Page 8 - GBC Eng winter 2021

Message From The CEO, NGCOA Canada • Jeff Calderwood
The 2021 golf season has recently come to a close for most regions of Canada, and the yearend summaries of rounds and revenues are being compiled with great optimism about our continued success.
Looking forward to 2022 and beyond, the multi-million dollar question becomes “How much of this increased demand can golf retain as society emerges from the pandemic?” It is a complex question, and you’ll hear a lot of anecdotal conjecture about the answer.
So, our feature story sheds light on some leading edge market research measuring current golfer attitudes and behaviours. Whether within your own marketing plan, or for industry wide campaigns, understanding such data can greatly improve the targeting and messaging of our marketing and customer service strategies.
Written by Jon Last, President of Sports & Leisure Research Group, he summarizes the results of their Back to Normal Barometer. He compares golf with competing industries and contemplates
The First Tee
Maintainingthe Momentum in 2022
the need to find the “just right” target, as per his Goldilocks analogy.
Golf can outperform other recreational activities by better seizing upon the opportunity to leverage latent demand. Mr. Last also notes the trending about when golfers will feel they are returning to a pre-pandemic normal. He considers related factors such as staff shortages, a decline in service levels, the impact of inflation, the perceived importance of course conditions, the opportunities of golf’s recent appeal to a broader audience, and the need for segmented strategies.
In addition, he reinforces the advantages of golf recently becoming somewhat of a media darling. As you may know, I’ve been on the front line of pushing back against all those negative golf headlines for years and it is nice to see the turnaround.
You’ll also read great articles in this Golf Business Canada on leveraging the mental health benefits of golf by John Gordon;acreativeBlackLivesMattergolf initiative at Grandview Golf & Country Club; the 2nd in our 3-part series on improving your golfer communications by Integram Training Group; and more...
Enjoy this Issue, and I look forward to seeing you Nov 30 – Dec 1 at our Golf Business Canada Conference & Trade Show! If you’re not yet registered, it’s not too late to join hundreds of your golf industry peers for a dynamic line up of industry leading speakers, business solutions, networking, and trade show. It’s all presented this year as a virtual event for your convenience, safety and exceptional affordability. Register now at conference.ngcoa.ca.
Jeff Calderwood, CEO NGCOA Canada jcalderwood@ngcoa.ca
8 Golf Business Canada