GMé | issuu 69

GolfManagement Europe

UK £5.00 Eur 5.50US $8.25

The debate surrounding ‘signature’ golf design continues as architect Jeremy Pern shares his

thoughts on this often controversial matter page 32

toro irrigation: future proofHaving provided golf irrigation solutions for 95 years, Toro are the undisputed leader out on the course

issue 69november 2009

ThE lEadinG businEss MaGazinE for ThE pan-EuropEan Golf indusTry

Southwest Greens delivers the most advanced synthetic turf system in the market today by focusing on the “3 B’s” of our product’s performance – ball roll, ball acceptance, and ball bite. We take pride in delivering a solution that works for the long term.

...Over 50 of the world’s top PGA professionals havea Southwest Green in their gardens...

Using the same fundamentals that golf course construction companies use tobuild their golf courses, Southwest Greens has developed a reputation around

the world for delivering a synthetic turf system that exceeds expectations.Southwest Greens team of expert craftsmen take pride in constructing

synthetic surfaces that compare to what you see on Europe’s finest golf courses.Southwest Greens provides solutions for synthetic golf courses, golf greens,

chipping greens, tee lines, practice academies, and putting courses in golf course settings, commercial settings, and leisure settings.

Discover what the Pros Know and contact Southwest Greens today!

Synthetic GolfSolutions

www.southwestgreens.eu - [email protected] - Tel: (34) 91 899 1735

The Pros Know®

SOUTHWEST GREENS INTERNATIONAL PGA PRO ENDORSEMENTS

Justin Rose Retief Goosen Sergio Garcia Jim Furyk Hale Irwin Vijay Singh Fred Funk

S y n t h e t i c S o l u t i o n S F o r t h e G o l F i n d u S t r y

NOVEMBER 2009 GME 3

publisher’s editorial

In the 12 years that we have been publishing Golf Management Europe, we have always championed equal rights for women in golf.

We have said previously that if the game is not to fester and die it must ac-cept changing social norms, and afford-ing women equal rights of access to the course and clubhouse is the minimum requirement.

That is why we find the decision by the Irish Supreme Court, to allow Portmar-nock Golf Club to continue to prevent women from applying for membership, an archaic and bewildering outcome.

The court’s decision was based on the premise that the club’s “principal purpose is to cater only for the needs of persons of a particular gender.”

In other words, men have a genetic requirement to play golf in a way that women don’t. Enough said, surely…

The case centred on a section of the Equal Status Act and was aimed at overturning a High Court ruling made three years ago which backed the club’s regulations.

In the 21st century – for that is where most golf clubs find themselves these days – such a policy is incongruous, indefensible, degrading for women and brings the sport of golf into disrepute.

And for the highest court in any land to uphold it is reprehensible.

The law may have had its say but if golf wants to put its own house in order,

at least in Ireland, the sport’s governing bodies should amend their own rules to exclude Portmarnock – and any club which continues to defy the rules of social decency.

If Portmarnock’s membership of the Golfing Union of Ireland (GUI) was placed in jeopardy, the club might re-consider its policy once it realised the ramifications of lost revenue.

It would be a brave decision by the GUI – and golf is not renowned for pos-sessing administrators who are prepared to stick out their necks. But it is an op-portunity for one golfing nation to take a lead on all the others; a chance to ensure a legacy and not just an exten-sion of the status quo.

The outcome is that golf will, once again, in many areas, be regarded as the exclusive preserve of the white, male, middle classes. And that is a slap in the face for many in this industry who have worked so long and hard to change perceptions and open the sport up to all ages, creeds and genders.

Welcome back to the Dark Ages. GME

Why irish Golf has to make a stand for women

Michael [email protected]

Toro is a name that is trusted all over the world when it comes to golf course irrigation.

5

St Mellion has just completed a £20m redevelopment of their international resort.

15

The English Golf Union’s planned online tee-booking system falls under the spotlight.

22

Eye Candy Caddies founder Sarah Stacey, talks openly about the Leaderboard ban.

24

Golf Management Europe is published six times per annum by PPC Portman.

PPC PortmanDeben House, Main Road, Martlesham, Woodbridge IP12 4SEUnited Kingdom

T 01394 380800 F 01394 380594E [email protected] www.portman.uk.com

Editor John VinicombeContributors Tibbe Bakker, David Hemstock, Trevor Ledger, Jeremy Pern, Peter Simm

Publisher Michael LenihanAdministration Sharon O’ConnellPrint Colourspeed

SubscriptionsTo ensure your regular copy of GME, call 01394 380800 or subscribe online at www.portman.uk.com

UK 6 Issues £30; 12 Issues £50Europe 6 Issues £36; 12 Issues £60World 6 Issues £42; 12 Issues £70

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Whilst due care to detail is taken to ensure that the content of GME is accurate, the publisher cannot accept liability for errors and omissions.

© Portman Publishing and Communications Limited 2009

PPC

“If Portmarnock’s membership of the GUI was placed in jeopardy, the club might re-consider”

4 GME NOVEMBER 2009

headline news

Falconhead Capital, LLC, a private equity firm special-ising in consumer-focused businesses in the leisure, life-style, sport and media cate-gories, has acquired rival GPS manufacturers GPS Industries and ProLink Systems and merged them into a new company called GPSI Holdings, LLC.

The new company, which will become the world’s leading provider of buggy-mounted GPS services to golf courses, was created through the acquisition of and subsequent three-way

merger of GPS Industries, ProLink Systems and a series of assets previously owned by David Chessler, who has taken on the role of CEO.

Both GPS Industries and ProLink had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US earlier this summer, and the GPSI acquisition was completed under Section 363 of the US Bankruptcy Code.

Falconhead expects that the acquisition of these busi-nesses at very attractive valuations, and their combi-nation, will result in signifi-

cant cost, revenue and technological synergies that will position GPSI for signifi-cant profitable growth.

In particular, GPSI will implement extensive prod-uct and service improve-ments that will benefit customers and enhance the playing experience for play-ers around the world.

Greg Norman and his Great White Shark Enterprises, a former investor and partner in GPS Industries and a long-time member of Falconhead’s advisory board, is also a partner in

the new GPSI Holdings entity and reportedly played a key role in conceiving and executing the acquisitions by Falconhead.

Norman will own a signifi-cant equity stake in GPSI and has entered into an agreement to promote the company’s business.

former Gps rivals merge to form new global alliance

The seventh annual KPMG Golf Business Forum will take place at The Gloria Golf Resort, Turkey, May 12-14, 2010.

Leading figures from the golf business world, will attend the confer-ence in Belek, on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, which was voted ‘Golf Destination of the Year’ by IAGTO in 2008.

The two-day event, which will include a special focus on Turkey and the ‘BRIC econo-mies’ of Brazil, Russia, India and China, will be moderated by CNN International’s Justin Armsden, sports anchor and presenter of the weekly Living Golf show.

Andrea Sartori, head of KPMG’s Golf Advisory Practice in EMA, said: “The Golf Business Forum brings together leading players from the golf, real estate, finance and tour-ism sectors in the EMA region and has become the most important event to meet and do business.

“We are very excited that the forum is being hosted in Turkey in 2010 as this is a fast emerging golf destination that has everything going for it.”

Greg Norman will attend in person to accept the Golf Business Forum Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Toro Company has acquired certain assets from TY-CROP Manufacturing Ltd, a leading manufacturer of topdressing and material handling equipment for golf course and sports field appli-cations.

Through the acquisition, Toro has acquired several models of topdressing and material handling equip-ment that will enhance the company’s position in the turf maintenance industry.

TY-CROP products will be marketed under the Toro brand and sold through Toro’s distribution channel in the United States and inter-national markets.

“Comprehensive cultiva-tion and topdressing programs are increasingly

important for our customers around the world,” said Michael Happe, vice presi-dent of Toro’s commercial business. “Golf courses and sports fields rely on these machines to achieve improved agro-nomic conditions and to create healthy, consistent playing surfaces. TY-CROP’s solid reputation in this important category complements our existing line of application and cultivation equipment.

“Equally, it provides our customers with a more

comprehensive offering to meet their turf maintenance needs.”

While primarily employed on golf course

greens and fair-ways to improve

turf health, control thatch and provide optimal playing condi-

tions, topdressing

and material handling

equipment is gaining increased acceptance on sports fields.

Sports turf managers will use these machines to even-ly apply a variety of materi-als like topsoil, fertiliser, sand, lime, and even crumb rubber for artificial turf.

Toro acquire Ty-Crop Manufacturing

Ufford Park Hotel Golf and Spa in Suffolk has introduced a set of forward pink tees specifically aimed at encouraging more women to take up the sport, whilst at the same time raising funds for a Breast Cancer charity.

Described as a ‘challeng-ing par 71, 18 hole course’, the new pink tees will signifi-cantly shorten the course by over 1,500 yards, enabling beginners and lady golfers to play the course with ease.

“This whole idea evolved from trying to increase not

just our lady membership numbers, but also ladies pay and play rounds,” said Tarnia Robertson, marketing director at Ufford Park.

“We realised that we needed to simplify the course and try to make it less intimidating, which is why we came up with the idea of shorter holes with less hazards.”

As part of the scheme, the club will donate £1 to Breast Cancer Awareness, every time a player tees-off from the pink tee boxes.

ufford park goes pink to promote breast Cancer

NOVEMBER 2009 GME 5

on the cover

faCTfilE;

The Toro Company(Irrigation Headquarters)

5825 Jasmine StreetRiverside CA 92504

USA

TEl; (1) 951 785 3364faX; (1) 951 687 3979

WEblInK; TORO.COM

For over 95 years Toro has delivered innovative prod-ucts that provide solutions to help you manage your water, energy and labour resources as effi ciently as possible while still delivering the best playing conditions.

As issues about water usage and availability continue to impact the golf industry, many owners and operators are seeking more practical answers.

At Toro, we are constantly working to develop innova-tive new ways to more effi-ciently use water, including the ability to switch sprinklers from full circle to part circle patterns for limited watering and adjust the trajectory of the sprinkler.

Our products and distribu-tors support new course construction, full system

renovations as well as system component upgrades that can be implemented immediately or over time.

Toro provides practical solutions that address your needs.

Our innovation is focused on what you need to deliver the best playing conditions with savings to your budget and the environment.

Beyond innovation, quality cannot be overstressed. Our top priority is providing you with the best irrigation prod-ucts – and then backing them up with the most expe-rienced team of service professionals in the business.

To keep you and your course on track, our comprehensive service offerings range from installa-tion and training to system

optimisation – and every-thing in between, including financing.

To support the golf industry and promote smart water management, we fund programs and partner with several trade associations including the EGCOA.

Our goal is to partner with you to understand your challenges and provide both the product and serv-ice solutions you need to maximize your available resources while also provid-ing outstanding playing conditions. GME

“At Toro, we are constantly working to develop innovative new ways to more efficiently use water”

Toro irrigation... The right choice in golf irrigation

6 GME NOVEMBER 2009

Construction at one of the Middle East’s most signifi-cant new golf and real estate communities, New Giza, Egypt is underway.

Tim Lobb, principal of Thomson Perrett and Lobb, the international golf course architecture practice found-ed by five times Open Champion Peter Thomson, has just returned from a site visit with Design Associate Andrew Goosen, and confirmed that staking has been completed and bulk construction on the golf course, on hills with views to

the ancient Pyramids, has begun in earnest.

“With so many golf devel-opments having been put on hold over the past year, it is a credit to the developers and everyone involved with New Giza that the project is moving forward,” said Lobb.

“The site for the golf course is part of one of the most dramatic landscapes we have worked on, with incredible hilltop views to the Pyramids and 50-metre high cliffs, which have been incorporated into the golf course design.”

Lobb added: “The news that there will be an MGM Grand Resort on site under-lines New Giza’s status as a landmark development for Egypt. It is a very exciting project to be involved with.”

The community will be part of the 1,500-acre New Giza development which will also include a second hotel, a hospital, a medical school, a university and two schools, plus restaurants, shopping malls, offices and 5,500 resi-dential properties.

The golf course, which is a central part of the develop-ment, will incorporate bold natural features that will create a unique golfing experience.

“We are fortunate to have such an outstanding piece of land to work with,” continued Lobb.

“We are not actually having to move huge amounts of earth to create interest and excitement in this golf course, as the hills, ravines and cliffs are already there.

“What we are doing, through the design and construction, is bringing the drama of the landscape to life for golf, and we have no doubt that New Giza will be a landmark project for the region.”

news

The Rio Real Golf Resort on Spain’s Costa del Sol has recently purchased a fleet of 54 petrol E-Z-GO RXV golf cars from local distributor, Green Mowers of Estepona.

Following the two-year review cycle with the USGA, The R&A has an-nounced 30 new Deci-sions, 49 revised Decisions and one withdrawn Decision for the 2010-2011 edition of Decisions on the Rules of Golf. The changes will take effect on January 1, 2010.

St Andrews links has received national rec-ognition after winning a prestigious award for protecting the ecology of the historic land at the Home of Golf. The Golf Course Environment Awards aim to promote and reward the highest standards of environmen-tal management in golf and the Links Trust was the overall winner.

A flock of Hebridean sheep has been drafted in to control rough on the recently opened Machrihanish Dunes Golf Club, in western Scotland, where mowing is prohib-ited. The club, in Argyll, is built on a Site of Special Scientific Interest and environmental restrictions mean the grass cannot be cut by the traditional method of mowing.

A loss-making municipal golf course in Birmingham is to be turned into a cycling centre. The city’s leisure chiefs have drawn up plans for cycle race circuits and paths, a velo-drome, a BMX route and a stunt park on the Hilltop Golf Course.

in briEf;

Construction underway at new Giza project

Ransomes Jacobsen have signed a three-year exten-sion which will see it retain official supplier status with The Professional Golfers’ Association.

“Ransomes Jacobsen has established itself as a world leader in turf care equip-ment and the PGA is delighted to cement its rela-tionship by welcoming them as PGA Official Supplier for

another three years,” said PGA property and commer-cial director Robert Maxfield.

David Withers, managing director of Ransomes Jacobsen added: “This is yet more excellent news for Ransomes Jacobsen; we have won significant busi-ness across the globe this year, and we look forward to our continued working relationship with the PGA.”

ransomes Jacobsen extends pGa deal

A beaver which escaped from a nearby zoo wrecked havoc at the Hertfordshire Golf and Country Club.

The rogue rodent – called Mrs B – gnawed through a centrepiece tree at the exclusive club in Broxbourne.

The birch was badly damaged after the attack, but will not need to be felled.

Unfortunately for the golf club, Mrs B couldn’t have picked a more prominent tree – the birch is in the middle of a small island on a pond on the fairway.

“They set a few traps on the ponds,” said a worker at the golf club shop. “It’s been having a lot of fun down there by the looks of it.”

Mrs B escaped from Paradise Wildlife Park, which is adjacent to the par-70 course, by digging her way to freedom under the fence of her enclosure.

Following a few days on the loose, she was caught by zookeepers who camou-flaged a crate filled with fruit and vegetables.

beaver attack upsets The hertfordshire

NOVEMBER 2009 GME 7

news

Weller Designs Limited Golf Course ArchitectsBishops Mead House, West Street, Farnham, Surrey GU9 7DU

E I G C AEUROPEAN INSTITUTE OFGOLF COURSE ARCHITECTS

Email [email protected] www.wellerdesigns.co.uk Telephone 01252 712 127

Directors: David Weller Bruce Weller

Passion and Flair . . . is Excellence From concept to completion, Weller Designs, specialist golf course architects

• Course appraisals & surveying • Concept & detailed design • Full planning application • Environmental impact assessment

• New Builds • Remodelling • Construction specification • Site supervision

Untitled-1.indd 1 18/9/09 13:08:20

AFT Trenchers Ltd

AFT45For compact

tractors from 20hpWith chain or slitting wheel, augers or

conveyor to quickly install drainage systems,pipes or cables as and when needed.

Tel: +44 (0)1787 311811

Email: [email protected]

AFT45>PPC port aw:. 3/3/09 11:57 Page 1

Controversy has flared up again in Cyprus following the death of a worker on the site of the planned Limni Golf Resort, near Paphos.

The row centres on the disused mine at Limni, owned by Cyprus Limni Resorts and Golf Courses plc, which in turn is owned by the Shacolas Group.

An electrician working for the contractor was killed on the site by a 150-ton truck driven by a co-worker.

The country’s Green Party alleges that the build is a commercial project which

“has carried on for more than a year without a permit, without an environ-mental study and without a risk assessment report,” and have long claimed that the work started by the Shacolas Group a year ago is illegal.

This has allegedly involved filling in the mine and moving around the huge piles of contaminated resi-due left over from the extraction method used at the mine until it ceased operations in 1979.

Residents of nearby Argaka village have also

expressed fears that poison-ous residue carried by the wind to their village could cause serious illness.

In February, Shacolas Group’s public relations director, Pavlos Pavlou, said: “Nothing illegal is taking place, and we are not acting beyond our legal rights.

“We are following the procedures provided by law. None of these accusa-tions are true.”

The group obtained licenses to construct two signature golf courses in the

area, but the planning permits needed for building to start have still not been granted.

In November 2008, the Interior Minister issued an order to suspend all work on site, against which Cyprus Limni Resorts lodged an appeal.

In a press statement issued following the electrician’s death, the Green Party said that the government either could not or did not want to enforce the law, giving free passage to the “big busi-nessmen’s trucks.”

Controversy continues on planned limni Golf resort

As part of its continued investment in its facilities, The Wisley in Surrey has commit-ted to a new Toro five-year exclusivity agreement.

A true private members’ club, The Wisley’s general manager Wayne Sheffield says that the deal is part of an overall programme of improvements.

“Here at The Wisley, we continue to invest in our facilities to meet the highest expectations of our membership,” said Sheffield.

“Although already a Toro customer, the careful plan-ning of our greenkeeping equipment is vital to ensur-ing the fleet matches our stringent quality demands.”

The Wisley gets even more exclusive with Toro

8 GME NOVEMBER 2009

news

TGI Golf, one of Europe’s leading buying groups for golf professionals, has joined forces with The PGA to create what is set to become Europe’s largest golf trade show and educa-tion event.

The event, which will build on the success of TGI Golf’s own trade show, will be open to the PGA’s 6,000-plus members in Europe, bringing the golf industry together at England’s Harrogate International Centre, from October 26-28, 2010.

The combined trade exhi-bition and educational event will move to larger exhibition halls at the HIC.

PGA professionals will be able to accumulate every-thing they need for the Association’s Lifelong Learning Programme

through an extensive range of conferences and educa-tional seminars, which will be delivered by experts and high-profile guest speakers.

For suppliers, there will be the opportunity to display and sell new products to thousands of retailers face-to-face.

Eddie Reid, TGI Golf managing director, said: “We see this show as a huge opportunity for both suppli-ers and PGA members.

“The PGA has recognised the success of the TGI Golf Show and the potential to develop this event as a plat-form for a larger, pan-indus-try trade exhibition and education event over the long term.”

Reid continued: “We wanted to evolve the TGI Golf Show and move it

forward to reflect the complex market in which we work. We have been listen-ing to our members, who have said they want and need more educational opportunities.

“So, The PGA has become involved to provide all the pro’s educational needs, while TGI Golf will continue to provide an exhibition that fulfils the needs of the

members and partner suppliers.”

Commenting on the part-nership, PGA chief execu-tive, Sandy Jones, said: “The PGA is always looking for new initiatives to bring bene-fits to its membership.

“There is no doubt the partnership with TGI Golf will bring new and exciting opportunities to all PGA members everywhere.”

The pGa lend support to TGi Golf trade show

As the first autumn gales and torrential rain cause havoc, a British businessman has devel-oped a unique low cost system designed to eradi-cate standing water on golf courses.

James Arrowsmith, managing director of Aquadyne Sales and Marketing, believes the answer to this golfing nightmare, is a British invention which is 100 per cent effective, environ-mentally sound and requires no maintenance.

Made from recycled plastic, Aquadyne panels have a proven flow rate of 21,000 millimetres per hour; are effective in all soil conditions and work relentlessly without the risk of clogging.

“Panels have been installed to dry out persist-ently flooded bunkers,” added Arrowsmith, “and it’s very easy to install.

“The surface is hardly disturbed!

“With annual mainte-nance work now being carried out on golf cours-es throughout Europe, the drainage solution could not be easier.”

European Golf Design (EGD) has announced that it will be continuing its patron-age of the Golf Environment Organisation (GEO) with a new three-year partnership agreement.

This financial and in-kind commitment will help GEO to continue advancing golf’s sustainability drive.

Over the last three years, EGD’s support for GEO has enabled considerable progress in enhancing golf’s social and environmental role around the world.

Patron support fuels core initiatives and projects such as GEO Certification, which is an innovative on-line programme that helps golf clubs improve their perform-ance, profile and overall profitability.

Jonathan Smith, chief executive of GEO said: “European Golf Design’s continued support is a great boost to GEO.

“To have the backing of one of the world’s premier golf design companies is important to us.

“It reinforces the fact that GEO’s approach is credible, comprehensive, and very relevant to developers, club owners, managers and greenkeepers as well as golf’s governing bodies.”

Jeremy Slessor, managing director of EGD added: “At EGD we take this partnership very seriously.

“We have already estab-lished an environmental poli-cy for the practice, and have begun to footprint and offset our unavoidable carbon emissions.”

EGd and GEo renew partnership

Rhys Norville, an assistant greenkeeper at Newport Golf Club in South Wales, has won the title of Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year 2009. And with it, a dream trip of a lifetime to study turf management in America.

Now in its 21st year, Norville made this year’s competition even more exciting by becoming both its youngest ever winner as well as the first Welsh recipi-ent of the title.

The 21-year-old won the prestigious award after

beating off stiff competition from six fellow students at the national finals held at BIGGA recently.

Norville has won an amaz-ing, all-expenses-paid trip to the US as part of his prize.

After attending a six-week residential turf management course at the University of Massachusetts in early 2010, he’ll also benefit from visits to The Toro Company’s global headquarters in Minneapolis and renowned Golf Industry Show and Conference in San Diego in February.

rhys norville wins Toro student of the year award

NOVEMBER 2009 GME 9

news

A premier Dublin golf club can continue to bar women from membership, the Irish Supreme Court has ruled, in a discrimination case inspired by similar protests against men-only clubs in the United States.

In a landmark split judg-ment, Ireland’s top court has ruled that Portmarnock Golf Club was not violating the country’s Equal Status Act, by not allowing women equal access to the club-house.

The three-to-two vote determined that the 2000

anti-discrimination law permits exceptions for exclu-sively male and female clubs.

In 2004, a Dublin District Court judgment ruled that Portmarnock was in breach of the law – and threatened to withdraw its bar license if it didn’t give women equal access to the clubhouse.

The Equality Authority of Ireland pursued the case on behalf of the National Women’s Council of Ireland.

But in their majority judg-ment, the Irish Supreme Court judges – among them

one woman – noted that Ireland’s law permits clubs to restrict membership to one sex, if that club’s “principal purpose is to cater only for the needs of persons of a particular gender.”

Those needs included Portmarnock’s central purpose of social fraternisa-tion, they ruled.

Lawyers representing the club conceded up front that its membership policy discriminated in favour of men, but the Equal Status Act permitted this excep-tion.

One of the dissenting judges, Susan Denham, said her colleagues gave too little weight to the reality that golf was no more a “need” for men than for women, therefore any golf club barring a particular sex as members was breaking the law.

“Portmarnock Golf Club is exactly what its name says: a golf club in Portmarnock.

“It caters for men and women in different ways,” she said, arguing that this was the essence of discrimi-nation.

portmarnock wins legal fight to ban women

Club Car have recently signed deals to supply vehi-cles to Bonalba Golf and Alicante Golf clubs in Spain.

The deal, which was agreed via Club Car’s local distributor, Riversa, saw 45 vehicles delivered to Bonalba Golf, with a further 45 vehicles delivered to Alicante Golf.

Ricardo Muelas, Club Car’s business development manager for Southern Europe said: “Club Car is delighted and honoured to be associated with both of these fantastic courses.

“These deals are impor-tant additions to our portfo-lio and bears testament to the quality of our product.”

significant account deals for Club Car in spain

(44) 01394 380800 | ppcgolf.com

Located in Dobele, Latvia, 45 minutes from Riga International airport, this 294-hectare site comprises planning for an 18 hole golf course, 596 residential plots and a 300-room hotel complex.For detailed information and guide price, contact: +44 (0)7767 480405.

To view this, and other golf courses for sale throughout the UK, Europe, The Middle East and Africa, register your interest at ppcgolf.com — the company that really understands the business of golf.

PPC

FranceIrelandLatviaMoroccoSpainSwedenUnited Kingdom

10 GME NOVEMBER 2009

news

A new business which will help golf clubs cut emissions and go carbon neutral has been launched.

Based in Suffolk, Carbon Neutral Landscapes (CNL) offers a path to carbon neutral operations for the total golf course environ-ment from clubhouse to mower maintenance, cater-ing and buggy’s.

CNL uses linked facilities, energy, transport and turf-care operations and agron-

omy models to construct an auditable carbon footprint of the whole golf course.

This is then used as the basis of an action plan to achieve carbon neutrality and reduce energy costs.

CNL is headed by Dr Steve Chicken, a former manag-ing director of Ransomes Jacobsen, who during his time at the Ipswich manu-facturing facility, helped it became the only turfcare equipment firm to gain the

ISO 14000 environmental standard.

“Becoming carbon neutral is not just about saving the environment,” said Chicken, “there are core business improvement reasons too.

“Becoming carbon neutral saves money, improves staff morale and retention and is a strong marketing tool.

“Being seen to be an envi-ronmentally-sensitive neigh-bour is also important for the courses’ position in the local community.”

CNL uses the proven ‘Par 0’ model which has been in use in Canada since 2007.

The ‘Par 0’ system is based around a process of gather-ing information about all course operations, and this information is then used to develop and complete an action plan toward becom-ing carbon neutral.

The Carbon Neutral Landscapes’ team provides support, information and best practices throughout the process, including marketing plans and templates for promoting a course’s success on its carbon neutral journey.

Huxley Golf has announced the appoint-ment of a new distributor in Austria to look after sales and installations of the entire Huxley range of golf practice, teaching and playing aids. Trading as Huxley Golf Austria, the new company is based near Graz, Austria and is owned and operated by head professional Markus Strobl and PGA profes-sional Eddie Cooper.

An energy efficient light-ing scheme by Lumenata Lighting Design enabled a 101-year old golf club to reduce its carbon footprint and slash energy bills. The scheme at Ash-ton and Lea Golf Club in Preston, featured some of the latest low energy light fittings, combined with ‘intelligent’ lighting technology to maximise on energy savings.

The PGA’s Official Supplier programme has been given a boost by golf insurance specialists Golf-plan signing a five-year extension. “In the modern era, specialist golf insur-ance has become an important requirement,” said Robert Maxfield, PGA property and com-mercial director.

Golfbreaks.com, has reported year-end revenues of more than £20 million, bolstered by three consecutive months of record-breaking sum-mer bookings.

Diamond Golf Architects has recently been ap-pointed to perform a full audit on the renowned Royal Golf Club du Hai-naut, in Belgium, which was originally designed by Tom Simpson.

in briEf;

new company to help clubs go Carbon neutral

Lough Erne Golf Resort in Northern Ireland has just installed ten golf bag stor-age carousels into the club’s brand new clubhouse.

Purchased from Carousel Golfing, and capable of storing a total of 120 bags, the storage facility was simple to install as Andy Campbell, director of golf at Lough Erne explained.

“It took no more than 25 minutes to assemble each unit, which was one of the key points for us – they were easy to assemble and we could build them ourselves.

“I’ve used concertina style bag storage devices in the past at other golf clubs, but I have to say that the carou-sel system is far more economical, both in terms of

cost and in space, and stores far more bags per square metre.

“We’ve been so impressed that we will prob-ably order another four carousels next year as busi-ness grows.”

Asides from Lough Erne, the Carousel system is also installed at the K Club, Dun Laoghaire and Portmarnock.

lough Erne in a spin over Carousel

The oldest golf club in Ireland, the Royal Belfast, founded in 1881, has taken a pioneering approach to managing its steep banks and slopes with the intro-duction of a Ransomes Spider II remote controlled mower from local Ransomes Jacobsen dealer Broderick (Northern Ireland) Ltd.

With the introduction of more rigorous Health and Safety standards, course manager Jim Eager, had to find alternatives for mowing the steep banks that frame the lawn in front of the club-house.

Previously these were maintained with hover mowers, but this practice is now forbidden under tighter HSE rules.

“When we were unable to maintain the banks to the normal high standards we were under pressure to find an immediate solution,” said Eager.

“I spoke to Broderick’s and they quickly provided a demonstration of the Spider for the Greens Committee and my greenkeeping team, and it was immedi-ately obvious that this was the ideal solution.”

Paul Raphel is the princi-pal operator of the machine and added: “Since we bought the Spider we have found other tasks for it.

“We have a steep bank around our 17th tee so we use it maintain this awkward area, as well as trimming some bunker edges.”

no arachnophobia at royal belfast

NOVEMBER 2009 GME 11

news

The Ultimate Golf Bag Storage System

Make More Space with our unique Golf Bag Carousel

Installations include:Lough ErneDun LaoghaireR&A St AndrewsPenha LongaK Club & Portmarnock

View a demo video atwww.carouselgolfing.com

Carousel Golfing Tel: (44) 01242 702967 Mobile: (44) 07787 123941

[email protected]

Fairfield Golf and Sailing Club, Manchester, is ready to begin a new era thanks to work completed by Souters Sports to create a course redesign including a number of new holes, improvements to existing holes and an increase from par 68 to 71.

The golf club have also worked hand in hand, with United Utilities – the land owner – to extend the club’s lease for a further 50 years whilst also giving the club an addittional 16 acre parcel of land.

The club also worked with former European Open champion and PGA profes-sional Andrew Murray and Richard Le Sueur of Golf Design Scotland on the redesign.

“As the architect for the project, Richard took a flexi-ble approach to the design enabling the scheme to evolve over the course of the project,” said Paula Steer, head of property for United Utilities Property Solutions.

Souters Sports were select-ed for the construction work based on their expertise.

Todd Jerome, who was brought to the company as golf development manager, brings a wealth of experi-ence in golf course construction having previ-ously worked on The Castle Course at St Andrews, The Renaissance Club and Loch Lomond.

“The Fairfield re-configura-tion project is a good exam-ple of golf working in harmo-ny with the environment,” said Jerome.

“The project start was deferred for months and a considerable amount of

resources went into over-coming any potential nega-tive impact on the sites envi-ronment.”

To address concerns that three holes of the re-config-uration were built on a land-fill site, with the potential of asbestos, Souters Sports imported tested topsoil, measured and recorded all surface coverage levels to insure the landfill areas were adequately safe.

The replacement holes, new greens and tees are now finished with a project-ed opening in spring 2010.

new fairfield Golf Course preserves Wildlife

John Deere’s 2009 Golf Roadshow drew the crowds, as well as favourable comments from greenkeep-ers, according to the company’s turf equipment product marketing manager Henry Bredin.

Following its successful tour of the UK in September and October, the event visit-

ed the north and south of Ireland in November.

The theme of the tour was precision and productivity, and this was reflected in demonstrations of the company’s new Quick Adjust cutting units, hybrid E-Cut mowers and HD200 SelectSpray turf sprayer, and the popular irrigation range.

John deere’s roadshows draws the crowds


news

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) wants to recruit Britain’s 2,600 golf courses to the fight to save rare species.

The rough and out-of-bounds areas of golf courses can offer unexpected sanc-tuary to wildlife, it says.

Together with the R&A, the conservation group has published a handbook to help course greenkeepers

think of a different kind of birdie.

“Golf courses may have gained a bad reputation, perhaps not always justified, among environmentalists in the past, but that is chang-ing,” said Nigel Symes of the RSPB.

“The truth is that every golf course has the potential to be a sanctuary for wildlife, and to provide an important

stepping stone for birds and other animals whose habitat is under threat.

“While researching this report we have come across a lot of inspiring examples of golf clubs which are doing really great things for wild-life.”

There are 140,000 hectares of suitable rough and out-of-bounds areas across UK golf courses, about the same as that covered by the RSPB’s reserves combined.

Steve Isaac of the R&A, said: “There has been a growing awareness over the past decade or so in the sport that courses need to do more for wildlife.

“While there are some greenkeepers who put more water and pesticides on their courses than we would like, there are many golf clubs who are managing habitats for wildlife on their land.”

The RSPB highlighted Royal Troon, which has surveyed populations of breeding birds including skylark and linnet, and manages the course around them.

Hankley Common in Surrey has rare nightjar, woodlark and Dartford warblers, while several courses in the Highlands are some of the best places to spot the Scottish crossbill, the only bird species unique to Britain.

There was even a pair of white-tailed eagles nesting next to a fairway on a golf course in Mull this summer.

But albatrosses remain rare on British courses, a RSPB spokesman confirmed.

Alan Gange, a biologist at Royal Holloway, University of London, has studied golf course wildlife and says the common public perception of them as bad for the envi-ronment is unfair.

“The problem is that people compare them with pristine habitat when they should really ask what would be there if the golf course wasn’t, which is usually farm-land,” he said.

“Only about 40 per cent of a typical course is actually played on, yet that is the bit that people see when they watch golf on television.”

rspb turn to golf in order to save birds

The Muscat Hills Golf and Country Club, in Oman, will reopen to the public on December 1.

It closed temporarily from the second week of October, following a record breaking start to golf at the course that exceeded all expecta-tions.

Since opening in May, the course attracted thousands of golfers drawn to grass course play for the very first time in Oman.

But it closed temporarily to relocate and refurbish the existing clubhouse.

New additions include shower facilities, a new lounge area and pro shop, whilst a a new road has been laid that will permit golfers to drive their own cars right to the clubhouse.

Leon Sassen, Muscat Hills marketing and membership manager, said: “Guests will definite-ly notice the difference as soon as they drive in.”

Nine new holes are to be constructed at a Basingstoke golf course after the club won a planning appeal.

Weybrook Park Golf Club had already won permission to create the new back nine, but concern over safe-ty on the approaches to the proposed holes 17 and 18 prompted changes that required a fresh application.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council rejected the new application because of concerns over the loss of hedgerows, but a planning inspector has over-turned the council’s decision after an agreement was reached and new evidence about the ecological value of the hedgerows was submitted.

The golf club will now have 27 holes with its existing back nine turned into a separate short course or mixed and matched with the new holes during competitions.

The first three new holes at Weybrook Park are due to come into use next year with others to follow over the next three years.

planning appeal overturns decision

Holidaymakers have been taking their golf clubs to Spain for decades, but soon they will be playing a very modern version of the ancient game.

Golfers on the resort island of Gran Canaria will be the first in the country to sample the game’s quick-fire new PowerPlay Golf ‘two-flag’ format, when GolfCanarias.org holds its first PowerPlay Golf event at the Anfi Tauro Golf and Luxury Resort on November 28, 2009.

The special event – which launches the new PowerPlay

Golf Gran Canaria League – will introduce the island’s residents and tourists to golf PowerPlay Golf-style, which involves nine holes, two flags on each green and a risk-and-reward challenge which has drawn favourable comparisons with Twenty20 Cricket.

“The PowerPlay Golf Gran Canaria League will help to promote the wonderful experiences which golfers can find in The Canary Islands,” commented GolfCanarias.org managing director, Gary Stevens.

powerplay Golf ready to tee-off in spain


news

Education17-21 January 2010

VenueHarrogate International CentreNorth YorkshireEngland

ExhibitionTuesday 19 January 2010Wednesday 20 January 2010Thursday 21 January 2010

Visit ourHarrogate Weekpage on...

The Largest Indoor Sports Facility and Turf Maintenance Exhibition in Europe

An Extensive Five Day Education Programme

incorporating...

Visi

t our

w

ebsite

at www.harrogateweek.org.uk

HW10AD2_1.2L.indd 1 6/11/09 11:22:58

PowaKaddy has devel-oped a ground breaking new winter wheel solution, in collaboration with BIGGA, which seems set to increase winter revenue for course owners, managers and retailers and lift the winter blues for golfers.

As electric trolley use has risen, a source of great frus-tration for golfers, green-keepers, owners and retail-ers alike, has been the lack of a universal solution for regular winter use.

Turf damage has meant that greenkeepers have been reluctant to allow regular trolley use in certain wet, wintery conditions.

For course owners and on-course retailers the equa-tion is simple. Less winter golf means less revenue and less membership retention when subs renewal time comes around.

Armed with an initial prototype, PowaKaddy’s group product manager Lee Manvell worked with

BIGGA over an eight month process to test, refine and re-assess the Winter wheel concept.

PowaKaddy assembled an advisory panel of head greenkeepers and course managers to conduct the prototype testing, and the wheel’s key performance attributes, such as weight distribution, traction, turning ability and the affect on the grass blades, root damage and soil compaction were scrutinised.

In all cases the new Winter wheel passed the perform-ance criteria established.

Richard Whyman, green-keeper at Burnham and Berrow GC said: “It was great for a company to approach greenkeepers for input during the design stag-es. In the trial the wheels gave better wheel to turf footprint helping to avoid that usual wheel spin.

“A definite improvement to what I have seen availa-ble to date.”

powakaddy’s revolutionary new winter wheel

Bunclody Golf and Fishing Club, situated in County Wexford, has purchased an extensive package of course maintenance equip-ment from Ransomes Jacobsen.

The equipment, with a retail price in excess of r800,000, includes pedestri-an greens mowers, tees mowers, light fairway mowers, semi-rough rotary

mowers, bunker rakes, utility vehicles, top dressers and a greens roller.

Duncan O’Shaughnessy is the superintendent at the 7,164 yard course and said: “The package we have taken has given us a comprehensive range of course management machines that are ideal for our requirements here at Bunclody.”

orange is the colour out on the course at bunclody

Heritage in the making


club focusWEblInK; ST-MELLION.CO.UK

St Mellion International Resort achieved a notable first in the 1980s when they persuaded Jack Nicklaus to build his first golf course anywhere in the UK.

Officially opened to widespread acclaim in 1988, the Cornish resort’s Nicklaus Course quickly became a ‘must-play’ venue for any serious golfer keen to tread the same fairways as the best in the world.

St Mellion and its owners, Crown Golf, have been at it again, this time undergoing a £20 million redevelopment to coincide with its most famous layout’s 21st birth-day ─ and restore its place among the leading golf destinations in the UK, Ireland and Europe.

The Nicklaus Signature Course and its older brother, the newly-renamed Kernow Resort Course, have undergone a £2.5 million transformation in advance of host-ing the English Open and the European Tour’s finest players from 2011 to 2015.

Work has included a major bunker rebuilding programme, remodelled greens, new tees and fairway irrigation system and, in the case of the Kernow, the design of nine new holes.

The resort has been busy off the course as well with a refurbishment plan that has included the complete demolition of its old hotel ─ with a brand new 80-bedroom four-star hotel complete with new busi-ness and leisure facilities taking its place.

“Visitors to St Mellion now have both accommodation and golf facilities which befit our stunning Cornish location,” said Crown Golf chief executive Stephen Lewis.

“Our members can be enormously proud that their golf club now bears comparison with any in Europe.

“The new-look St Mellion represents an investment of several years and £20m by Crown Golf.

st Mellion aims to put Cornwall back on the map

Following a £20 million redevelopment of St Mellion International Resort in Cornwall, owners Crown Golf can be justifiably proud of the finished result, as Peter Simm found out on a recent visit.


faCTfilE;

St Mellion International ResortSt Mellion

SaltashCornwall PL12 6SD

England

TEl; (44) 01579 351351faX; (44) 01579 350537

EMail;[email protected]

dirECTor of Golf;David Moon

CoursE ManaGEr;Mike Bush

Club foundEd;1976

“Visitors to the resort now have accom-modation and golf facilities which befit our stunning Cornish location.

“I believe that our new resort is a fitting flagship for the group, and our position as Europe’s leading owner/operator of golf clubs.”

To give you a bit of background, St Mellion’s Old Course (now the Kernow) opened in 1976 after two Cornish broth-ers and the original owners, Martin and Hermon Bond, had the idea of developing their 450-acre farming site.

As the story goes, it was after the 1979 Benson and Hedges International Open that the brothers heard a young Severiano Ballesteros making critical comments about the course.

Angry and smarting from the young Spaniard’s criticism, the Bonds quickly resolved to build a new and unequivocally challenging course and, after three years of persuasion, Nicklaus finally agreed to fly to Cornwall to look at the site in 1982.

Needless to say, the mixture of hills and valleys, woodland, heath and streams made a lasting impression on one of golf ’s greats and, five years later with some 1.5 million cubic yards of landscape having been rearranged, the course was open for business.

As a roll call of winners that includes Bernhard Langer (twice), Ballesteros, Jose Maria Olazabal and Paul Casey would indicate, The Nicklaus provides the ster-nest of tests and requires even the most talented of golfers to produce a full array of shots.

With the Kernow Resort Course and the rest of its facilities having been elevat-ed to a new level, St Mellion can rightly look forward to the future with excite-ment and optimism.

“This is about bringing the course back to life and putting it back on the world

stage,” said resort director Stephen Towers.

“Jack Nicklaus is probably the greatest golfer ever. We’ve taken his masterpiece and brushed it up. And he has personally been involved in the refurbishment of the course.

“It has been a really, really positive start and we are ahead of where we thought we would be.

“It was a major step to build the new hotel from scratch but things have gone very well since we re-opened. We are attracting different groups of people to play golf which is what was needed.

“The new Kernow Course provides a great balance and a bit of respite for people who find the Nicklaus a bit too hard and we have already had a high level of repeat business. That is the best report we can get.

“I believe St Mellion International Resort is now the perfect destination for both business and pleasure in south-west England.

“Whether you come here for business, to play golf, to relax, for a wedding, or for a function, or simply to use St Mellion as a base to explore Cornwall, I believe that our revitalised resort will exceed even the highest expectations.”

Accommodation at St Mellion has changed beyond all recognition and, just 14 months after the resort’s old hotel was demolished, the new hotel opened this summer to a wide array of complements.

Each room offers Freeview plasma TV, internet access and luxury bedding, while many rooms also offer breathtaking balcony views across the golf courses and surrounding countryside.

Fourteen self-catering Fairway Lodges offer flexible accommodation from one to five bedrooms per lodge which are perfect for families, groups and longer stays while


HAWTREEGOLF COURSE ARCHITECTS

Since 1912

5 OxFORd STREET, WOOdSTOCk,OxFORd Ox20 1TQ

TEL: (01993) 811976 FAx: (01993) 812448

WWW.HAWTREE.CO.Uk

SHADEmakersCommercial Parasols

St Andrews | V&A | Royal National Theatre | The Grove | HiltonArnold Palmer Golf | Spinnaker Tower | Kensington Roof Gardens

Adventure Golf | Brocket Hall | Park Hyatt | Trecco Bay | Down Houseand many more...

the resort now offers visitors a choice of three dining experiences, all overlooking the stunning 18th hole of The Nicklaus Course with dishes made from fresh, locally sourced ingredients.

With thirteen conference and banquet-ing suites and a spa complex including three swimming pools, sauna, steam room, spa pool, state-of-the-art gym and a range of treatments, St Mellion has something for everyone.

And with improved golf facilities off the course including a new bag drop area, changing rooms, pro shop, academy with driving range and practice facilities, plus a fleet of 60 electric golf buggies, the resort is expecting to attract golfers from all over the world.

As you would expect for such a major project, the remodelled St Mellion is good news for the local economy.

“The new-look St Mellion will bring a major employment boost to the area,” said Towers. “As the Resort matures we estimate around 375 people each year will either be directly employed by ourselves, or will be employed in the local economy as a direct result of business growth at St Mellion.”

Towers, who moved to St Mellion fifteen months ago from nearby Bovey Castle, estimates that visitors to the Resort will contribute around £2 million per year in local revenue.

He added: “We’ve already invested heavily in the local economy. Local devel-opers built the hotel, and the entire Resort

– with the Nicklaus Course as its centre-piece – will be fantastic for Cornwall.

“We are bringing new business to the area, and we are putting this part of Cornwall on the world map.”

The changes have certainly worked so far. The hotel has been running at a 65 per cent occupancy rate since it re-opened while bookings on the Nicklaus Course for the second half of 2009 have been at the same levels as 2006, when the resort did a record 80,000 green fees.

Even greater interest is expected in 2011 when the new-look St Mellion receives its first major test as the European Tour returns after a sixteen year absence for the English Open.

“After the refurbishment, St Mellion International can at last claim to be one of Europe’s top golf resorts,” said Andy Hiseman, managing director of Hiseman Limited, Crown Golf ’s public relations company.

“The return of The PGA European Tour to St Mellion will ensure that it is one of golf ’s most talked-about destina-tions for years to come ─ and visitors will find that the resort’s new hotel, overlook-ing the 18th hole, gives The Nicklaus Signature Course a truly spectacular, Tour-style finish on a grand scale.

“With the Nicklaus recently ranked as England’s toughest golf course by one of the UK’s leading golf magazines, St Mellion International is relishing the pros-pect of staging The English Open in 2011.” GME

yearplanner 2010

18

19202122

23

24

19-21bTME/Clubhouse [Harrogate]28-30PGA Merchandise Show [Orlando]

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

Sun

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

25

26

27

28293031

The right choice.visit www.toro.com

January 2010

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

10-11Golf Industry Show [San Diego]

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

Sun

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

101112

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

fEbruary 2010

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

1-2london Golf Show [London]12-14KPMG Golf business Forum [Belek]

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

Sun

12

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12131415

16

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

May 2010

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

17-20US Open [Pebble Beach]

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

Sun

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17181920

28

29

30

JunE 2010

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

7-9IOG SAlTEX [Windsor]26-28Golf Europe [Munich]

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

Sun

1

2

3

4

5

6

78910

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

272829

30

sEpTEMbEr 2010

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

1-3Ryder Cup [Celtic Manor]26-28TGI Golf Show [Harrogate]

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

Sun

123

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

25

26272829

30

31

oCTobEr 2010

Turf Equipment &Irrigation Solutions

yearplanner 2010

The right choice.visit www.toro.com

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

Sun

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

29

30

31

MarCh 2010

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

8-11The Masters [Augusta National]30london Golf Show [London]

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

Sun

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

89

1011

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

26

27

28

29

30

april 2010

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

15-18The Open [St Andrews]

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

Sun

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15161718

26

27

28

29

30

31

July 2010

16171819

20

21

22

12-15US PGA [Whistling Straits]16-18PGA Fall Expo [Las Vegas]

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

Sun 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12131415

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

auGusT 2010

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

15-18International Golf Travel Market [Valencia]

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

Sun

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

1516171819

20

21

29

30

novEMbEr 2010

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

Sun

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

27

28

29

30

31

dECEMbEr 2010

Turf Equipment &Irrigation Solutions


the middle east

Having spent half his life living and working in the Middle East, Peter Harradine is better qualified than most to know about the potential for building golf courses in the region.

Born and raised in Switzerland, Harradine moved to Dubai in 1977 and has had no reason to regret his decision ever since. Trained as a landscape archi-tect, the 64-year-old freely admits to not having much involvement in golf design when he first moved to the area, prefer-ring to concentrate on continuing to create courses in Europe.

Harradine was not the first person to build a course in the region but he quickly spotted the potential to create a niche for himself in the market and he is now regarded as the most prolific course designer in the Middle East.

Quite simply, Harradine’s list of achievements reads like a Who’s Who of golf courses in the region.

Three of his lay-outs featured in this year’s top-ten ranked courses in the Middle East include Abu Dhabi Golf Club and Doha Golf Club in Qatar – both now regular venues on the European Tour calendar.

But the designer is not resting on his laurels. Three more courses were under construction in Dubai and another one in Sharjah and Harradine is still genuinely excited at the potential that still exists for the area, and further a-field in the emerg-ing market of Africa.

“My first involvement in the Middle East came 19 years ago in Abu Dhabi, Doha in 1992, followed by Kuwait and Egypt,” said Harradine.

“Karl Litten designed the first course in the region 21 years ago but I was the first golf architect to continue after seeing the opportunity.

“I am also a landscape architect and in the first years that I was starting out in Dubai I wasn’t too involved in golf. I would travel back to Europe every month and design golf courses in countries like Switzerland, France, Italy and Germany.

“There are development opportunities in the Middle East but many projects have been put on hold in the present economic climate. We are, however, still building two courses in Egypt and I still think the Middle East has space. “In Dubai, there is definitely room for public “municipal” golf courses to be built for people to play and enjoy themselves.

“But, we have to revaluate what we are building. One can easily accommodate two or three executive courses. We have to get away from these monster courses for the good of the game.

“Guys like Ernie Els and Tiger Woods have to create “monuments” otherwise people would say you could have got someone like me to build it, but we have to get back to creating courses for the normal amateur golfer.”

Peter’s father, Don Harradine, estab-lished Harradine Golf in 1929 and the company has since been responsible for building more than 200 courses world-wide in four continents, including little known golfing destinations such as Greece, India, Algeria, Slovenia and Tatarstan, whilst designing other projects in Albania, Georgia, Jordan, Serbia and Libya.

In the current economic climate, it’s little wonder

that Africa and the Middle-East are offering

new opportunities as traditional markets falter.

Peter Simm spoke with Dubai-based architect

Peter Harradine about his thoughts on the prospects

for the region.

The Middle East Envoy


In fact, there aren’t too many countries where Harradine hasn’t worked but it is the potential that lies in Africa that really has his creative juices flowing for the future.

Harradine has already built courses in Sudan, Algeria and Morocco and believes the land available and building regulations make it the perfect candidate to be golf‘s newest emerging market – although he accepts the continent does have other problems that need to be overcome.

He said: “I have just finished a course in the Sudan in Khartoum. It’s not a long course but it’s an interesting one and we convinced them not to fall into the trap of making it too long.

“The site was just a flat piece of rubbish and was full of silt from the Nile. We moved a lot of earth to create a great course.

“Africa has a great future but it has its own problems which are not related to water, greens and grass. The continent definitely has a future if they get them-selves sorted out.

“It has some great potential with some great coastlines, hinterland and parts of it are very lush and green.

“The potential in Africa is enormous and it’s incredible in terms of real estate.

“Environmental restrictions are not severe in the Middle East and Africa. They will definitely come in the future but they are not there now.

“It was easier for us to build a course in Sudan than it was in Eastern Europe.

“The planning procedure and bureauc-racy involved in Eastern Europe just to design and build a little bridge to cross a stream is unbelievable, and it’s crazy the time it takes to get things approved.

“The problem in Central and Northern Europe is that you are very limited concerning the type of land you receive. You just don’t get great sites any more as they are environmentally protected so the best sites are to be found in the emerging countries.

“You are also not limited by the type of land you get there. I’ve never been lucky enough to receive my dream site by the sea, but that won’t happen with EU regu-lations any more.

“In fact I always seem to receive pretty boring sites that are either flat agricultural land, salt flats, or rubbish dumps!”

With so much going for it, it’s easy to see why the golfing industry is turning its attention to Africa which is why PPC Golf – a sister company to Golf Management Europe – is expanding its property brokerage into the region.

Already, PPC Golf is offering for sale a 200-hectare development site in Safi, Morocco, which includes outline planning consent for an 18-hole golf course plus hotels, beach club, marina, tennis club, villas and equestrian centre.

As the game grows in popularity, it is anticipated that PPC Golf will be in a position to help expand and develop simi-lar sites not only in Africa, but throughout the Middle East. GME

(44) 01394 380800 | ppcgolf.com

A 200-hectare development site located in Safi, Morocco, with outline planning consent for an 18-hole golf course plus hotels, beach club, marina, tennis club, villas and equestrian centre.For detailed information and guide price, contact: +44 (0)7767 480405.

To view this, and other golf courses for sale throughout the UK, Europe, The Middle East and Africa, register your interest at ppcgolf.com — the company that really understands the business of golf.

PPC

FranceIrelandLatviaMoroccoSpainSwedenUnited Kingdom


online booking

With golf club memberships in the UK falling over the last few years, the world-wide recession has seen the problem of reduced revenue becoming exacerbated.

A new breed of golfer has emerged – the itinerant player who does not want to be a member of one club, but would rath-er participate on a ‘pay and play’ basis at a variety of courses to suit their mood and particular requirement.

This is not breaking news to most in the golf industry; international golf consultant, Dr Falk Billion highlighted this trend in a comprehensive study some five years ago and urged golf clubs to take advantage of technology to tap this massive market – worth many millions of pounds per year in the UK alone.

As any media guru will tell you, ‘e-commerce’ is not only the future, it is also the present. A strong online presence is the first step for any business – be it golf, retail or service based – but most important perhaps, the ability to sell directly online is rapidly becoming essen-tial.

One only has to look at eBay, Amazon and all of the airlines to see

that Internet transactions are how today’s consumer expects to trade.

Therefore it is commendable that the English Golf Union (EGU) has been promoting this very message to the counties in a series of ‘road-shows’ in 2008 and 2009.

However, once that honest and practical simplic-

ity has been explained, the message has – according to

many of the golf industry’s online companies – become very muddled.

And these companies are not happy. As with all things political or commercial, the story is complicated. It starts two and a half years ago and Brian Smith of BRS Systems in Armagh remembers it well: “The English, Scottish and Welsh Golf Unions put a contract for an online book-ing system out to tender.

“My company got to the last three in the process but it suddenly fell flat on its face and we heard no more about it. Then Gemini Network Media popped out of the woodwork last year.”

At the EGU’s Heart of the Club road shows in 2008, Jane Carter (former editor of Golf Monthly) was the Golf Club Marketing consultant to the EGU but was previously the director of ‘Golf Unlimited’, a company specialising in marketing, media and public relations for the golf industry and golf clubs before the company was acquired by Gemini Network Media in May 2009.

Smith thinks that this was an unfair advantage for Gemini: “Whilst Jane has an excellent reputation in the industry, there is no way she could be seen as truly independent when she was actively prais-ing Gemini.”

John Petrie has a different perception of Gemini’s role: “We [the EGU] undertook a great deal of research and found that the golf clubs did not want the EGU to spend money on an online booking system and they didn’t want to pay any ‘up-front’ fees themselves.

“We also wanted the software company to wear all the development costs and also absorb all the costs of marketing the product. Gemini offered us that.

“The EGU is not a commercial body – all we want to do is provide a service to the golf clubs.”

The English Golf Union has plans to launch a central booking system for online

tee-times, but not everyone is entirely happy with the

idea, as Trevor ledger investigates.

Tapping the source


From which was born Gemini’s One Golf Network which, for want of a better phrase, offers a ‘basket’ – housed by the EGU website – whereby all golf clubs with an online booking system in place can sell tee-times direct to golfers.

If a golf club does not have an online booking system, they will be able to get free software from Gemini and thus offer the service.

Petrie confirms that golf clubs with existing – non-Gemini – online booking systems can also use the EGU basket: “I do the presentation on this at the road-shows and I make it absolutely clear that there are other companies offering online booking services; it does not matter if you have an existing system, it can still work with One Golf Network’.”

Petrie is resolute that the actual supplier of the online tee-time system is immateri-al to the EGU: “We have 1,924 golf clubs in England; if we can get 1,000 of them online and they use, for instance, five different companies with 200 clients each, then we would be delighted.”

Brian Smith of BRS doesn’t see it this way: “We are now being forced to compete with Gemini and the EGU and that is disgraceful.

“Gemini say that they are not compet-ing with us but it has already started in Wales; one of my customers there said that they received a phone call from the Golfing Union of Wales stating that they should drop us and use Gemini instead.

“We have been in this market for seven years, developing and promoting our product. We welcome competition because we believe that we are the market leaders and have more than 350 custom-ers; but competition should be fair and on an even playing field.

“Gemini in the guise of the One Golf Network solution doesn’t offer that.”

The software solutions offered by companies such as BRS, Club Systems and ESP rely upon a client paying an ‘up-front’ fee for the software to be built to their particular specification.

Once up and running the club can then market their own tee times as well as take advantage of third party companies including onlineteetimes.co.uk and golfbreaks.com

These third party companies have data-bases of more than 300,000 ‘vagabond’ golfers and specific deals are emailed to them on behalf of the golf clubs

Where BRS, Club Systems and ESP differ from Gemini’s free software is that once their up-front charge is paid, noth-ing else is owed. Gemini, however, will levy a one per cent charge on any booking made with their free software and, addi-tionally, any booking through the One Golf

Network on the EGU site will incur a flat rate £0.50 per round payable to the EGU.

John Petrie makes a good case that the £0.50 per round charge is justified: “At the moment the EGU is only funded by the members of the clubs through their annual levy. We thought that it was only fair to find a way in which golfers that do not belong to a club can contribute to the game.”

Whereas BRS, ESP and Club Systems might yet manage to come to an agree-ment with the EGU and Gemini so that their client clubs will eventually be in the ‘EGU basket’ (which is Petrie’s under-standable wish), the entry of third party marketing channels is perhaps further away.

For the marketing of One Golf Network’s tee-times, those third party channels would need to make their entire database available to the EGU and Gemini.

Yet these are their greatest assets, won through years of marketing effort. This is a request that must receive a good deal of thought by all parties.

However, in a letter from Richard Dixon of the Golfing Union of Wales dated February 23, 2009 – available online¹ – Jane Carter’s response to his question about which third party chan-nels were involved with Gemini was: “We are confident that existing specialist golf sites – magazines, dedicated golf websites for example – will take the TTB [tee time booking] feed.”

Carter continued: “Golfbreaks.com and onlineteetimes.co.uk have also said they will support the system. It takes a lot of the work away from their sales team as they don’t have to fill the basket.”

When pressed about this claim, Carter now says: “On board is probably too strong at this point but we are in negotia-tions. They definitely support the princi-pal of the ‘basket’ and we should know by Christmas whether they are ‘on board’ or not.”

Even this is still news to the third party marketing channels whose positions regarding Gemini are much the same, ie. they are far from clear about Gemini’s involvement and especially its intentions, but in the meanwhile they are watching and waiting to see what happens, while getting on with growing their businesses.

And therein lies the problem; John Petrie of the EGU is desperate for English golf clubs to enter the Internet booking age and thus increase their revenue while strengthening the game of golf.

And yet, with confusion, mistrust (by some) of Gemini’s role and misinforma-tion being published on the Web, a vital marketing tool is in danger of being delayed, or worse, sidelined. GME

“The English Golf Union is not a commercial body – all we want to do is provide a service

to the golf clubs.”

¹www.golfunionwales.org/downloadDocument.aspx?DocumentId=554


eye candy caddies

Here Come the Girls. But not to the clubs owned by Leaderboard Golf in the South of England.

The Eye Candy Caddies are pulchri-tude non grata at Chart Hills in Biddenden, Kent, Dale Hill, near Ticehurst in East Sussex, Sandford Springs in Kingsclere, Hampshire and The Oxfordshire.

Leaderboard’s ban has been imposed for, “damaging the reputation of the

sport.”A spokesman for the group

is quoted as saying, “exploit-ing outmoded notions of

golf as a male bastion is not ‘just a bit of fun’,

it damages the reputation of the sport as a whole

as well as its appeal to members of the younger generation.”

Leaderboard say there have been complaints from members about the influx of glamour on its courses and has responded accordingly. And Leaderboard go further, insisting it is not being a kill-joy, “in objecting to a service which invites men to select from a photo menu of young women often pictured in their underwear, and judged according to the merits of their responses to questions such as, ‘what is your favourite body part.’”

That, concludes Leaderboard is knowl-edge not guaranteed to help your handi-cap. Eye Candy Caddies, which describes its service as the, “gorgeous new solution for unforgettable golf days,” is not both-ered about the ban.

When Leaderboard Golf took the decision to ban Eye Candy Caddies from their four courses, little did they appreciate the amount of publicity they would

be generating for the glamorous caddy service. John Vinicombe spoke to managing director, Sarah Stacey, about the recent media furor.

lipstick and Candy


On the contrary, Sarah Stacey (pictured left), the 43 year-old managing director of the company and a former model, sees the prohibition as a publicity boost when the recession has caused a slowing down in business.

“As a result of Leaderboard, there have been scores of articles about us from all over the world and TV coverage. They’ve done us a huge favour. It is the old story - something banned becomes more popu-lar.”

Stacey’s menage numbers about 150 girls and a few of them have actually played golf, one claiming an impressive single figure handicap.

Why anybody should complain is beyond Stacey. “We’ve twice been to The Oxfordshire and the vast majority of people there were thrilled and only 12 complained.

“Eye Candy Caddies was my idea. I began a model agency five years ago and one of my first contacts was at the London Golf Show. It followed-on from there.

“Eye Candy Caddies is a limited company providing a service, not for tournaments, but corporate events, socie-ties and particularly charity work. We do help raise a lot of money and ourselves donate to Children in Need.

“I’ve already been approached in Australia about starting up there, and I’m also looking at a franchises in Scotland and Ireland.”

So what did Eye Candy Caddies actual-ly do that upset Leaderboard?

Recruited from the world of modelling and dance, Eye Candy Caddies are schooled in golf etiquette and basically pull trolleys and heft bags and that’s all on the course. They wear pink outfits and later attend event dinners and celebrations and auctions in appropriate little black cocktail dresses.

Explained Stacey: “We put a smile on faces and the girls’ presence helps raise extra money for charities. We are not interfering with the serious side of golf nor do the girls fraternise with the golfers. Apart from carrying clubs and raking bunkers they also provide light banter.

“We have had male models but nobody ever asked for them. But, if we did get enquiries, I would gladly provide them. We do not do anything wrong. We get a lot of repeat business, so we must be doing something right. I don’t know what Leaderboard are getting so upset about but I’m glad they have.

“Leaderboard have never contacted me directly to complain. The first I heard about the ban was a phone call from the Sunday Times asking if I had any comment, and out of perhaps 7,000 members of the Leaderboard golf clubs, only 12 people complained three years ago.

“We have only ever stepped foot at The Oxfordshire twice in my five years of running Eye Candy Caddies, and we have never been to the other three clubs.”

Eye Candy Caddies are, unsurprisingly, not short of testimonials from satisfied clients, although the service does not come cheap. For 18 holes ‘individual attention’ and an hour-long drink at the club costs £230 plus VAT. The charges can rise to £290.

Two popular venues have been Royal Jersey and Brocket Hall, while clubs in Spain have also responded to the sales pitch, “with an Eye Candy Caddy by your side, others golfers will be green with envy but our beautifully presented team of girls in their attractive uniforms are much more than a pretty face.”

While Eye Candy have introduced sex to the fairways there is nothing new about female caddies or glamour on course. Prime examples are there for all to see on the Ladies’ Tour.

Over 50 years ago when Peter Alliss was playing in Tokyo in a Canada Cup match he remarked: “the women caddies in red jackets and blue overalls were accompanied by girls and carried little bags of soil to fill up divot marks.

“They had to serve a two-year appren-ticeship before becoming caddies and carrying a bag.”

Today those who caddy for the world’s top performers are rich men and women jetting all over the globe and staying at the best hotels. They are no longer an under class as at the time when caddies fitted this description by Alliss: “caddies are a race apart, the men who have opted out; they live very rough and are rough. A strange gipsy crew, intelligent and igno-rant, strong and weak, knaves and fools and honest men.”

Alliss knew some of them who had to bed down behind a green and called it, “staying with Mrs Greenfield’s.”

Eye Candy Caddies are a product of the 21st century and nothing for Leaderboard to get uptight about.

At least those who engaged their servic-es can be assured of having a birdie at hand if not on the course. GME

“We put a smile on faces and the girls’ presence helps raise extra money for charities. We are not

interfering with the serious side of golf nor do the girls fraternise with the golfers. Apart from carrying clubs and raking bunkers they also

provide light banter.”


standard scratch

Earlier this year, the English Golf Union published A Golf Clubs’ Guide to Course Rating & Standard Scratch Scores, which in my humble opinion is a dry and uninspiring tome for bedtime reading as you would naturally imagine from the title.

I’m one of these course dismember-ment buffs, though I must point out that I would always give For Whom the Bell Tolls another read in preference to sleeping on a tussle between par and standard scratch.

We know, par is not a measure of diffi-culty: ‘Par 72’ tells you that the course probably has a full set of par 3’s and 5’s, but in fact the course could be anything from 5,700 to 7,000 yards long.

The Standard Scratch Score (SSS) or slope rating tells much more about the level of difficulty of the course, taking into account primarily the length factor, but with a considered adjustment based on other aspects, such as bunkering severity, and landform. Arriving at these figures is a complex procedure.

I once had the pleasure of trying to explain ‘golf ’ to an ex-AOKA rebel lead-er-cum-hotel owner, who had been told that he needed a golf course to maintain his off-season occupancy rates.

He got the principle of the missile and target OK, though an eyebrow was raised at the thought of such a small target, so far away, and only swinging metal as a propellant.

On request, I took a stab at explaining the scoring system too, but slipped need-lessly into details of par and scratch, and watched his steely grey eyes glaze over by the second. The land in question is now a football academy, and not a golf resort.

Necessary to allow this wonderful game to pit all shapes, sizes and ages against one another on some kind of level basis, the rules of the game can be pretty daunt-

ing, especially for those who try to learn from word or book, rather than from painful experience out on the course.

I think I am one of the few golf archi-tects to have worked on both sides of the Cypriot border, and my course in the ‘unrecognised’ north of the island is unusual in as much that it falls under the CONGU (EGU) rules and therefore the standard scratch system – rather than the US-originated slope system, adapted for use by the European Golf Association.

Rated at a stiff 149 by the EGA, the Korineum Golf Club has also a SSS of 73 and a par of 72; a tough one by any meas-urement.

Laid-out next to the Mediterranean, it can certainly catch the wind from time to time in the year-round golfing season.

The weather has a big effect day to day on the actual difficulty of any course. Back in the 70’s, it was not unusual for the pro at a club to adjust the standard scratch daily, making this adjustment to cover weather conditions on the day.

Now, a wind factor has been introduced into the EGU assessment that takes into account the increased playing difficulty on the golf course, but averaged over the full range of seasons.

When designing Korineum, I used an adaptation of the methodology used by the EGU to try to predict the standard scratch for the course.

In the standard EGU process for exam-ple, assessors check the surveyed and certified length, and then visit the course to look at gradients of the holes, the tight-ness of fairways and so on, to produce a SSS from the ‘off-plan’ basic or provi-sional standard scratch.

The design sequence should also involve a similar process in order to check on the level of difficulty being built-in to the layout, and adjust as necessary.

The subject of Standard Scratch Scores (SSS) has baffled many a club golfer, yet alone owners, over

the years. Golf course architect, David Hemstock attempts to unravel some of the mystery’s

surrounding the rating, as well as offering a few solutions along the way.

is your course up to scratch?

WEblInK; WWW.HEMSTOCKASSOCIATES.COM


Promoting excellence inGolf Course Construction

throughout EuropeFor further information about the

British Association of Golf Course Constructorsplease contact the chairman, Brian D. Pierson

on 01425 475584 or email [email protected]

New Courses • Renovation • BunkersIrrigation • Drainage

BRITISH ASSOCIATION OFGOLF COURSE CONSTRUCTORS

BAGCC

Recent projects include: Flaxby Park G&CC, UK (proposed Ryder Cup venue, 2022);

Korineum GC, Cyprus (“...one of the best par 3’s in the world); Aamby Valley GC, Mumbai (“Best Course in India”).

Planning & Course Design • Construction ManagementMaintenance Phase Consultancy • Golf Course Upgrading,

Renovation and Restoration

‘Creativity, character, technology. The heart of a good golf course’

Contact David Hemstock on +44 (0)7850 744957www.hemstockassociates.com

Shun Feng Golf Club, Beijing Tradewind Resort

It is a very useful process to go through as a designer, to help in providing strate-gy, fairness, and a fuller understanding of the mechanics of the layout before it is put onto the ground.

Many courses have been stretched to the limit with regard to length, and it is a natural tendency to design the longest course possible within the area of land.

My recently completed Temple Course at Flaxby Park is a personal example.

Originally the shorter academy course of the complex, it was pushed to a maxi-mum 5,500 yards or so, but designed with generous bunkering, positioned in many cases outside the target areas that affect the SSS to make it ‘flattering’ to play.

A change in concept then gave rise to a re-design where the basic or calculated standard scratch was changed from well below the par to as close as possible to parity, tightening-up the bunkering, adding much more difficult putting surfaces and narrowing fairways.

On older courses especially, where perhaps a long history of club modifica-tions is in evidence, I do often see extreme examples of the search for length to boost the SSS, since the effect of addi-tional bunkering has a relatively negligible effect.

Tees built back into woodland, or on blind downslopes, or introducing odd angles, or crossing-holes and safety prob-lems are very common developments.

Some lovely shorter par 4’s, with clear vistas of the hole and thought-provoking strategy have disappeared forever to the blinkered search for length, and tees that provide this, but take away the view.

In addition, inaccurate or over-gener-ous measurement in the past may have given a false reading on the card, and when re-measured with more accurate modern equipment many courses find, to their horror, that all the previous stretch-ing did not actually put them over the line and into the intended par or SSS bracket.

Quite often the logical answer has to be to drop a shot on the card, perhaps taking a short par 5 down to long par 4, and forget the crazier options for adding a few yards.

With potential safety problems inherent on a tight and over-extended course, and a lack of options for adjusting the layout to reduce them, a club can find itself in a predicament.

If there is a safety-related incident, there may not be much leeway to take action to reduce the likelihood of a repeat, and of course this is what should be done.

Taking a look at an old and venerable club in India on a recent site visit, which had 6,000 yards-plus squeezed into an incredibly small area, I had to point out that any remodelling proposals I would carry out could not include layout amendments unless a drastic shortening of the course was acceptable in the inter-ests of safety.

I could look at improving greens and bunkers, but could not add length without accepting, by my act, responsibility for some future accident. Adding yards or metres may not only give rise to safety problems, but may reduce the overall quality of the course.

Despite the back tees on my Temple Course being equivalent to only the ladies tees on the adjacent championship course, it is surprisingly popular because the test set by each hole is a true and achievable one for the average golfer.

Length of drive and second shot is not the problem; working your way around the bunkers and green contouring is.

So, what chance the remodelling commission shortening a course? With the re-assessment of all courses due in the next five to ten years, some will find that this is in fact their answer to length, par and standard scratch problems. GME

“I once had the pleasure of trying to explain ‘golf’ to an ex-AOKA rebel leader-cum-hotel owner, who had been told that he needed a

golf course to maintain his off-season occupancy rates.”


egcoa

At a time when there are numerous calls for a reduction in the amount of trade shows, it is heartening for the organisers of December’s fourth annual European Golf Business Conference that the number of attendees appears to be grow-ing.

At its launch in 2006, the European Golf Course Owners Association (EGCOA) event was not too much of a gamble. Continuing and hoping to flour-ish through the downturn in 2008 and 2009 is just that.

But it’s a gamble which appears to be paying off.

The number of partners and sponsors is increasing year on year and the profile of the speakers also continues to impress.

Lodewijk Klootwijk, a director of EGCOA, explained: “The golf business needs to understand the world is chang-ing, and to survive, golf needs to change with it. Without change, the golf business will not be able to welcome new custom-ers, as research from the EGCOA and national golf federations shows.

“Once the golf industry realises change is occurring, there is a need to define and collate the opportunities evolving from the changes around us. In short, we have to define the next step to be taken.”

This year, topping the bill – to use a theatrical analogy – would be the project director of one of the most controversial golf courses in the history of the sport.

Neil Hobday, the project director of Trump International Golf Links in Scotland, was instrumental in persuading the American billionaire to acquire and develop the Menie Estate into a venue capable of holding an Open Championship – one of many steps he’s taken during a 20-year career in the golf industry.

Initially, while working for Mark McCormack’s IMG, he managed the business affairs of some of the world’s top professional golfers including Colin Montgomerie, Sam Torrance, Eduard Romero and Laura Davies.

Among those joining him on stage, for the fourth annual event, will be Tom Doak, one of the hottest designers in the world today and head man of Renaissance Golf Design Inc.

Doak currently has four courses ranked among the top 100 in the world according to Golf Magazine’s “Top 100 Courses in the World” list, including Pacific Dunes in Oregon, Ballyneal in Colorado, Barnbougle Dunes in Tasmania and Cape Kidnappers in New Zealand.

Roy Scheerder is vice president market-ing for Dutch airline KLM, and also commercial director for Benelux for Air France - KLM.

The aviation industry has noticed that their standard customer was changing, just like it’s happening in the golf indus-try, so delegates will be able to learn some new strategies from other industries like aviation.

Alex Iguchi is a former executive of Pebble Beach and the owner and operator of AMI Golf Consulting, an international golf management consulting company, offering financial, management, opera-tional and service solutions to all types of golf facilities.

Jan Ekblom, director of club develop-ment at the Swedish Golf Federation, will present Swedish research results that provide an essential insight into the customer of the future.

A second example to be presented is the so-called ‘Dutch model’, summing up the result of a joint research project of the Dutch Golf Course Owners Association and the Dutch Golf Federation.

Both presentations highlight the trend of the future and market development, providing essential information for golf course owners who are confronted with declining numbers of rounds played and an economic downturn.

Also addressing delegates will be the first man in the United Kingdom to earn ‘master greenkeeper’ honours: Laurence W Pithie MG, who now runs training and consultancy company Turf Master One.

opportunity beckonsThe fourth European Golf Business Conference takes place in Amsterdam next month, with a host of speakers offering advice for owners at golf clubs throughout Europe. Article by Tibbe bakker.

WEblInK; EGCOA.EU

“The impact of the economic downturn may have resulted in a decline of the growth rate, but the question remains, are too many courses chasing too few golfers?”


“Tour Greens Europe created a perfect short game practice facility for me at San Sebastian Golf Club” Jose Maria Olazabal

Tour Greens Europe is the world leader in blending natural grass shaping and mounding with

the latest technology in synthetic grasses for tee boxes, bunkers and putting green complexes.

Our installations are ideal for executive courses, par 3 courses, academy courses and all short

game practice areas. Alongside our commercial work at golf clubs, driving ranges, hotels and

leisure complexes we can customise installations for private individuals at their homes.

We offer a full design and building service worldwide or we can partner and collaborate with

designers and architects. We are looking to develop strategic partnerships and/or joint venture

arrangements with suitably qualified individuals or companies throughout the golfing world.

For information or for a consultation on your next project contact

Tony Hynes. [email protected] / Mobile +353-872389800 / Office +35316670266

A L L W E A T H E R G O L F G R E E N S

www.tourgreens-europe.comTour Greens Europe, 3 Oaklands Park, Sandymount, Dublin 4, Ireland

Pithie will talk about boosting revenue when improving maintenance and management of the golf course.

Joining him at the dais will be hospitali-ty expert Jaap Funnekotter, CEO of Hotelschool The Hague Performance Management BV, who will speak about maximising the return on investment in hospitality - stressing that an unsatisfied customer will think twice before coming back.

Other speakers include the former pres-ident of the European Institute of Golf Course Architects and the European Society of Golf Course Architects, Peter Harradine; Jeff Howes, proprietor of Jeff Howes Golf Design; Marc Verneirt, secretary general of the Golf Union Flanders; Thomas Hasak, director of the German Golf Course Owners Association, one of Europe’s biggest owners associations representing owners from Germany, Austria and Switzerland; and Jonathan Smith, chief executive of the Golf Environment Organisation, an inter-national non-profit body specialising in sustainable golf.

Together with other speakers and participants, these speakers will define The Next Step; From Change To Opportunity. Subjects under discussion will include how golf course owners can take advantage of changes; how they can generate more revenue by using e-market-ing and yield management; and more solutions of problems golf operators face on a daily basis.

One of the most discussed subjects in the golfing industry currently is the rate of VAT levied on a round of golf, and the often huge variances in duty between proprietary clubs and members clubs.

Klootwijk added: “In previous confer-ences we have seen that what we once took for granted as the golf course ‘model’ no longer fits the bill for the 21st century.

“The traditional membership structure is no longer relevant to hundreds – maybe thousands – of clubs and many have implemented new ways to attract busi-ness. And those who haven’t need to learn from those who have.

“The intensive growth of golf courses in the late 90s changed the supply-and-demand equation and the industry has been attempting to figure out how to deal with it ever since.

“The impact of the economic down-turn may have resulted in a decline of the growth rate, but the question remains, are too many courses chasing too few golfers?

“And, on the growing supply side, what is happening with regards to the demand of people looking to play golf?

“And of course, the environment remains a very thorny issue. Golf – and golf course operators – is coming under even more scrutiny, particularly with reference to water use.

“Water management is higher on the agenda than ever and most communities no longer accept green, flourishing golf courses that do not respect environmental sustainability.” GME


profile

Clive Nottingham passed up the oppor-tunity to buy Hunter Grinders in the mid 1990s.

It was, after all, shortly after he had assumed the role of managing director at Lloyds and Co Letchworth Ltd – one of the UK’s leading manufacturers and suppliers of professional cylinder mowers and turfcare equipment – and he was keen to get settled into his new position before making any major decisions.

Hunter Grinders was eventually bought by Keith Cann-Evans in 1998 and Nottingham feared that his boat had sailed for good.

But when Nottingham heard that Cann-Evans was keen to retire and there was another chance to purchase the preci-sion grinders company, it was an oppor-tunity that he wasn’t about to slip through his fingers for a second time.

Having spent his entire career working with Lloyds, Nottingham realised that it’s not often that a company with a reputa-tion for excellence and who already provides equipment to eight of the nine Open Championship venues becomes available.

The 51-year-old moved quickly to secure the buy-out of Hunter Grinders this summer and he is now relishing the

chance for two of the foremost names in the turf care maintenance industry work-ing side by side in the future.

“Back when I first took over as manag-ing director around 15 years ago, Eric Hunter actually said to me ‘why don’t you buy my company?’, but we had just gone through the 90s recession and I was new to the head position and easing myself in,” explained Nottingham.

“Hunters was taken over by someone else but then Eric introduced me to Keith and the relationship grew from there.

“The relationship has always been very strong. Keith had retired once before. His family live abroad in Australia and I knew he was looking to retire again.

“We had been talking about it for a while and then the opportunity presented itself. It seemed a logical move for two small niche market companies working in one industry to join forces.

“By bringing us under one banner we have a nice, large company with the chance to grow.

“Coupled with our knowledge and understanding of relief grinding from using a Hunter precision grinder for many years on our own mowers, we consider it a natural synergy for the two companies.

nottingham grinds out a winner with lloyds

Clive Nottingham is a man on a mission, and now with two leading brands under

his control, 2010 is set to be a record-breaking year as

Peter Simm reports.


“I regard it a privilege to be in a posi-tion to invest in and further develop these highly-respected machines that have already achieved a formidable reputation over the years for quality, accuracy and unrivalled performance.”

Lloyds and Co has always worked closely with turf professionals responsible for the maintenance and general upkeep of a whole range of sports surfaces, including those used for golf, rugby, foot-ball, cricket, tennis and bowls.

First established in 1878, the compa-ny’s customers include the Crown Estates, many of the Royal households and a wide array of the top sporting venues including cricket’s Test Match grounds and tennis’s prestigious Queen’s Club.

A mixture of hard work and dedication from the Lloyd’s team has led to an excel-lent reputation being built up both at home and overseas, with the emphasis being on supplying quality, robust prod-ucts coupled with high standards of customer care.

Whether it be Paladin Pedestrian Mowers, Leda gang mowers, top dressers, Maredo Turfcare Systems or Greenline Flail Collectors, all of the firm’s products are manufactured and engineered to give outstanding, robust performance and trouble-free service.

Lloyds and Co has also this year become the UK distributorship for a number of models of Buffalo Turbine Blowers, including the Cyclone PTO and the Cyclone KB3 Debris Blower in engine and PTO version.

Scotsturf recently provided a valuable platform to introduce these products to the important Scottish market and the addition of Hunter Grinders will help ensure the company continues to expand its operations in the turfcare market.

Nottingham, who joined Lloyds straight from school in 1975, said: “It was essen-tial to keep the Hunter Grinders brand as they are a very good name in the industry. It’s much better to leave Hunter Grinders as a division of Lloyds.

“It is the quality product on the market. Lloyds is known for producing quality, robust, reliable products which deliver performance and the same applies with the Hunter name and grinders.

“The brand is for each product we provide and it would be such a shame to see the name disappear because they have been producing grinders for the best part of 40 years.

“The important thing about the Hunter machines is that they relief grind as well as spin. The relief method ensures edge retention so the blades stay sharper longer than spun ground only units.

“By bringing the two companies together, it makes Lloyds/Hunters a much stronger company and with a range of niche-market products.

“Both companies have had their own ways of doing things and we can benefit from the combined experiences and knowledge.

“We have virtually doubled the size of the two companies and, by the time we get everything established and merged, the turnover for each brand will have doubled as well.”

It promises to be a busy time of things for Nottingham and his colleagues over the next few years as they set about the task of expanding in countries outside the UK and Europe.

When we spoke, Nottingham had just returned from a trip to Florida while, as well as attending UK trade shows, another trip to America to San Diego is on the cards in February.

In the meantime, a long-term plan is being drawn up for the future and Nottingham anticipates the workforce will grow by 10-15 per cent as the new-look Lloyds/Hunters gradually takes shape.

“We had a number of customers that both companies dealt with but there were also organisations that bought one prod-uct or the other. Now we have the ability to offer better combined packages for a much wider customer base.

“The UK and Europe are our main markets but there has been quite a bit of interest in our products from companies in the United States since the takeover.

“When we attend trade shows, we have far more of a range to offer with Hunters now part of the company. I’m sure people will find there’s going to be something that we can offer them and that’s going to be quite interesting to see how that devel-ops.” GME

ring 01235 527111 website: golfbuggyspares.co.uk

Parts and Accessories


my view

Anybody can design a golf course. No qualifications required.

Quite sensibly you will need a construc-tion permit to build the course, but there is no legal requirement for the designer or architect to be in any way qualified, expe-rienced or professional.

Of course qualified professionals do exist: they are usually members of profes-sional bodies like the European Institute of Golf Course Architects or its equiva-lents around the world, and for the younger generation through education programs, Diploma and Masters courses in golf course architecture.

But anybody can design a golf course, which means that many courses are designed by Nobodies. Mostly people who have never done it before – first timers.

Nobodies emerge from the ranks of enthusiastic golf-ers, landowners, landscape architects, and occasion-ally real architects.

Some Nobodies achieve repeats, often for very low fees.

Nobodies’ clients tend to get

what they pay for so if you want your project to

be to be built properly and on time and within your

un-expandable budget you’re almost always better off with a

Somebody who knows what he’s doing, rather than a Nobody who doesn’t.

Somebodies – by which I mean profes-sional golf course architects – come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, but they do have a few things in common: they are usually hungry – even the successful ones live pretty much hand to mouth; they are talented; they are enthusiastic and they are generally incapable of being employed by anyone to do anything else.

By far and away the biggest number of enjoyable rounds of golf played by people reading this article will have been played on a golf course designed by a Somebody.

Outstanding golf courses that stand the test of time, designs that are fresh and full

of new ideas that pay respect to the past whilst turning their face to the future, are invariably designed by professional golf course architects

rather than professional golfers. But the most expensive rounds that

the average mid-handicap golfer has ever played – rounds of golf that have remained fixed in that reptile part of the brain as unforgettable and just downright disappointing – have been designed not by a Nobody, not by a Somebody, but by a Somebody Else.

These are the courses where you have lost more balls per round than on any other course in your life, where your score card resembles a bar code number on an automobile part, where your humiliation in front of your wife and (ex) friends can only be described as “exquisite”, and where you lie to your few remaining golf-ing chums about just how much you enjoyed that memorable day.

The somebody elses are better known as Signature Designers.

Golf course architect Jeremy Pern (pictured left)

shares some personal thoughts on the often

delicate subject of Signature Design.

Can i have your autograph?

WEblInK; JEREMYPERN.COM


These fellows sit at the very top of the golf course design food chain. If design fees are the criteria, these are the kings of the course design jungle.

Our signature designer possess two principal characteristics. Firstly, he is a professional golfer, usually famous, most often wealthy and generally past his prime, and secondly he will receive gener-ous remuneration – shed-loads actually – for not doing what he is supposed to be paid for as he will not be designing the golf course.

Course design involves three basic skills of which routing – figuring out where all the 18 holes are going to go, comes first. Next the details of those holes have to be meshed together, with shaping and earth-moving plans, green plans and techie stuff like irrigation, drainage and agronomy.

Thirdly the design has to actually be built which means that the designer should have some notion of the econom-ics and logistics of the construction proc-ess to say nothing of quality control.

Not one of these required skills can be acquired by hitting balls, albeit with fero-cious accuracy, into small holes in a close-ly shaven lawn. It’s a fairly safe bet that the signature designer will have never mastered even one of theses skills, let alone single handedly executed all three tasks from beginning to end.

So what is his real function? The answer is depressingly simple – the signa-ture is simply a marketing tool for the developer. He is there to help sell real estate and/or hotel reservations.

Signature designers very rarely work on golf courses without large lumps of concrete littering the surrounding land-scape.

Obviously the stakes are high, so Signature Design projects cannot be allowed to fail, at least not until the real estate is sold off.

We all know that Signatures produce some very good golf courses, that is golf courses that their chums, fans and clients all say are good, and that the sports media flown in at great expense on opening day say are really really good.

So how do they manage to make the cut in the design game? Like the Emperor with his new clothes, the Signature Designer requires a Court – in this case it takes the form of a staff of professional designers and technicians – Somebodies who do all the work.

The second thing he needs is money. There is usually a clause in his contract that says, roughly speaking, that he can do whatever he likes to “increase the overall excellence of the project.”

It is generally understood by thoughtful outsiders that Signature course construc-tion costs are vastly higher than anyone else’s. One of the reasons for this is because substantial bits of their courses may get built several times.

Initially, so the rumor has it, the course has to be built as a full-scale prototype which is then rebuilt to increase all that excellence and natch – the price.

The third reason Signature Design courses are often so good is due to their outstanding locations. Luxury golf real estate is usually built on the best sites that money can buy. Disaster in the shape of an un-photogenic golf course is not an option.

With a Court, the cash and a wonderful site in place, what does the Signature Designer actually do?

Part one of the ritual is the Site Visit Photo Op. “It’s a miracle” he’ll say to gathered pressmen on signing his contact “...a miracle how God made the terrain just perfect for a golf course.”

He’ll also say something to the effect of how little will have to be done to trans-form it into a new Pebble Beach.

This is “Minimalism” at work, and is best described as the minimum amount of work required to make a large amount of money through golf course design.

To coincide with the launching of real estate sales a further visit will follow during construction. Helicopters are often involved.

The Signature will usually have only a vague idea of what is happening on site, so he waves his arms around, points meaningfully at a large technical construction drawing whilst cameras click

away, mumbles inaudibly over the noise of the chopper and lifts off to his next tour event.

At last on opening day he does what we’ve all been expecting him to do – he signs stuff – and gives the fans his Signature and so the origin of the term. He tells everybody that what he’s (not) done is absolutely fabulous, the best thing since sliced bread and Big Berthas.

Despite the bull, signatures can develop given time. Some of the world’s best design firms started out with a Signature, who a few years later decided to learn the skills of the trade and thus become a Somebody in the business.

So, does the Signature Design give value for money? Yes, provided the real estate sells as forecast. Signature fees and course construction costs are simply added on to the per unit cost of the real estate and come off the marketing budget.

When the real estate is sold the course is handed over to an operator who usually goes bust a few years down the road. The course is then sold at a rock bottom price to someone with a little more savvy, an operator who calls in a professional, expe-rienced and qualified Somebody who’ll make it playable, maintainable, and, for the right reasons this time, memorable.

By which time the name of the Signature has long been forgotten. GME

“Our signature designer possess two principal characteristics. Firstly, he is a professional golfer, usually famous, most often wealthy and generally past

his prime, and secondly he will receive generous remuneration – shed-loads actually – for not doing what he is supposed to be paid for as he will

not be designing the golf course.”


the last word

As somebody who earns a meagre crust using the English language I’m currently in the midst of a one-man campaign against sports commenta-tors.

Well, I say ‘sports’ commentators; it’s actually football commentators with whom I currently have issues.

They appear to be a breed apart when it comes to bastardising the English language. In the past few days alone I have heard them say “he shot from range” and “he shot from distance.”

So, tell me something I don’t know.Every shot is from range or distance;

what actually needs to be determined is whether it’s short range or from long distance. Even better why not try informing us of an estimate of the distance in, say, yards... that seems as good a measurement as anything else.

And to top it off, when Robin van Persie skewed his shot wide of the post in a clash with Spurs, the commentator

pointed out that the Dutch striker had missed by “...a margin.”

Sorry but I thought that was, in golf-ing parlance, a ‘gimme’.

Of course he missed by a margin - and it’s the commentator’s role to tell us just how much of a margin it was.

Thankfully such grammatical laziness has yet to infect golf coverage. I can’t ever imagine Peter Alliss or Ken Brown saying: “He’s left himself a putt of distance”; or “That’s a wonderful approach shot from range”; or even “Ooooo… he missed that putt by... a margin.”

Perhaps, in order to shame their foot-ball contemporaries, Alliss and co should use the same methodology.

“Woods on the first tee, now; it’s a par-four of distance…”

Even better, scorecards could adopt the same language, making the whole sport much more of a challenge, as we wouldn’t have a clue which club to take.

Hole 1. Par 4. SI 6. Distance: range.Golf, of course, has already influ-

enced modern language but I’m always puzzled by the usage.

“I’m feeling a little below par” is a common enough expression – particu-larly when somebody asks me how I’m feeling. Yet surely, if one is feeling ill, one should be ‘above par’, not below it.

And as I’m used to being above par and am seldom happy about it, the use of language in relation to physical well-being should be consistent with that.

Further confusion with golf terminolo-gy is illustrated by Cat Stevens, Rod Stewart and Sheryl Crow who all sang that The First Cut is the Deepest.

If we’re talking depth of cut, one has to assume that the ‘first cut’ is actually the third deepest, after the green and apron. It is unsatisfactory for people who exert such a great influence on the younger generation to give them such poor guidance.

Surely it is time for the European Union to set up a QUANGO to look into such misinformation and poor use of the English language? GME

Commentators struggling to find their range

“‘I’m feeling a little below par’ is a common enough expression – particularly when somebody asks me how I’m feeling. Yet surely, if one is feeling ill, one should be ‘above par’, not below it.”

david [email protected]

(44) 01394 380800 | ppcgolf.com

Unsure what the future holds?

If you’re considering buying, selling, leasing or managing a golf operation, call us in total confidence for some honest advice. You’ll be glad you did.

PPC

The Eclipse™ by Jacobsen® is the walking greens mower of choice for keeping surfaces pristine in all conditions. Its industry exclusive features include variable frequency of cut, onboard backlapping and access to set frequency of cut, maximum mow speed, reel speed, weight balance adjustment and more.

Available in hybrid or battery drive; providing power, economy and low environmental impact.

If speed is of the essence, call us immediately for a demonstration on +44 (0) 1473 270000.

The Jacobsen® Eclipse™ - the walking greens mower which adapts to your environment

Ransomes Jacobsen LtdIpswich IP3 9TT UKTel: +44 (0) 1473 270000Web: www.ransomesjacobsen.co.uk When Performance Matters

Ransomes Jacobsen LtdIpswich IP3 9TT UKTel: +44 (0) 1473 270000Web: www.ransomesjacobsen.co.uk When Performance Matters

CODE: GME/11/09/Eclipse

GME Eclipse ad Sept09 - A4.indd 1 23/10/2009 14:38:57

The right choice.visit www.toro.com/golf

Turf Equipment & Irrigation Solutions

EGCOA

P R E F E R R E DS U P P L I E R

©20

09 T

he T

oro

Com

pany

GMé | issuu 69

Documents

Transcript of GMé | issuu 69