Page 8 - GBC summer 2015

Message From The President • Gilles Debut
Get Involved
We exhibited in the Montreal GolfExpo in March and I was delighted to see lots of anxious golfers. The line-ups at our booth never ended on the first day providing us with welcomed pre-season sales and a healthy addition to our customer database.
Continuing with the theme of my message in the previous issue of Golf Business Canada, the NGCOA Canada is a leader in the Canadian golf industry landscape. Take these consumer golf shows for example. Did you know that the NGCOA Canada owns and manages five of these shows across the country (Atlantic, Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa- Gatineau and Winnipeg) and are partners in three others (Vancouver, Toronto, and London)?
The significance of this is that the NGCOA Canada approaches everything they do first and foremost with ‘how can this benefit a golf course?’ They are also very entrepreneurial in spirit and that resonates with me. They are not bureaucratic and push forward to better the businesses of golf course owners and operators across the country.
I encourage all of you to get involved. Come out to the meetings, to the Conference, and to the chapter golf invitations. You won’t regret it – I can guarantee that. In a recent membership survey that we conducted, the members rated NETWORKING as the most valuable member benefit. The members who are highly engaged realize that we are much stronger working together.
For example, we should be looking at all ‘other’ recreational activities as the competition rather than each other. I learn just as much from other owners and operators at the Golf Business Canada Conference & Trade Show than I do from the formal educational sessions. There are so many generous operators that are willing to share their successes with others.
I also encourage you to use your membership to its full potential. Talk to your staff, introduce them to NGCOA Canada programs and urge them to use them where and when they can. Itallpaysoffintheend–youwillbe more successful and the industry will be stronger.
I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible during my next year and half as your President. It is my honour to serve this Association and all of you great leaders across the country.
Respectfully,
Gilles Debut
Owner, Club de Golf les Quatre Domaines, QC President, NGCOA Canada GDebut@golf4d.ca
8 Golf Business Canada
In The Fairway
By the time you receive this issue of Golf Business Canada, most courses across the country will be open. Although I wasn’t sure if spring would ever come, here it is! The snow has melted, temperatures are warming and my golf course is getting greener by the day. By the looks of the consumer golf shows across the country, it seems that golfers were as ready as we were to get this season started.