our aim.

“You have got to keep going and driving forward and we have owners who are willing to invest.

“They are behind everything that we come up with.

“We’ve got a strong team and we all come up with ideas.“ That winning formula brought

has brought in 107 new members in the last 12 months.

Sweet said:“I’ve got a strong team. It’s only seven years since the owners have had the business and they’ve turned it round from something that was bankrupt, really. It was classed as a field with sticks in those days and £10 golf.

We’ve got away from that and we are trying to change the name of Leeds Golf Centre.

“I think we are getting a good reputation and a lot of visitors are coming through the doors.

“With the changes, it is going to be massive for the whole business.”

We want to hear all about the success stories at your club.

Get in touch by emailing s.carroll@sportspub.co.uk

GCMA.ORG.UK | 65

GCMA | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | EDUCATION | REGIONAL

February 2018

STATS UK&I 6,566 Total competitions recorded

GENTS:

LADIES:

4,461 2,105

32

Hole-in-ones made in qualifying events during February

23,112

TOP 10

total HowDidiDo Order of Merit sign ups for 2018

lowest handicaps by country

175,133 total rounds of golf recorded

1,685

eagles or better

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65,959 birdies

564,238

1 Scotland 6 Scotland

2 GUI 3 England 4 GUI 5 Wales

7 England 8 GUI 9 England 10 Scotland

Stats provided by HowdidIdo.com

pars

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