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with a lot of the councillors. It wasn’t just me, it was the entire staff. We were all involved,” said Thistle. “A diverse community was the real world in front of us. It was something that we cherished, something we embraced.”
The Angus Glen staff not only went out into the community, but brought the community into Angus Glen. Diversity was not only welcomed and encouraged on the golf course, but on the staff, as well.
“It was just who we were and what the community was, golf re ecting Canada,” Thistle said. “It wasn’t just the golf tournaments, not just the golfers, but also the weddings. Some of my favourite weddings were Indian weddings, so beautiful and glamourous,” said Thistle.
“It’s no different than do we have a junior league for golf? Sure, we do. Do we have a women’s league for golf? Sure, we do. Do we have a men’s league for golf? Sure, we do. When it came to golfers, when it came to weddings, when it came to bar mitzvahs, bat mitzvahs, we did it all and we celebrated it.”
Thistle recalls one of his favourite programs being one that included children with special needs in a divot repair program. “I would have lunch with them twice a year and they were my buddies. I’d be out on the course and I’d hear them calling over to me, `Kevin, Kevin!’ They took so much pride in doing divots.”
They were all part of what was a diversifying population, even back in the ‘90s and nine years after his departure from Angus Glen, it continues not only in that area, but right across the country, making diversity and inclusion an ongoing focus in his role now with the PGA of Canada.
GOLF 20/20 DIVERSITY TASK FORCE
Of particular interest for Thistle and others within the Canadian golf industry is the Golf 20/20 Diversity Task Force established by the World Golf Foundation, based in St. Augustine, Fla, one that Jonasson serves on three sub- committees.
Steve Mona, CEO of the World Golf Foundation, says he also has ongoing discussions with Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum and president Leslie Dunning, as well as Jeff Calderwood, CEO of the National Golf Course Owners Association Canada and executive director of the Canadian Golf Superintendents Association.
Through those eyes, Mona gets a better picture of the Canadian market as it relates to diversity and inclusion. “You take Toronto as an example, a very diverse culture, and both Jeff and Kevin were explaining a lot of things to me that we have to think about, because culture is so diverse,” said Mona. “For instance, supplier diversity. They have people coming into their of ces with different nationalities that are providing them with various goods and services. As an organization, they don’t even think about it because it’s emblematic of the environment in which they have overall.”
“We don’t necessarily have that. We have certain metro areas, such as Washington, D.C., or New York City, and other areas that are very diverse,butthere’salotofplacesin the United States that you don’t see much diversity,” Mona said. “Where it’s exactly the same is some of the perception about the game generally that our friends north of the border address, just like we do here south of the border.”
The Diversity Task Force created by the World Golf Foundation already has a 10- year history that began with the
initiative rst created in 2008 followed by a year-long study of diversity within the U.S. golf industry that identi ed four focus areas, including recreational and competitive golf, suppliers and workforce. After a diversity forum in 2010 brought industry and diversity leaders together, the task force was launched the following year with ve members. The topic of diversity was included on the agenda of major golf organizations at the 2015 U.S. Open at which Mona and Steve Schloss of the USGA gave the presentation.
Mona points out that, while there will always be other topics at that meeting, diversity is the only one that has been on the agenda of that meeting every year since 2015 and that he’s impressed with what’s being done right now by other organizations, including those in Canada. “I am very enthused and heartened by the amount of effort that’s going on and real things that are happening from a diversity and inclusion perspective,” said Mona.
“Although Canada is probably ahead of most countries in terms of diversity, I think our golf industry still has a long way to go to become more representative of society at large. This presents a great opportunity to grow our game,” said Steve Spratt, Owner of Falcon Ridge Golf Course in Ottawa, ON and NGCOA Canada President. “At my golf course I see our customer base gradually broadening from the stereotypical golferpro le,andthesamewithmy staff team, but it’s a slow moving trend. Hopefully, this golf industry focus on diversity strategies, and maybe Tiger’s resurgence, can help push this trend more quickly.”
TASK FORCE GOALS
A two-day Diversity and Inclusion Forum was held in 2016 and was attended by representatives of the PGA of America, PGA Tour, LPGA
Golf Business Canada