Page 10 - GBC Winter 2020 ENG

Published quarterly and distributed to every golf course operator in Canada, Golf Business Canada is a uniquely targeted and comprehensive look into all the departments of a golf operation. To send your feedback on this edition, please contact the editorial team at ngcoa@ngcoa.ca.
Golf Business Canada
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Golf Business Canada
Golf is different than most other participation sports. It has a highly developed infrastructure of business activity that supports and drives the game. So, in addition to more Canadians playing golf than any other sport, the financial impli- cations are also more impressive.
Being able to measure such financial outcomes is critical. Although products and services, human resources, strategic plans and operations are all important, at the end of the day success in business comes down to the financial results...so, “Show Me the Money.”
That statement applies to all individual golf course operators and related stakeholders, as well as to the success of our industry over- all. As noted by Jeff Calderwood, CEO, NGCOA Canada, “Bench- marking our productivity tells an insightful story for ourselves and to others who we need to appreciate golf as a meaningful business industry, not just a great game.”
In Canada, the allied association initiative “We Are Golf“ (NAGA) leads the charge on conducting our Economic Impact Studies and has now released an updated Study.
Consisting of Golf Canada, National Golf Course Owners Association Canada, Canadian Society of Club Managers, Canadian
“For the 2019 calendar year, Canadian golf’s GDP totalled
$18.2 billion.”
Golf Superintendents Association and PGA of Canada, We Are Golf’s leadership as a collaboration of national associations is highly valuable. Furthermore, their invest- ment in this new Economic Impact Study was also supported by several provincial associations, leading suppliers and proactive golf course operators. A special thank you to each of these contributors (see sidebar on page 18).
So, what are the main takeaways from the results of this Economic Impact Study? Golf Business Canada has reviewed and interpreted some of the key findings for your consideration.
METHODOLOGY MATTERS
Economic impact studies are snapshots in time. This one is based upon a full year of 2019 data and provides great insights in and of itself. The previous editions compiled 2013 and 2008 data. For the purposes of comparison, we need to be careful about any assumption that these three snapshots equate to confirmed trending between years. Often that is indeed the case, but not necessarily on all outcomes within the Study. Anomalies such as the weather patterns or short-term shifts in the general economy can require further investigation before drawing broad conclusions about trending.
Worth noting, all three of these Economic Impact Studies were conducted by the same team lead and economist, Thomas McGuire, Principal of Group ATN. Very similar methodology was applied for sourcing the raw data and processing through their input- output model. “Every industry has its own unique circumstances to allow for, and the ability to repeat the same application of our model for Canadian golf is a significant advantage,” stated McGuire. “Beyond consistency, we have also been able to further refine certain aspects based upon the learnings from the prior Studies we did for NAGA.”