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also share personnel resources, so golf courses that had staff over the winter would rent them to courses like mine. After this meeting, I called Mike Kelly to celebrate the good news and he told me about a Golf Communities Project he was trying to start up.
THE GOLF COMMUNITIES PROJECT
The mandate of the Golf Communities Project is to get golf course owners working together to grow the game of golf. This project has yielded some scary information:
• Over 50% of golf courses in Ontario do not have a learn to golf program. • There is a dire shortage of part time and full time golf teachers
available if a golf course does want to start a grow the game program. • Most golf courses do not know where to start when trying to grow
the game.
The good news is we are experiencing actual ROI with the Project.
I now sponsor five schools and will introduce over 600 kids in grades 1-5 to Golf in Schools.
I will also be bussing the kids out to my golf course to experience golf on the golf course. We had 68 juniors participate in golf through the junior programs at Orr Lake. We now have seven other golf courses actively running GIS programs in the Barrie area. I am proud to say that last year we introduced over 5,000 kids to golf!
The Communities Program has expanded across Ontario and we expect there will be over 30 golf courses actively exposing over 10,000 kids to golf. In the Barrie area, we have six golf courses that will be working together to create a Kids Golf Jam event at the end of June.
We are also coordinating our junior leagues so they start in the beginning of May with a fun kick off event with kids from all the local courses. Our goal is to keep the kids engaged so they keep golfing through the summer.
We also had three Barrie golf courses add Learn to Golf programs to their golf courses last year and we have been successful in adding Learn to Golf programs back in to the City of Barrie Parks & Recreation guide.
In addition, three golf courses worked together to create a standardized Ladies Learn to Golf program that includes four group lessons with five green fees for $250. The only reason the City included them in the Guide was because the offer was open to the local golf courses. Next year they will be adding a junior program as well.
FINDING A TEACHER
We are also trying to cultivate more golf teachers. Instead of looking for more PGA golf pros we are using the PGA’s new Community Coaching Program and the Canadian Golf Teachers Federation to create golf teachers. The primary focus for these teachers is teaching beginners.
Retired or semi-retired teachers who love golf and are looking for part time work are great for these programs. You might have an employee at your course who loves the game and is interested in teaching. The best part of these courses is they only take between 3-5 days to complete. Another option is using a golf pro at the higher end clubs on their days off.
In some regions there might be opportunities for golf courses to share teachers, which is a cost effective solution. My golf pro has now retired so I am using a golf teacher we share between three local golf courses and that system is working well.
JOIN THE MOVEMENT
The Learn to Golf movement is gaining momentum as more golf courses realize that the opportunity to grow their businesses does not lie in discounting or trying to take golfers from other courses.
The solution is to work together within our industry to create new golfers. Together we can make an impact and attract potential golfers who are currently investing time and money in other sports and activities.
Golf Business Canada
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