Page 6 - GBC winter issue ENG 2019

The First Tee
Message From The CEO, NGCOA Canada • Jeff Calderwood
Golf Is Cooler Than Ever
Rounds played are tracking to be up in all provinces this year, despite a notoriously slow start for much of the country. When the weather does cooperate, golf’s rebound is quite evident. Golf is cool again, and that’s a fantastic trend for Canadian golf course owners and operators!
In the feature story of this edition of Golf Business Canada, golf journalist Rick Young dives into what is behind making golf cool again. As you will read, the trend runs both wide and deep. From leading edge technology to dynamic apparel trends, from our young role model Tour stars to celebrity actors and musicians who aunt golf, from golf tness programs to wine, whiskey and craft tastings, golf is on trend! There’s a new wave of enthusiasm, a wave that you want to catch and ride, or self-propel with your own marketing and services.
The traditions of golf haven’t lost their cache by any means. However, our industry is progressing rapidly and providing a valuable balance alongside those important traditions. As Young points out, golf is now leading many other industries with our leveraging of technologies customized to enhance the golf experience. This bodes particularly well for our growth in important emerging target markets such as youth and women. We’re growing the game and the business by stimulating demand through golf’s “cool” factor.
It’s also nice to see that the negative headlines about golf have pretty much run their course. Although the truth was never as bad as the writers claimed in their quest for sensational headlines, there were some lulls during the post- recession years and it’s refreshing to see much more positive reporting. This year,
I’ve heard of more golf courses than ever before celebrating that 2019 will be their best year yet. Now, that’s a cool headline!
In this issue, we also present articles on how you can use beacon technology to enhance the golfer’s experience, 12 tips to help your food & beverage staff upsell, and how you can use social media effectively to market towards millennials. So, you will have plenty of valuable content to consider as you wrap up this golf season and strategize for your continued success in 2020.
Enjoy the issue, and I look forward to seeing you in Niagara Falls for our Golf Business Canada Conference & Trade Show, which promises to be another very cool event indeed!
Cheers!
Jeff Calderwood, CEO NGCOA Canada jcalderwood@ngcoa.ca
6 Golf Business Canada