Page 48 - GBC summer 2015

Tee-It Forward Initiative
In an effort to contribute to the enjoyment of the game and help put more golfers on member courses, the NGCOA Canada has endorsed the Tee-It Forward Program and is encouraging all of its members to consider implementing it at their course.
Tee-It Forward is a USGA and the PGA of America designed program that encourages golfers to play from the set of tees that best fits their game and ability. The objective is for golfers to have more fun and play faster. Research with Tee-It Forward participants indicate that 70% of players had more fun, 90% would encourage their friends to Tee-It-Forward and 52% would play more often knowing they could Tee-It Forward.
The result will be happier and repeat customers which means healthier bottom lines at the end of the season. Contact the NGCOA Canada at ngcoa@ngcoa.ca to register your course and to receive your marketing materials to start promoting the program today.
New Membership Models
Golf Canada and the provincial associations have been working to develop a more equitable membership model to fit a variety of golf property needs. After extensive consultation with club and individual members, Golf Canada will be rolling out phase one of a new model to targeted facilities in 2015. This is a massive undertaking, so to ensure that
they provide the best possible experience for both the clubs and individual golfers, Golf Canada intends to phase in the new model over the next three years.
Golf facility operators (practice facilities and courses of all sizes) are critical partners in the sustainability of the game. Certain services are intrinsic to the operation of their facilities, such as access to the internationally recognized Course and Slope Rating system; promo- tion of their facility to the 22 million visitors to golfcanada.ca and provincial websites; tournament services; and the collected golfer data. These services are beneficial to the game at large and should be available to every facility regardless of their business model, and will be available for a standard annual fee.
The new model will allow facilities to purchase memberships for some, all, or none of their members. They may re-sell memberships at retail or leave the sale of individual memberships with the associations and still receive a small percentage from every sale. Detailed information will be available at www. golfcanada.ca/playerpartners.
DATA, What Data?
Those who question the value of a handicap factor are missing one of the unique features of our sport: a level playing field for golfers. A fair game is a fun game and handicaps, whether an official factor or more socialized score- tracking experience, allows golfers to measure their progress through a national score centre platform.
A community of golfers linked through a central database is a powerful tool to draw insight from our customers. Consider that among the 60 million rounds played annually, 7.3 million scores were posted on golfcanada.ca in 2014 by 200,000+ golfers with
whom we can now communicate directly. Golfer engagement with the score centre compliments an online experience that welcomed more than 32 million page views in 2014. These assets deliver industry benefit, and need to be leveraged.
Looking Toward the Furture
The upcoming year is going to be exciting for the CGSA on a number of different levels – and pivotal to the future of the association.
The National Tournament Program will recognize super- intendents across the country, while the association advocates provincially, nationally and inter- nationally on behalf of issues, policies and programs that impact the superintendent, the facility and the industry.
During the next year the CGSA will be working to celebrate its 50th anniversary. The annual conference and trade show will celebrate our half century, the people that made it possible and the growth that the profession has experienced during that period as well as what the profession needs to achieve to make the golf industry sustainable in the future.
Part of that sustainability responsibility is to maintain a leadership role for the profession. In January of 2016, the CGSA will be hosting the International Greenkeepers Summit, a two- day meeting of superintendent organizations from around the globe. CGSA will also continue to playasignificantroleinNAGAas it works to support the golf sector.
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Golf Business Canada