Page 44 - GBC Spring 2022 ENG

At the virtual 2021 Golf Business Canada Conference & Trade Show, delegates submitted ideas in advance for the Great Canadian Idea Share that showcased their best money-saving and revenue-generating ideas. The top 10 semi-finalists were chosen and they presented their ideas live during the virtual event with delegates voting for their top 4 favourite ideas.
It was a competitive process with many creative and impressive ideas from members across the country. The top 4 finalist ideas will be featured in the Golf Business Canada magazine. Compliments of Tee- On Software, each of the 4 finalists received a gift card from Home Hardware, with the winner walking away with a cool $5,000 gift card!
Girls Golf and Social
Carly Peister, Merry-Hill Golf Club, Ontario carly@merryhillgolf.com
The Girls Golf and Social program began in 2020 with the idea of hosting girls, ages 5-13, at the golf course to introduce them to the game of golf, but also make sure they had a positive experience, so they would want to come back!
The Girls Golf and Social is a weekly program running from June to the end of September for 2 hours, once a week. The main idea with this program is to have the girls rotating through fun golf stations that teach them key aspects of the game - full swing, chipping, putting, developing the athlete, etc. Each station is run by a female high school volunteer to ensure the younger girls see older girls being involved in sport!
Once we complete the golf stations, we get together in one big group for our final social activity. This changed each week, including a variety of different crafts, pizza parties, discussing women in sport, and more!
The program doubled in size from 2020 to 2021 and all of the girls loved the program - including myself as Head Coach, the student volunteers, and of course, I have to mention my mother who helped me with the program each week as well!
In 2020, I had 165 girls participating and in 2021, that number grew to 325 girls! Keeping the program, games, and social activities fresh, fun, and full of energy was an important part of growing such a successful Girls Golf Program! I look forward to watching it continue to grow in the coming years and watching as these young girls transition into golf addicts!
2021 Winner: Girls Golf and Social
Carly Peister, Merry-Hill GC, ON
Finalist: Food Truck
Kevin Graf, Serenity Golf Club, AB
Finalist: Leadership Development
Slade King, Play Golf Calgary, AB
Finalist: Non-Amazing, Need Not Apply
Barry Forth, Copetown Woods GC, ON
44 Golf Business Canada