The Golf Club Manager: August 2021 by Golf Club Managers Association

THE GOLF CLUB

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ISSUE 49 | AUGUST 2021

MA N AG E R S ’ A S S O C I AT I O N

THE INTERVIEW

MANAGING TRADITION

THE SACRED NINE’S MARK ALLCORN ON BALANCING CHANGE WITH PROGRESS

INDUSTRY

THE NEW DIGITAL AGE

HAS COVID FORCED GOLF DOWN A TECH RABBIT HOLE? BEST PRACTICE

‘IT IS RIPE FOR CHANGE’

THE MUSLIM GOLF ASSOCIATION PLANS TO INSPIRE THE SPORT

EDUCATE | INSPIRE | REPRESENT ‘

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GCMA

BEST PRACTICE

All the latest from the Chief Executive

GCMA 2021 Conference: Have you booked?

How to help players give membership a shot

INDUSTRY

GRASS ROOTS

David Cederholm on golf’s new digital age

Meet Sherwood Forest’s Simon Williams

THE BIG INTERVIEW 29

Royal Worlington’s Mark Allcorn

LESS WORK. MORE FUN. MORE REVENUE.

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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 Tom Brooke - tombrooke@gcma.org.uk FINANCE ADMINISTRATOR Lianne Banks - lianne@gcma.org.uk PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Gavin Robinson- gavin@gcma.org.uk BUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS MANAGER Craig Cotterill - craig@gcma.org.uk MEMBERSHIP SERVICES MANAGER Natalie McColl - membershipservices@gcma.org.uk MEMBERSHIP SERVICES Kerry Spring-Rice - membershipservices@gcma.org.uk PRESIDENT JR (John) Jones 2020/22 CAPTAIN Dave Carlisle BOARD OF DIRECTORS Brad McLean, Amy Yeates, Andrew Rankin, Judy Barker, Stuart Leech, Gareth Morgan, Ed Richardson THE GOLF CLUB MANAGER IS PUBLISHED BY: 18PLAYERS 2 Arena Park, Tarn Lane, Scarcroft, West Yorkshire, LS17 9BF, UK Tel: 0113 289 3979 | info@sportspub.co.uk EDITOR Steve Carroll - s.carroll@18players.com PRODUCTION EDITOR Justine Board - j.board@18players.com DESIGN Andrew Kenworthy - a.kenworthy@18players.com 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

T H E

MANAGER

O F F I C I A L

J O U R N A L

O F T H E

G O L F

C LU B

ISSUE 49 | AUGUST 2021

MA N AG E R S ’ A S S O C I AT I O N

THE INTERVIEW

MANAGING TRADITION

THE SACRED NINE’S MARK ALLCORN ON BALANCING CHANGE WITH PROGRESS

INDUSTRY

THE NEW DIGITAL AGE

HAS COVID FORCED GOLF DOWN A TECH RABBIT HOLE? BEST PRACTICE

‘IT IS RIPE FOR CHANGE’

THE MUSLIM GOLF ASSOCIATION PLANS TO INSPIRE THE SPORT

EDUCATE | INSPIRE | REPRESENT ‘

ON THE COVER: Royal Worlington & Newmarket’s Mark Allcorn

WELCOME

hilst we’re not having the best of summers with the weather, I hope you’ve managed to take some well deserved time away from your clubs to refresh and enjoy with friends and family. Something I’ve really enjoyed has been a couple of trips to the driving range with my children! They’ve been enjoying some group lessons at our local club, which means they’re now able to hit a bucket of balls independently, whilst Daddy gets some much needed practice at the same time! It’s a great reminder of the unique nature of our sport and how diverse and welcoming it really can be if we do the right things and recognise the opportunity in front of us to integrate more people. One area we still struggle with in the UK is female participation; although new data from The R&A and SMS has suggested the recent surge in player numbers has benefitted the women’s game. Even so, approximately 15% of participation in the UK is female, versus over 30% in some countries in Europe. This has an obvious knock on effect to the workforce, as nearly all of us in working in the industry have an active interest in the game - the result being most positions are historically male dominated. That does look to be changing and I’m a firm believer this can only be good for the game and our industry. Last year, we saw Karin Sharp take over the reins at Scottish Golf and congratulations go to Hannah McAllister, the new

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CEO at Wales Golf. We should also remember the two most recent recipients of the GCMA Manager of the Year and Newcomer of the Year Awards - Heather Mulley and Kerry Alligan-Smith. Both are fantastic ambassadors for golf club management and our association. That leads us into Women & Girls in Golf Week, taking place between August 16 and 22. Let us know what you’re doing to get behind this great initiative and promote female participation. Let’s make a difference! I mentioned the Manager of the Year Awards, which we will again be celebrating at GCMA 2021 Conference in November. More details about the awards and the nomination process will be announced very soon. With so much amazing work having been delivered at golf clubs up and down the country over the past 18 months, it’s sure to be a hotly contested affair! We’re hugely excited to have announced details of the Conference and bookings are now open! Thank you to everyone who has booked their place, it’s fantastic to see such enthusiasm and it really is going to be an amazing event - an ideal opportunity to meet back up with friends and colleagues, make new ones, network, invest in your personal and professional development, socialise, and celebrate success! We look forward to seeing you there. Tom Brooke – Chief Executive

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GCMA Everything you need to know about what’s happening around the UK in the world of the GCMA

2021 CONFERENCE

he countdown to the GCMA 2021 Conference is well and truly on. Registration is now open and an exciting programme has been lined up for the threeday event in November. Held at Wyboston Lakes Resort, in Bedfordshire, from November 21 to 23, the key themes – under the GCMA Inspire, GCMA Hot Topics, and GCMA Know How banners – are Leadership and Wellbeing, Sustainability, and Technology. As well as a host of great speakers, learning and network opportunities, the Conference will also play host to a gala dinner where awards will be presented for Manager of the Year, Club of the Year, and Newcomer of the Year. The GCMA is dedicated to delivering progressive, industry specific education programmes and networking opportunities whilst offering high quality personal services and support for the development of its members. This year’s Conference will aim to deliver all. Tom Brooke, GCMA chief executive, said: “I am absolutely delighted to be opening registration for the GCMA 2021 Conference and it’s fantastic to be back up and running with live events after such a long time. “We’ve carefully selected the headline themes that we believe are going to be the key topics in the golf industry for the years ahead: Leadership and Wellbeing,

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Sustainability and Technology. “The 2021 Conference is going to provide the perfect opportunity for our members, industry professionals and our business partners to reconnect after the pandemic and spend a few highly valuable days investing in personal development, networking, socialising, and celebrating success! “Wyboston Lakes is a superb venue and we can’t wait to welcome you there.” You can book your spot at Conference by visiting our decided website at https://cvent.me/A3v7Bb. Here are some of the high-profile presenters who will be giving you the benefit of their wisdom in a packed programme…

VIP SPEAKER John Paramor One of best-known figures in golf, John Paramor is the former chief referee for the PGA European Tour. In a career spanning more than four decades, Paramor joined the Tour a few days after his 21st birthday and never looked back. The man on the spot solving rules quandaries, the sight of him racing to the scene on his buggy, alongside the increase in television coverage, made him as recognisable as some of the players themselves. Some of his rulings have gone down in the game’s legend – most notably refusing Seve Ballesteros relief from the base of a tree at Valderrama in 1994.

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How to secure your spot for the three-day event at Wyboston Lakes Resort and a look through the main speakers announced so far

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CLOSING KEYNOTE SPEAKER Chris Cook After competing for Great Britain for nearly 10 years, Chris Cook hung up the trunks and retired from international swimming. He began working with businesses/ organisations far and wide to help inspire, mentor and coach people to embrace ‘challenge and change’ for their optimal performance. Chris has built a reputation as a motivational speaker throughout the last seven years working from referral to referral, sharing his story and the lessons learnt from the journey with over 400,000 people. Throughout this time, Chris designed and delivered an Olympic Inspiration Programme for children to schools across Kent (UK) which reached over 300 schools spanning six years. In 2011 Chris was a lead mentor on a the ‘Sky Sports Living for Sport’ - inspiration programme across the UK & Ireland. The programme was designed to assist disengaged

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people from society to get back on track. This role involved training up former Olympians and World Class Athletes to deliver inspirational talks and mentoring/coaching programmes. The role involved working with the most challenging of young people whilst coaching athletes to transition from sport to mentoring. During the 2012 Olympic Games in London & 2021 Tokyo, Chris was selected to mentor and coach the next generation of Olympians on the ‘Ambition Programme’. This programme involved taking potential Olympians to experience an Olympic games. Chris’s role was to mentor athletes to maximise the whole experience and to expand their personal development. Currently, Chris and his wife Erica run their own Learn to swim business - ‘Swim Buddies’ - which has seen the business (located in Darlington, UK) grow from seven swimmers in their first week in September 2014 through to over 900 children swimming with Swim Buddies every week.

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Chris’ coaching, speaking and mentoring is centred around personal development. Whether it’s in the water helping swimmers or on dry land in business and life, Chris believes that success is something you attract from the person you become. His presentation – The power of keeping things simple – takes the audience through his story and climb to the top of the sport of swimming, starting as an ‘also ran’ and ending as a double Commonwealth Champion and a two-time Olympian.

LEADERSHIP AND WELLBEING Paralympian Danielle Brown and golf industry expert Kevin Fish will show you how to triumph in adversity and how to inspire and empower people to unlock their potential and achieve more. Danielle Brown Danielle’s story is all about breaking barriers. After becoming disabled as a teenager, Danielle realised that even in adversity we have a choice. Choose to let the things outside your control defeat you, or choose to control your response to it. Taking up archery on her 15th birthday, Danielle made the Great Britain team three years later, jumping straight in as World No. 1. She hung onto that position for her entire career. Danielle is a five-time World Champion and two-time Paralympic gold medallist, winning gold in Beijing 2008 and retaining her title on home soil in London 2012. She also became the first disabled person to represent England as an able-bodied competitor at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, where she won gold. She was in the top ten ranked able-bodied archers in

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the World and number 1 in the UK. Danielle has a lot of experience talking to both large and small audiences, challenging the way you think and demonstrating how to harness the powers of vision and self-belief to achieve excellence. Weaving relevant examples from her sporting career brings this toolkit to life - it’s not just a theory learned from a book, but has been lived and delivered big impact results. Kevin Fish Kevin Fish has more than 20 years’ experience in the golf industry, including nine years as general manager of The Glen, in North Berwick, and a further seven as the Development Manager for Scottish Golf. He was GCMA Club Manager of the Year in 2004 and became a Certified Club Manager four years later. He has toured the UK many times speaking on behalf of each of the Home Unions and has provided keynote Conference Presentations for GCMA, CMAE and BIGGA, as well as addressing the World Conference of Club Management on over a dozen occasions. This background is the foundation of his training, consultancy and recruitment business, Contemporary Club Leadership.

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SUSTAINABILITY The R&A’s chief development officer Phil Anderton will be joined by BIGGA chief executive Jim Croxton and Jonathan Smith, of GEO, to emphasise the importance of sustainability in golf Phil Anderton Phil Anderton joined The R&A as Chief Development Officer in August 2020 – taking on the responsibilities for the operational and strategic activities of Golf Development and Amateur Championships, with the additional responsibility for Sustainability, the British Golf Museum and for The R&A’s overseas operations in Singapore and Argentina. Phil has a wealth of knowledge and experience of implementing and delivering on business strategy: he has worked in brand management at Procter and Gamble, Global Strategic Marketing at The Coca-Cola Company, general management roles at Scottish Rugby Union, Hearts Football Club and the ATP Tour, where Phil was Chairman of the ATP Finals and he has latterly run his own business consultancy.

Jim Croxton Jim has been CEO of BIGGA since 2011 during which time he has been instrumental in raising

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the profile of the Association substantially within the golf industry, ensuring that BIGGA’s nearly 6,000 members have a strong voice in how the sport is governed and managed. During his tenure the Association has focused heavily on serving the needs of its members through more than doubling its regional workforce, ensuring that members have support at local level and that their needs are heard. BIGGA’s annual exhibition and conference, BTME, has undergone strong growth under his leadership and is now firmly established as Europe’s premier turf care event. Prior to joining BIGGA Jim spent 16 years working for the Professional Golfers’ Association in a variety of roles. Jim said: “I’m really looking forward to presenting at the GCMA Conference and delighted to be discussing the key topic of sustainability. “Golf club managers are critical in capitalising on the pandemicinduced boom our sport has experienced and it has never been more essential they have longterm economic and environmental sustainability jointly at the top of their agendas.” Jonathan Smith For more than 20 years, Jonathan Smith has dedicated his career to advancing sustainability in golf, and

through golf. A geographer and graduate of the University of St Andrews, he led the environmental team at Scottish Golf before founding GEO in 2006. He has led GEO to become the only group in sport to meet the ISEAL Alliance membership criteria for sustainability standards, certification and reporting systems, joining others such as Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, Forest Stewardship Council and Marine Stewardship Council. He has also directly advised some of golf’s largest tours and tournaments including the European Tour, Ladies European Tour, LPGA, The Ryder Cup, The Open, The Solheim Cup and Olympic Golf. Jonathan is a full member of the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management, and a Board member of the ISEAL Alliance.

TECHNOLOGY The coronavirus pandemic has pushed the issue of technology in golf to the fore and Peter Kirk and Scott Seaborn are experts and innovators on the subject Peter Kirk Peter Kirk is an authority in software technologies across the many operations faced within today’s club industry. He is the founder of Parconex, a first of its kind within the club industry that provided managers

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and owners with a full software consultancy service that is both unbiased and oversees the research, negotiation, implementation and project management required to ensure a right solution every time. With over 34 years’ experience working with clubs around the globe including Education City GC, Qatar, The Machrie, Scotland and Hog’s Head Resort, Ireland, Peter has earned a reputation as an industry expert in the application of technology within the golf club setting. Peter is regularly called upon by various golf industry professional associations to share his knowledge with their members. Peter previously worked as General Manager for Jonas International for over eight years. A founder of international golf club marketing company, Open Fairways and instrumental with the success of BRS Golf, Peter understands what it takes to run a successful and sustainable club.

systems encompassing millions of customers globally, including the Nectar card) and international consultancy firm Wipro. Starting out in mobile advertising in a time before Android and iOS, Scott has witnessed and led the world of mobile from gimmicky ad platform to the dominant method of interaction, going online and an essential tool to everyday life. As Head of Mobile Technologies at Ogilvy Group, his work for a huge range of clients won more than 20 advertising and creative awards. At Aimia he helped reinvent the business by creating a platform for all of the company’s

those changes, and what to do to respond. By examining the nature of change throughout history, he entertainingly looks at humanity’s development from cave-dweller to their obsessive use of smartphones. He then looks at the context of whatever change a business has to deal with and follows that with a simple to implement process of how to solve the problem and embed on-going innovation into an organisation. Steeped in both digital and transformation, Scott looks at how companies, people and technology come together. As well as considering how

brands that married customer data with their mobile data. As well as the wealth of technological change and opportunity, Scott delves into how businesses can understand

businesses can embrace the digital and reinvent themselves for a new era, he also looks at some of the key technological changes that are to come, from what new hardware will do, to the interconnection of our digital profiles, applications of AI to our expectations as consumers. He examines how innovation works (and doesn’t work) and the challenges businesses face. For all the latest news from GCMA 2021 Conference, and how to book, visit our dedicated website at https://cvent.me/ A3v7Bb

Scott Seaborn Scott Seaborn is a digital transformation expert, having moved from the early days of mobile advertising and through a range of customer interaction and digital strategy roles. He has helped a range of businesses tackle change and the digital world with positions at advertising giant Ogilvy, Aimia (the owners of loyalty

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

Women and girls

GOLF WEEK The online campaign promoting female participation at all levels, and challenging negative perceptions about the game, is back for 2021...

ith the eyes of the world firmly focused on the women’s game, as the stars battle it out at Carnoustie in the AIG Women’s Open, Women & Girls in Golf Week will also take centre stage. The week, which runs from August 16 to 22, aims to unite the golf industry and celebrate the successes of women and girls on and off the course. The GCMA are delighted to be among the organisations supporting the initiative, which is now in its fourth year. England Golf is the driving force but there are plenty of ways for clubs, and the rest of the golfing community, to get involved. These include: During Women & Girls in Golf Week use the #WhyIGolf in posts on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and remember to tag in England Golf. Individuals can share their #WhyIGolf stories now for an opportunity to be featured in national videos or on the England Golf website. Clubs and facilities can also deliver activities during the week – England Golf has created a range of assets. There are seven themes for

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the week – one for each day of the campaign – and these cover all areas of the game and the golf industry. These include careers, volunteering, health and wellbeing, and calls to action on membership. Lauren Spray, Women and Girls in Golf Manager at England Golf, said: “Every year we look to build on the previous campaign and ensure that the amazing stories involving women and girls in golf are given the exposure they deserve. “I’m always a firm believer in the phrase: “if you can’t see it, you can’t be it”. “Telling stories of women and girls in golf and bringing their experiences to life simply helps to destroy the negative stereotypes of the game that belong in another era. “Many of these negatives are

already disappearing in a sport that is far more modern and progressive in its outlook than many would have you believe. “I’m always bowled over by the enthusiasm of the women I know in the game – either those who take part or who work behind the scenes. It’s also been great to have so many positive contributions from men in the game who recognise that golf is a sport for everyone regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or ability. “Playing the game, helping out at clubs, working in the golf industry – there are so many roles in the game for women and girls to enjoy and we aim to highlight these to a wide and growing audience.” Go to englandgolf.org/ WhyIGolf for full details on how to share stories, get involved, and watch this year’s promotional video.

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In conversation with...

DAVID CEDERHOLM The covid pandemic may have forever changed the way we use technology in golf. David Cederholm, Toptracer’s Europe, Middle East and Africa Sales Director, reveals more to Steve Carroll

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ith Covid restrictions being removed across the UK, the use of technology in golf is now shifting into a different phase. Pandemic restrictions meant people turned to their phones, or other digital methods, to play the game, record their scores and track their progress and it’s clear the digitisation of the sport took a significant step forward. In other areas of our lives, whether we are checking our bank balances or paying for products, tech has made things simpler and quicker. But until coronavirus struck with such vengeance, some areas of the golf industry were slow to get in on the act. Now, with online tee booking common at even the most traditional of golf clubs and touchscreens the default way to deal with competitions, has golf moved into a new digital age? As EMEA sales director at Toptracer, David Cederholm is at the forefront of this new David Cederholm David Cederholm has vast experience in disruptive technologies having spent six years at Just Eat, the last three as UK Sales Director. He has also worked as Group Sales Director for Minto Group, founded Dipstix.co.uk, and has also been Chief Operating Officer at Mobile Technologies International and both a Sales Director and Country Manager UK and Ireland for OrderYOYO. A lifelong golfer with a 4 handicap, he joined Toptracer as Sales Director EMEA in November last year.

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revolution. Toptracer products, whether it is the shot tracer that is now an expected requirement of TV viewing, or the driving range experience that is transforming the way we develop our games, are at the heart of the process. So who better to ask about the future? Have the last 16 months been a flash in the pan or are we now irrevocably down the rabbit hole? Digitisation has obviously been accelerated by the pandemic. Does that become more prevalent even as restrictions have eased? I think so. Golf has enjoyed a boom because of the pandemic. That’s because golf is a form of entertainment and while other forms of entertainment have been closed, golf is naturally outdoors and socially distanced. That’s why a lot of people have either played more golf, returned to the game, or taken it up. Golf has, in recent years, had a challenge around participation numbers declining. We believe the gamification of the range and this technology is key to growing that participation and retaining the boom that is here now. If we look at where golf is going to be in five years’ time, there are two routes you can take: If a facility invests now, works on retention and a more immersive experience to keep people coming back, then you could look back in five years and say 2021 was the catalyst for change - because it was the start of bringing people in and it was technology like ours that helped retain them. Or if we pat ourselves on the back because golf facilities are popular right now, but don’t invest in changing the experience, we’ll

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GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS look back and only say those couple of years, because of the pandemic, were a boom. My background has always been in changing consumer behaviour through technology. That’s one thing golf has never had. Because it’s so hard to play, and is a very time-consuming game, people can think ‘is it easier to take the family to ten pin bowling or to the cinema?’ Now however, you can make golf fun, entertaining, and quick, and find that immersive experience, so it’s a great way to bring that market back in and keep golf relevant. How do you do that? Some clubs have gone headlong into digitisation, others bristle at the sight of a mobile phone. How do you change the perceptions of those who may not like this trend? Although we’re known for technological innovation, respecting the traditions that exist within the game is of critical importance. Society has moved and shifted, and demands are different. Some places are moving with that adjustment, some aren’t. It’s case by case, every conversation we have with every facility is about what’s right for them. We work with great historic places like Sunningdale, through to World of Golf in New Malden, which is a three-tier city centre-based driving range. It’s about ensuring the right experience for golfers because, ultimately, the reason these golf facilities exist is because people enjoy playing the game. The game has already taken steps forward from a digital standpoint, largely due to the advancement of club fitting. Nowadays, when a consumer interacts with a golf broadcast, there is a wealth of data available.

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The ability for the average golfer to have access to that themselves is of critical importance. Something that you hear often around golf clubs is golfers presuming they are ‘not good enough’ for custom fit clubs. “That stuff’s available for the pros, but it’s not for me”. That’s where we want to help golf facilities and educate their users. It’s about enabling that narrative, but we’re still very much at the start of that journey. It’s a little like the law of adoption and innovation, we’re very much at the innovator end but getting that out to the mass market and getting that to where the golfer can realise it is the important, and more difficult, bit. Our success story is that in every place we’ve installed they’ve seen a great material impact on their business. The challenge we have is getting the word out to everybody quickly. Once we have that conversation, most golf facilities we partner with ask: ‘why doesn’t everyone have it yet?’ It’s because it’s new. We’re working as fast as we can to get it everywhere. Why has golf been a bit slower to adopt technology? Digitisation is everywhere now… Golf facilities are big, wide, expansive venues. Digitising every part of what people interact with is very difficult, time consuming, and potentially needs heavy investment. But whether it’s tee booking, or the England Golf app for the World Handicap System, it’s involving everyone and breaking down some barriers. In certain golf clubs, there are elements of their property that are under-invested – one of them being the driving range, because it’s always been that bit on the side where people

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go and hit some balls. Maybe there’s the perception that only good golfers go and do it. However, it is a facility that provides a real opportunity. I think it’s coming, but I also think golf is something that has traditions and generally looks at how things were 25 years ago rather than where things are going to be in five years’ time. That’s an evolution that’s happened in many different verticals and it’s happening now in golf. Utilisation of technology can bring rewards in terms of data mining. It does seem bizarre that, whether we like it or not, companies hold all sorts of information about our lives but that can be limited when it comes to some golf clubs… Generally speaking, driving ranges have digital board dispensing. Facilities should start to know and understand how many balls get hit on their range. The issue for them is that they don’t know how many balls get hit in a session or by whom. We’ve seen an evolution with some of the ranges working with us, who started to use newer, more dynamic pricing models thanks to demand. At off peak times, people pay by the basket and the ball but, during peak times, they pay for bay time. It’s a flat rate and consumers hit as many balls as they can in that hour. They’re even optimising how their range is spread out, resourced, and staffed. That’s something that simply hasn’t been available before because golf has been steady, fluid, and consistent for many years when realistically it should be more about timings and demand. Giving facilities the data has really helped to change that and make it more dynamic, but it’s now about

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how we introduce these changes and engage with clubs. We make the experience of hitting golf balls more interesting. Our strapline is: ‘more people, hitting more balls, more often’. But what does that mean to them? This is where we’re helping clubs understand. Some of the really innovative facilities we work with are helping us to see the power of the data we give to them and share best practices across the market. These are times of change and digital innovation but we’re still playing catch up with many other industries over this period of time. Are we too far down the rabbit hole? We are and there’s no going back. The pandemic has brought a lot of people to the game of golf. All those people expect the same quality of service and convenience they receive in every other industry. Our movement has been ongoing since 2012, so the pandemic has just been a small portion of it. All it has really done is put more eyeballs and more pressure on the industry to innovate and change. Installing the facilities you provide is a commitment for a club. There is an expense and, obviously, clubs will require a return on investment. So, what are the benefits? The amount of hardware and technology that goes into tracing a ball isn’t cheap. I’m not, by any stretch of the imagination, going to say this is a drop in the ocean and not a commitment - it is. If you look at a golf club’s overheads, and what facilities they have to maintain, there’s an awful lot of spend just on maintaining and keeping the status quo.

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Members like that; they want that tradition and that feel to it. It is possible, however, that there are under-utilised and under-invested elements of every golf facility. Clubhouses aren’t full, driving ranges aren’t full. Tee times have been full during the pandemic, but there’s an opportunity to invest in something that gives people another reason to come to the golf club – to spend and interact with the club who in turn get returns on investment. So where is the investment? Is it Toptracer Range or re-laying greens? Why isn’t it both? What if one thing can generate a lot more income for you to facilitate doing the other? That should be an important element to the decision making process. How does digital golf look to you in 2030? It absolutely adds value, and will become a mainstay of the

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facility. It will be an expectation, such as having Sky Sports in the clubhouse. It becomes part of the furniture. As people get more data in their lives - for every activity you do, there is a corresponding, data driven app. That’s where we’re at. Our ambition is to be part of every golfer’s journey - from them picking up a club for the first time to understanding and seeing that improvement over time and being able to compete. I was talking to a golf partner the other day whose son is really into football. He’s recently found golf because the onus is on him, rather than a team. We generally find with golfers that they care about improvement, improvement, improvement. We can help them improve with easily accessible data, and they can even use it with PGA professionals for teaching programmes and development.

Ultimately, it doesn’t stop at the driving range. We want to be able track people on the golf course. In an instant, the individual knows how to tackle a hole because of the data on the app. It’s an intrinsic part of where we want to be.

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Troptracer Whether it’s through Toptracer Range or Mobile, Toptracer is the most used ball-tracing technology in golf and should be instantly recognisable to anyone who has watched PGA Tour coverage on TV. The company was founded 15 years ago and, in 2012, Toptracer Range was launched – utilising technology to track and analyse golf shots on the driving range. Toptracer Range is now in place at close to 500 golf clubs and golf centres all over the world.

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The interview...

MARK ALLCORN His first act as Royal Worlington & Newmarket Secretary was to close the club because of the Covid pandemic. He tells Steve Carroll about his first 18 months in charge of the historic venue

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ow were you appointed to Royal Worlington & Newmarket? I moved to Newmarket in 2019 after relocating from West London. My partner is originally from this area, we have 2 small children and so wanted to be closer to family. When we moved, I took a temporary job at The Jockey Club as Senior Event Manager at the Racecourse. Just as my year’s contract was coming to an end, I saw this job advertised and knew immediately I wanted to go for it. Although I had no direct experience, I had always wanted to become a golf club secretary so I applied. I had previously worked at Wentworth Club in Surrey for seven years and, before that, 10 years in the corporate golf market with NGL Golf Consultancy, travelling the length and breadth of the UK organising events for blue chip clients. Prior to this I had worked for the David Leadbetter Golf Academy at East Sussex National. So I had a good deal of experience in golf. I had organised big events. I had a little knowledge about greenkeeping having spent some time as a greenkeeper at Horam Park GC when I left school. I had very good admin skills and had worked with club members in my last three years at Wentworth. Worlington has an excellent reputation and after two sets of interviews I was lucky enough to be offered the job. I started in March 2020 but after two weeks in the role my first job was to close the course due to Covid! How has that time been? I suppose if you’re going to find

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GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS out what being a secretary is all about you might as well go from the frying pan into the fire, so to speak… I basically had the course and clubhouse to myself for six months. During the first lockdown we had a skeleton staff on the greens, so I very rarely saw anybody. Actually, in hindsight, it worked to my advantage because it gave me time to go through old Council and Committee meeting minutes and to get my feet under the table. However, during this time I had regular meetings with the Captain via Zoom and with the sub-committee that was put together to discuss all things Covid and how the club was going to communicate with members. When we did reopen we had to put in place a tee sheet, something not seen at Worlington in its 125 year history. Soon after, we started welcoming back societies and club matches. Although many of these had been coming here for 20, 30 or even 40 years in some cases, they would ask for ‘the usual’. Of course I didn’t know what the usual was! That goes for any new manager at a club, I suppose. It takes a year or two before you learn all the nuances of how each society or club match like their day to run. I received a lot of help from the previous secretary and, even to this day, he is always available for a chat and to answer any questions. It’s a really odd situation. On the one hand, you’d been in post for more than a year but, on the other, I suppose you were still the ‘new guy’ for members when restrictions were eased? Three months into the role I had hardly met any members. I was sending and receiving a lot of emails so had a lot of contact with

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them, but it was May and June time before I could start putting faces and names to the emails. You arrived in circumstances that no one could have foreseen. How welcoming has the club been? Hugely. They couldn’t have been more welcoming or more helpful. Whether that be the members, the Captain, Council or the committee chairs (handicaps, membership, house or green committee). They have all been great. I couldn’t have wished for a better Captain or set of committee members to help me through. The thing that stands out is that everyone has a hugely respectful attitude here. Everyone’s here to help each other. Everyone realises it’s a tough job but they’re always there to help and you genuinely feel that. It sounds like you and the committee have been able to forge something quite strong out of what’s been a tough situation? We have. They’ve been great. For the first few months, as I said, everything was done on the phone or via conference call and Zoom. But I always had the full backing of the Council and the sub-committees. Tell me about the Sacred Nine… Even though I’ve worked in golf for 20+ years, travelling the country and running corporate days, I hadn’t come across Worlington. It’s not a corporate venue so it was new to me. When I saw the advert, I visited the club, under cover if you like, to see for myself what it was like and get a feel for the place. Worlington is an extremely well regarded 9-hole course, steeped in tradition and they wanted

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somebody who was sympathetic to the history and traditions of the club. It is raved about in the world of golf and has the reputation of being one of the finest 9-hole courses in the country, if not the world. It is held in really high esteem. I have played many golf courses in my time and although when I first played it I thought it was ‘lovely’ I didn’t really ‘get it’ first time around if truth be told. However, each time I played it thereafter I really started to understand and appreciate what people were talking about and why it had the reputation it has. It’s a small piece of land but with a special layout and some really special golf holes. It’s got some of the best greens in the country, plays like an inland links, and it’s Mark Allcorn Mark Allcorn has a wealth of experience in the golf industry, having worked for NGL Golf for 10 years running corporate events – including the Lexus Golf Challenge and the Bentley Golf Classic. Mark went on to take on the position of Senior Competition and Events Manager at Wentworth Club and also had a spell outside the sport as the Senior Events manager at The Jockey Club, in Newmarket, before being appointed as Secretary at Royal Worlington & Newmarket in March 2020. Mark also has a huge passion for music, having studied music for 5 years at Brunel and Goldsmiths respectively. He has written two albums and three musicals, and has been the lead assessor at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival assessing new musicals.

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admired by lots of people. It is home to the Cambridge University Golf Club and has an impressive cast list of past and present members, including several Captains of the R&A. If it had been the other way round, if you’d been well aware of the history of the club and of Bernard Darwin and Harry Colt, would you have looked at things at bit differently? Has it been helpful to come in with fresh eyes? Possibly. Often you read what the great writers of the day have to

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say and it can influence how you might think. When I played it for the first time, I was just seeing it through my eyes, not how other people saw it and talked about certain holes. The 5th is one of the best par-3s in golf. As I’ve played the course more, I’ve wanted to read about it more because it is quirky. There’s such a small amount of land here but they built something fantastic in that space. One thing that strikes me about the members is they care about the course and they see themselves as custodians.

They love being a member here and all the members seem to have a very similar outlook and a remarkable fondness for the club. They care for it deeply and share a similar ethos and synergy. That’s important because there has been a lot of pressure on golf to change. Do you feel places like this are still vital? There are always people who want the kind of experience offered by Royal Worlington & Newmarket… Definitely. I’m all for advancement of the game and seeing what new

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developments can be made in the game but it’s not Worlington’s raison d’etre. Cricket has done a wonderful job in trying to reinvent itself and produce new formats to keep it fresh and popular for the young. I wish golf would do more and be more adventurous in this respect. However, we’re happy with the traditions we have and everything we’ve got here. The members like playing this kind of golf. Members like the traditions and etiquette this golf club provides them with. And everyone is very respectful - the

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members to each other, to me, and to the staff. That doesn’t mean the club has closed its mind, though. It’s just got a history and a tradition everyone wants to keep… Exactly. We’ve just undergone a governance review - not because we think there’s anything wrong, but we think it’s a good idea just to take stock of where we are and where we’re going. Can we improve things? A previous captain put together a governance review panel to look at everything about the club and the way we

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run it. As a result we are making a number of changes in the way we run the club, in ways consistent with our culture and history. Can you talk about some of the developments taking place on the course? Are rankings important to the club? The rankings are nice, I can’t deny. We are lucky that we have a number of people who say very nice things about us and we tend to feature relatively highly in national and world rankings but we don’t set our stall out to be in the top 20 or top 30. Members

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GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS come first and giving members the type of course that they want is our primary aim but if others appreciate what you do and rank us highly that is lovely. We’re not beholden to the ‘keeping up with the Jones’“ mentality. We don’t court popularity or try to appeal to the society or corporate market. Our members are the ones we want to please. We have spent a relatively large amount of money recently on improving the clubhouse and changing rooms but attention is now turning back to the course. The green committee have been very active over the last six months to a year. We’ve undertaken an extensive tree removal programme, have undergone a bunker review and, after consulting numerous specialists in the field, we will be upgrading our irrigation system in the autumn. We are very keen on ecology and conscious of our role and responsibility when it comes to nature and wildlife. Further tree removal and a lot of tree planting is planned towards the end of this year. Our course agronomist, Gordon Irvine, was tasked with improving the greens and aprons, which he has done and they are in fantastic condition. The drought of 2018 hit us hard, and we almost lost the fairways so we are going to spend a lot of time and energy getting them back to their very best. Tell me about your philosophy of management. You’re clearly very passionate, and that drives you, but how do you like to go about your work? I like to think I lead by example, I listen to everyone’s views and always make time for everyone. I respect everyone’s position here and that’s why I’ve settled in so well.

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I don’t tell the greenkeeper what to do. He’s been doing that job for 12 years so I feel he’s the expert. I’m interested in it, yes, and I dabbled in it when I left school for a year but he is employed to make decisions about the course and I back his judgement. Good communication is key in any industry and everyone here is on the same page. It’s the same with the house staff. We have a stewardess who looks after the back of house and has done so for 20 years or more. I don’t interfere too much, that is her domain. I don’t think I was brought in here to necessarily change a great deal. I was brought here to continue the good name of Worlington, keep the members happy, manage the clubhouse and the staff to the best of my ability and keep a good bonhomie between everyone. You’re obviously very personable too, which must help, because people like TLC… What I don’t do is micromanage people. I like to give everybody the space and time they need to do their job properly. I am always here to help and advise or guide if needed. Yes, I will question why things are done in a certain way and suggest if things can be done better or differently but I believe you bring people with you when you are inclusive, personable, give people responsibility and offer encouragement. Are you looking forward now to seeing how the club can progress out of the pandemic? I’m hugely excited because there’s so much going on. It will be interesting to see where we are as a club in five years. We’ve been going 125 years. We’re a very traditional club. We like the way

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things are run and we don’t want to do anything left field. But things do change and have changed already in my time here. Often, things change without you realising sometimes. The Council are looking at the governance review to see what elements are needing to be implemented. A new website will be online at the end of the year; a new portfolio of course photos have just been taken; WHS has been a big change, obviously; the flat above the clubhouse is being fully refurbished; there are more changes afoot in the clubhouse and, of course, big improvements are to be made out on the course. We want to get back more to what the course was known for - fast running fairways and rapid greens. We want to get back to what made Worlington’s name and everyone is pulling in the same direction to achieve it.

Royal Worlington & Newmarket Is this the best 9-hole golf course in the world? Many think so, and the Suffolk-based layout has been immortalised by the great golf writer Bernard Darwin as The Sacred Nine. Founded in 1893, it regularly inhabits top 100 lists and its distinctive holes and clever routing has seen it hailed by architects and golfers alike. A committed two-ball club, Royal Worlington & Newmarket is also home to the golf team of Cambridge University.

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‘I think golf is

RIPE FOR CHANGE’

very time Amir Malik steps onto the 1st tee he faces challenges – and they don’t simply involve putting the ball in the hole. As a practising Muslim, he avoids golf’s many clubhouse rituals, the 19th hole drink and the gambling culture that’s such an important part of a day at the course for so many. He prays five times a day, fitting his faith into minutes around tee boxes or finding a quiet corner of a changing room to show his devotion. He’s faced racism, and yet his deep love for golf remains undimmed. Those experiences have not defined his view of the sport. They’ve inspired him to change it through the Muslim Golf Association. He wants to take the world by storm. It took one flushed shot at the driving range for Malik to become smitten. “If you don’t get a sensation, if something funny doesn’t happen to you inside when you see that ball struck sweetly, or just go up and down, then golf isn’t for you. “If you do, that’s the beginning of the end because the addiction will really kick in. That’s what happened to me. “I was very fortunate. I had a close group of friends who got into it at the same time. We didn’t have a clue. You start off at the pitch and putt and you progress your way up, but you do it collectively.

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“We were always nervous about going to golf courses to see how we would be received because it has always seemed to be a sport played by white, rich, middle-class men. To see brown guys there was just a no, no.” But Malik found common ground and he began to see similarities between golf and his faith – a discovery that only deepened the bond. “If you look at what golf does, what it teaches and how it’s played, it’s a phenomenal sport,” he explains. “You learn so much from a life perspective. People really grow up, because of who you’re playing with and the values. I’m talking about the game in its pure sense because the course doesn’t discriminate. “If you respect the course, the course respects you. I was comparing it with Islam and I just found so many similarities. “If you look at the etiquette, the integrity, the handicapping system. For me, it was phenomenal. I’ll give you an example. There’s one quote I’ve got on one of my banners. I don’t know how true it is in itself but it goes along these lines. It says ‘The man who can go into a patch of rough alone, with the knowledge that only God is watching him, and play his ball where it lies, is the man who will serve you faithfully and well’. “It really is a game of small margins because no one’s really watching you when you’re standing over that ball. It could be a difference of one inch between

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Through the Muslim Golf Association, founder Amir Malik wants to change the world

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GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS a good and a bad lie. If you move that, no one would be the wiser but there’s always that concept that golf is a game of integrity. It’s a game of honesty. “If you look at the Islamic faith, that’s the fundamental principle. You will be held accountable for whatever has taken place in your life on earth. “It’s the Day of Judgement. You might have gotten away with it in today’s world, but you will be held accountable on that day. “That’s the concept of God that will always stay with a Muslim. When you’re playing golf, it’s integrity, it’s honesty and you’re trusted within that.” Swept up in the sport, Malik began to wonder how many other Muslims played golf and as he spread his wings around other courses he started to find pockets of people around the country who felt the same way as him. So an experiment began. A charity golf day was planned under the guise of a new organisation, the Muslim Golf Association. He launched, more in hope than expectation, on Christmas Day 2019 for an event at The Grove. Within 24 hours, 72 people had signed up for a round taking place six months in the future. There was soon a waiting list of another 100. The penny dropped. “I thought ‘there’s clearly something here and there is a demand’. That’s when the association really started and the inspiration was not just to see how many Muslims there were. “I absolutely love this game but there are certain things, such as the big social scene. Golf has a big drinking culture associated with it in the 19th hole. “That doesn’t sit right with me. As someone who prays, there will be times when you are playing a

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three- or four-hour round, there’s going to be a time to pray and we found it awkward to do so. “I really wanted to create a platform where people could come together, and just feel safe, and not feel intimidated or have to feel like they’ve got to sacrifice their values to enjoy this game.” Those values are very simple. No alcohol, no gambling and prayer facilities that are always available. Malik’s events aren’t defined by faith, ethnicity, race or gender. Everyone is welcome – as long as they respect those core principles. The response has been huge. A series of events this year, which will culminate in a final at Forest of Arden on August 12, have been oversubscribed. A taster event for Muslim women, held in tandem with love. golf, was so popular immediate plans were made to stage others. “It’s just been so humbling, just to see how many people have reached out and said ‘we’ve been looking for something like this’,” he said of the reaction. “I’m very fortunate. I’ve grown up with confidence. I’ve had good people around me and being successful in my personal and private life has given me confidence to be able to deal with certain situations. “But not everyone is like that. I have had a lot of racist comments thrown and I’ve gone through some difficult situations but I’m ugly enough and old enough to have gone through that. “Many people haven’t and they’ve been scarred for life. It’s not until you hear other people’s stories and what they’ve been through that you understand that. “I created the association as a platform for inspiration. You should be proud to be a Muslim individual, whether that be

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outwardly or inwardly. “We want people to come in and say ‘you can come and be yourself and you can take these values with you wherever you go and you shouldn’t have to hide them’. They should just be respected. “So the feedback has been very humbling but, at the same time, it’s also been very alarming because so many people are saying ‘I started this game but I fell out of it’. It wasn’t necessarily abuse but the feedback and comments made people feel uncomfortable.” Success has come quicker than Malik could have dared hope. The Association has been a familiar presence on media over the last few weeks and months, from the BBC to the Guardian. The response from the wider industry, and the enthusiastic calls of golfers themselves, has left him dreaming big. The UK has been conquered. Now he wants to take the MGA global. “I’ve purposely called it the Muslim Golf Association because I am Muslim. It’s something I can resonate with and empathise with and understand. Being a Muslim means that we don’t look at nationalities or colours, the faith really brings everyone together of all backgrounds. “But there’s a big population in the east. If you look at the Middle East, if you look at the subcontinent, if you look at Malaysia, you look at Indonesia, there’s billions of Muslims. “These people are just untapped. If we look at the PGA Tour, the European Tour, how many Muslims are actually on those? Very few, if any at all. “We’ve missed a trick here. I want to introduce this game to everybody in the world. I’m going to start with Muslims. I want to take what we’ve done in the UK

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to the Middle East, to Pakistan, to India, to Malaysia. “I would love to have an MGA global tournament where we get people from all across the world in qualifiers and get them all together. Why not? “I think golf is ripe for change. If we’re living in a world of disruption, if you look at all the other corporate industries, the finance industry, the legal industry, the traditional systems have been broken because people are fed up of the way that things have been done. “We’ve got to evolve and, unfortunately, the golf arena for me is still very traditionalist and still very elitist. It is ripe for disruption. It is ripe for change.

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“Hopefully I can be an inspiration for other communities and other people to come in and make that change. But we can’t do it alone. “We’ve got to be forward thinking. We’ve got to be open. Ignorance isn’t an excuse anymore.

We’ve got to be flexible. “I still respect the game and its traditions and its values. I get that. But if we look at grassroots level, at entry level, things have to change. We’ve got to get people loving this game for what it truly is about.”

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Are you doing all you can to help golfers

GIVE IT A SHOT?

The governing body’s Membership: Give it a Shot campaign is trying to cement the gains the sport has made during the Covid pandemic

hough it feels odd to admit it, the coronavirus pandemic handed golf a golden ticket. Did we really do much to precipitate the avalanche of golfers that arrived in May 2020 wanting to play the sport and, crucially, to join our clubs? After years of managing decline, participation numbers have rocketed but now the real challenge begins – the battle to keep them in the sport. As football stadiums reopen, as the activities denied us for so long finally return to our lives, golf will once again have to compete in a busy leisure market. But this time it has an advantage. The consumers are already here – they are members and they are spending cash on tee times. And so England Golf is keen to capitalise, to assist clubs in ensuring this boom in players does not, ultimately, turn out to be a flash in the pan. The governing body has relaunched its Membership: Give it a Shot campaign – designed to educate new and existing golfers about the benefits of joining clubs across the country. The overriding message is one of opportunity: now is the time. “As an industry, as golf clubs, we won’t have a better opportunity than this – in terms of the increase we’ve seen in membership,” said Richard Flint, England Golf’s chief operating officer. “The audience is there. We love it. We hope they will love it. What an opportunity to keep them involved in the game. “Our role is not to dictate or mandate what golf clubs should be doing. But if we can nudge, if we can help and hold hands if we need to, then the resources and support is there for golf clubs to

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really retain these members.” The campaign focuses around four core values – equality, diversity, family and community and a new suite of consumer and clubfocused content is available to assist clubs looking to recruit new members and retain existing ones. It aims to attract players who are actively playing, whether that’s at driving ranges, par 3 courses, or as visitors, and the call to action falls around three key messages: that play is flexible, clubs are sociable and golf is affordable. “The ultimate experience is golf club membership,” added Matthew Draper, the governing body’s club, county and membership senior manager. “We know that people are attracted to golf club membership through the social benefits that are available, that membership is flexible, and that golf is affordable. “We’ve got the club support campaign, which is new for this year. In terms of encouraging people to look into membership, our club support teams are making sure that clubs are doing the right things and getting the right processes in place to be able to attract people into membership. “After the boom of last year, it’s about how clubs can retain these players, how they can keep them interested and keep them beyond that really important first three years, which is the main time for a new club member to reconsider. “If you keep players beyond that, our research suggests they will become a long-term, loyal, retained member. “We’re aiming to support golf clubs to look at the membership process, including both recruitment and retention, in a holistic way - so from the moment someone becomes interested in first looking at a golf club

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membership offer all the way through the different stages of the membership journey to the point where they are a loyal, retained, member looking to give something back, or looking to volunteer – perhaps in a role as a captain or committee member.” Back in May, the R&A revealed the scale of golf’s pandemic surge with an extra 2.3 million golfers getting on course in Great Britain & Ireland last year. More than 4.3 million players were recorded at driving ranges and the average age of golfers fell from 46 to 41. The total number of adult golfers on a full-length course increased significantly by 2.1 million players to 5.2 million – the highest figure recorded this century. England Golf knows that nearly a million people, or 42 per cent of regular golfers, say they are likely to join a club in the future and 55 per cent of those are under the age of 45. It’s against this background of thriving activity that the governing body wants to cement the sport’s popularity and stress that club membership has never been more important. Flint added: “For us, and the industry over the next 18 to 24 months, it’s going to be really interesting in terms of the retention piece, and how golf clubs look after their members and make sure the customer experience and the satisfaction elements are key. “We don’t just want the campaign to focus on the recruitment of new members, we want to support clubs to make sure retention and that attrition rate is as strong as it can be. “As well as the awareness campaign, and the resources we are giving, it’s an opportunity

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to break down the barriers and perceptions that club membership does have in some spaces. “That it’s elitist. It’s not affordable. We know that’s not true. There are many opportunities and many great things golf clubs are doing. “We want to try and celebrate the benefits of membership.” When we think about membership the focus naturally falls on new recruits. It feels like it brings more of a reward. But retention is actually a lot cheaper. You don’t have to advertise, or fund social media campaigns, to keep a member at the club. The Membership: Give it a Shot campaign breaks down recruitment and retention processes into 12 steps, designed to help clubs recognise their value proposition. Some clubs have talked openly about the players they expect to lose once the pandemic boom starts to fade but, as Draper explained, a focus on retention can really pay dividends. “It’s definitely an overlooked process. Generally, people focus more on recruitment because you can measure it better,” he said. “But there are many ways you can look at retention successfully. Some clubs do think ‘we’re going to lose 30, 40, 50 members a year’. So the focus is on recruiting 30, 40, 50 members instead of thinking ‘are our retention processes right? Are we doing the right things to keep our members satisfied and keep them engaged?’” So what can you do? Alongside the resources package offered by England Golf and the expertise provided by the governing body’s club support officers, what are some of the key factors that can give clubs an edge in this battle? First up, said Flint, is knowledge of surroundings. He explained: “In simple terms, if golf clubs

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understand their place in the market and they understand their audience or customers, they are going to be in a stronger place – whether it’s from a governance or decision-making point of view. “Obviously, that plays out for recruitment and retention and the example we would give is there are facilities out there that are great at attracting new members of the community but recognise some of those golfers will move on up that golf club chain. “It’s about knowing your place in the market. Don’t try to imitate what is perceived to be a more expensive, premier club if you are fundamentally community-led. Know what your strengths are, what your unique selling points are, and play to them. “There’s no one size fits all. Every golf club is different, made with different resources and capacity and workforce. “So play to your strengths and that’s where the resources can help. Understand your place in the market. If you understand your audience, you’re going to have more success long term.” Draper continued: “Who is around you? Who may be interested in joining your golf club? If you’ve been far more targeted and smarter with your recruitment, and therefore retention as a result, as well as understanding your local competition, understanding your value proposition versus those clubs around you and their facilities, you can offer something different to those clubs.” Another key area to consider is flexibility in membership. For some clubs, this has been something of a dirty word but the benefits of flexible memberships form a key part of the Give it a Shot campaign. Draper explained there was nothing to fear from the prospect

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of offering players options and said including it as an entry level initiative can be a powerful weapon in a club’s armoury. “We can’t expect regular golfers who are restricted by time, family priorities, or money, to come in straight at the top and take up a full membership and some clubs are probably guilty of fearing that flexible memberships may devalue their full membership offer.” he said. “We are here to work with clubs to put something together that does work in complementing their full membership offers and welcoming new members alike. A lot of clubs use flexible memberships well but, sometimes, it’s more of a parachute from full membership as opposed to an entry into a club. “We know from research that one of the barriers regular golfers identify towards taking up a club membership is time. The perception is that membership offers a lack of value for money for their lifestyle. “Having it as an entry level option

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to a golf club, and to golf club membership, is key to getting people in. “It’s from there that you can gain loyalty and take them on that journey from flexible membership to higher forms as they realise and understand: ‘this is for me. I’ve got time and I can get value for money out of this’.” Club support officers will aim to use their experience to show what’s worked, as well as what hasn’t, in this category to help facilities make an informed choice. They will also help clubs utilise member surveys, and exit surveys, to find out why members might have left, what existing members enjoy and don’t like about their club, and to help them feel valued. What Membership: Give it a Shot aims to tell clubs is the governing body is here to help at this critical juncture in golf club membership. Flint concluded: “The opportunity is there for golf clubs. We’ve been given a chance in terms of the boost in participation and the boost in membership numbers.

“Let’s not rest on our laurels and continue to do what we’ve always done. Let’s make sure we look after those who have experienced the sport for the first time within the last year. “There’s a reason why they have come into golf and are wanting to experience it. Let’s give them the best opportunity possible, and the best experience possible, for them to continue as a regular golfer or as a club member. “For those that have chosen club membership, from a golf club’s point of view, let’s really look after them and let’s celebrate all the benefits that come with golf club membership. Let’s push on and really benefit from this. “We’re really excited about this membership campaign. There are some really strong messages in there and resources and help we can give to golf clubs.” To find out more about the Membership: Give it a Shot campaign, visit englandgolf.org or follow England Golf on social media.

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

Meet the Manager...

SIMON WILLIAMS

The heathland delights of Sherwood Forest

ow did you become a golf club manager? After about 25 years as a professional, doing various roles from playing to coaching, I wanted to see the other side and I started management at a centre for Glendale Golf and I’ve now been at Sherwood Forest for two and a half years. What drew you in to management?

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I just thought I could do the role and connect with the staff. You often find at a private members’ club it’s very disjointed between the staff and committee and if you have a certain element in between then it doesn’t gel. It doesn’t work. So I felt that was my calling in that I could connect with people and the staff. As you say, you’ve been here two and a half years and there has been lots going on. Tell me a little bit about

the developments and how Sherwood Forest is pushing forward… The [driving] range development was in progress when I joined and that was completed last September, with the infrastructure of the building, ball collection, and cutting robots on the outfield. We also completed a short game area just recently, which took quite a lot of time and effort with design, construction and problems with the weather. We had a tremendous number of

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Sherwood Forest’s general manager wants his heathland venue to stay right at the top of English golf… in Covid times, and people can sit outside. We also had some refurbishment work done on the other side of the clubhouse near to the 1st tee. So there were a lot of projects in the first couple of years. And Covid to deal with. Golf clubs were naturally a bit cautious financially at the start of the pandemic. But you guys just seem to have ploughed on with all this work? It was well planned at committee level. They had it ready to go and it was a good time to do it when people weren’t around. We also held the Brabazon Trophy last year, in Covid conditions, which was a challenge.

storms and every time we seemed to put seed down it washed away. That happened a couple of times and was a challenge. Because of some of those weather conditions, we had issues with flooding on our access road and that took a tremendous amount of work from committee, greens staff and me to come up with solutions. We also did a lot of work on the clubhouse. A patio area has been built, which has been a tremendous asset, particularly

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How did you find that? It was very good. England Golf were very good with how they did it. It was supposed to be in May, then it got kicked back to August. Obviously, there was a worry that it wouldn’t go ahead. But when we did it, it was really good for the club. It was probably slightly sad that we didn’t have as many spectators as we could have had but it worked well and the club were pleased as punch we did it. Is it important for a club like Sherwood Forest to hold these kinds of events and still be in that conversation of big tournaments? Definitely. That’s where Sherwood sees itself going forward – the English and British blue ribbon-

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type events. We’ve got the McGregor Trophy next year [the English Under-16 Amateur Strokeplay Championship]. Tell me a little bit about the golf course and the challenge it poses… It’s a very challenging test. I would consider it – out of the three great local courses of Hollinwell, Coxmoor and ourselves – the most difficult. We are probably tighter,

Simon Williams

and not quite as long in places, but, certainly, our greens are two feet faster than Hollinwell. So that does play as a challenge. It’s pure heathland, sandy soil and drains beautifully. This summer, the rough has been very challenging, as with probably a lot of places, as the dry spring and then the wet and sunny June sent it quite mad. The heather’s just starting to come out and when it all turns purple it looks absolutely stunning. What is your management

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Heather in bloom at Sherwood Forest

philosophy? How do you like to manage Sherwood Forest and deal with staff? We’ve got a very strong staff, and some have been here a long time. Kim Kirkham, our head greenkeeper, has been here 43 years. His second in command has been here 30. Those guys know the land 100 per cent. I won’t tend to tell them what to do, certainly on the course, but I will act very much as a liaison between myself, them, committee, and members. We also have a strong catering staff. Craig Peters, our catering manager, hasn’t been here that long but he’s very good. We all get along. We’re a strong, tight unit. We all talk a lot. I would say I talk to all departments of the club every single day, which I think is a help. I am always on hand. Many clubs saw a membership boost because of Covid and that’s presumably happened at Sherwood Forest too?

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We were going pretty good guns on membership anyway, but Covid topped that up and now we’ve probably got a two-year waiting list. Two years? How do you see that as a basis for the club moving forward? It’s an unusual time and, as an industry, we had previously been managing decline. How can you capitalise on this situation? A waiting list can go pretty cold, pretty quickly. We are trying to keep in contact with the people on the waiting list and keep them with good hope of getting in the golf club. It’s regular communication with them and we try to do that. We didn’t have a waiting list for many years before this year. But we were trending and it went sharp. Green fees have been very strong. We find some months are just crazily busy for us. We do have a traditional playing membership. They play a lot of golf and want to play a lot of competition golf.

But, going forward, the Brabazontype events, moving up the Top 100s, and the possibility of keeping the course current with what the modern game demands are the three keys. This really is an under-rated area for golf. You’ve talked about Hollinwell, a final Open qualifying venue; you’ve hosted the Brabazon and the McGregor is on the way; and Coxmoor have recently completed a big clubhouse development. They’re all very good golf courses and this is an exceptional triangle… It is and you can add into it Lindrick and Worksop as well. It’s a fantastic area for a great golf tour. If you want to do heathland, you can’t do a lot better than round here.

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Get In Touch To contact Sherwood Forest, visit www. sherwoodforestgolfclub.co.uk

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Meet the

GCMA PARTNER We speak to Mike Moss, sales and marketing for CardioCaddy, to learn more about the company’s defibrillator cabinets

ho are CardioCaddy? The CardioCaddy team are engineers who have played a key part in developing standards across the industry. We have worked with emergency services and product users alike to really understand what is important to all parties in both emergency and nonemergency situations. We are proud to have moved the industry forward and continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible. Especially with our off-grid solution – the CardioCaddy. The CardioCaddy defibrillator cabinets have been created using this extensive experience. We create high quality, reliable, innovative and intelligent products that provide storage for lifesaving equipment, in more places than ever before. Our mission is to support the drive to ensure defibrillators are available to those who need them, where they need them, when they need them… providing the support that a good ‘Caddy’ should! Can you explain how the cabinet works? Is it easy to use?

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The cabinet uses a thermostat to control the temperature within, keeping the defibrillator at optimum temperature to ensure it is rescue ready. The cabinet has been designed to be as easy as possible for a person to use in an emergency situation. The instructions on the cabinet door are clear and we use a lock and handle that is easy to operate. Can they be installed anywhere? There are two power solutions for the cabinets – mains powered for cabinets housed at the club house or half way house. Or the units can be solar powered. This great feature allows the cabinets to be located at the part of the course that is furthest from the clubhouse. It is imperative to get a defibrillator onto a person

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who has suffered cardiac arrest, along with good CPR, within four minutes. The question to ask when deciding where to locate a cabinet is can I get to a defibrillator and back within four minutes? If not, the chances of a person surviving a cardiac arrest drops rapidly. Are they already in use at any golf clubs? Yes. We have several solar powered units operating at various locations, including three at Manchester Golf Club. How can golf clubs get a CardioCaddy installed? It’s as simple as getting in touch! Visit cardiocaddy.co.uk

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Partner Network

The GCMA’s Partner Network supports the association’s work to professionalise the industry and promote a culture of excellence in golf club management. Thank you to all our partners who continue to support the association.

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21 – 23 November Wyboston Lakes Resort, Bedfordshire

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The Golf Club Manager: August 2021

Articles inside

David Cederholm on golf’s new digital age 56 Meet Sherwood Forest’s Simon Williams