Page 19 - GBC English Fall 2020

Dr. Renee Powell, Owner of Clearview Golf Club and the second ever Black LPGA Tour player.
up and make a change right now.” Dr. Cooper was also inter- viewed for a Golf Business Live podcast (June 12, 2020), alongside Dr. Renee Powell, Owner of Clear- view Golf Club and the second
ever black LPGA Tour player. “Why is diversity and inclu- sion important? Well we are all human beings. When we look at this from a business sense, .... we have a huge opportunity! The more people that play, the more golf courses that will stay open, the more products that golf suppliers can sell, ... why would one NOT want as many people involved in our industry as possible?” respond-
ed Dr. Powell.
“Why is it so hard to have
these diversity and inclusion conversations? It mystifies me as to why we avoid it. I don’t know of any problem that goes away with- out admitting that there is a prob- lem. If we don’t start having these discussions, it isn’t going to go anywhere. Golf is a sport, and sport matters in America. Other sports have dealt with this head-on, they have had diversity initiatives with success,” said Dr. Cooper.
“Diversity is easy to measure. It deals with numbers. What are your demographics? There is generational diversity, there is
ethnical diversity, you have gender diversity, that is simple,” continued Dr. Cooper. “Inclusion on the other hand speaks to culture. Inclusion is being part of the leadership, the decision-making culture of that organization.”
“To diversify your economic stream is certainly something that golf needs to be concerned with, this includes your workforce, contracts and vendors,” added Dr. Cooper.
HOW TO BE SUCCESSFUL
When Dr. Cooper was asked how he sees a golf course doing it right, he responded with these 3 impor- tant takeaways for golf course owners/operators to consider when making key decisions:
Make it an enjoyable golf course to play. It should not be beating you down and taking all your confidence away from you.
The staff and workers at the course need to resemble the diverse, generational, and ethnic (make-up of your golfers), and be culturally sensitive enough to treat every one of their guests that way.
In your marketing and promo- tion, you are using that same imag- ery to attract that market and then you serve them in that capacity.
Dr. Powell responded to the same query with, “it is important to
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