Page 12 - GBC winter 2015

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Golf Business Canada
“But for us to not be main- taining a watchful eye towards the future,” Fay said, “would alone be irresponsible and, quite frankly, not at all practical.”
Doubtless those same sentiments echo among other stakeholder executives, course owners, general managers, head golf professionals and greens superintendents, espe- cially at a time when the game has been wrongfully described by factions of the mainstream media as either ‘dead’, ‘on life support’ or ‘in need of reinventing itself.’
Follow this industry even moderately and you will know the current time period is not trending that way at all. Golf is in its usual cyclic rotation – just as it has in the past and will be in the future. From a low point 3-4 years ago that cycle has moved to a position where, despite work still to be done, the pendulum has swung to a much more positive business- based direction.
“The fact is golf, in this country at least, is still very healthy,” says Golf Canada executive director, ScottSimmons.“At$14billionannu- ally the game is bigger than every other participation sport combined with regard to economic impact. Is it a concern to be down about 10 million or so rounds a year? Sure it is. For the past 30 years all a course had to do was open its doors. That’s no longer the case.
But, this industry is not sitting on its hands. It is working hard to promote the game to new people young and old; it is becoming more innovative, more inclusive and the marketplace is responding.”
“What is best for the common good of the sport and the industry is now assuming
a more elevated position on the priority agenda.”
The question is how? How is golf forging this path back to some level of prosperity? A few things stand out. For starters individual agendas, while important, are doing equal time with the means and methods to improve golf’s entire business landscape. What is best for the common good of the sport and the industry is now assuming a more elevated position on the priority agenda. To achieve this egos are being left at the door, sleeves are being rolled up and the industry, together, as Simmons points out, is sourcing out new initiatives and ideas, several outside golf’s traditional box, in an effort to attract next generation millennials while fortifying its appeal with long time consumers.
“It is about trying to be proactive instead of reactive,” said Jeff Calderwood, CEO of the National Golf Course Owners Association Canada in an inter- view at this year’s Golf Journalists Association of Canada writing awards. “Golf is constantly looking for new ways to engage partici- pants across a wide demographic range of consumers young and old. That’s one of the game’s strengths. You can play an entire lifetime. As an industry golf is not sitting back.”
And to be blunt, it cannot afford to.
‘Marketing is a contest for people’s attention.’
- Seth Godin, best selling business author
Tell or, better yet, show a 35 year old non-golfer they can now surf, skateboard or bike around a golf course wearing street-style foot- wear with their shirt un-tucked and their cell phone dialled into friends on Facebook, or that it’s now becoming acceptable to have downloaded music playing through a Bluetooth speaker during a round of golf, or jeans for certain club- house situations, two things are likely to happen: you’ll either be perceived as uttering a foreign language or be taken for a stand-up comedian.
Neither applies. Relaxing golf’s buttoned-up traditional image is gaining traction. In the industry’s attempt to better reach the next generation long-held standards of decorum are being eased or at least considered at the board or owner- ship level to help attract new consumers. If marketing, as Godin says, is a contest for people’s atten- tion softening such rules, done with thought and balance, can be game-changing.