CPG INDOOR PRO-AM SERIES POWERED BY TRACKMAN

DEC ’23 – Mar ’24

This December the CPG launches the CPG Indoor Pro-Am Series Powered by TrackMan – four Pro-Am tournaments across four months, at Ryder Cup venues past and future, that utilise TrackMan’s powerhouse simulator technology and offer social and friendly opportunities to play, alongside great business opportunities for PGA Professionals.

Following on from CPG’s successful Virtual Series, and a further addition to the successful CPG International Series,

these events will see 1 Professional and 3 Amateurs compete in the popular Pro-Am 2-from-4 betterball format.

The events act as a great way for Professionals to bring together clients, students and friends for friendly and social competition and to generate revenue by packaging up team entries to combine with coaching sessions when the days are shorter and colder. Plus, there is also the opportunity to win prize money.

For example, Professionals could package up their Pro-Am Team’s entry into a session where they are able to entertain and engage their team with not only tournament play but also a social and coaching-focused event to maximise their opportunities to connect with their amateur teammates and generate revenue. Professionals could even create pre-tournament practice sessions to help their team prepare for the big tournament round itself.

Pro-Am events take place monthly between December 2023 and March 2024, and can be played on any TrackMan 4 unit or TrackMan iO sim in the world:

EVENT 01 01 – 31 DEC 2023 Marco Simone Golf & Country Club 🇮🇹	EVENT 02 01 – 31 JAN 2024 Le Golf National 🇫🇷 Registration Opening Soon…
EVENT 03 01 – 29 FEB 2024 Medinah Country Club 🇺🇸 Registration Opening Soon…	EVENT 04 01 – 31 MAR 2024 Adare Manor 🇮🇪 Registration Opening Soon…

The winning team in each event will also earn themselves golf and lunch for four people on two days at the incredible Antognolla Golf in Italy, with free access to golf carts and the practice facilities and a promise of preferential rates at a nearby hotel.

Prize fund is also on offer in the Individual Professional division of each event, and as part of the CPG International Series Powered by Golf Genius, each event’s Professional winner will receive an invitation to the Series Final along with all Professionals in each field receiving Order of Merit points.

TrackMan’s combination of radar and camera tracking has led to a paradigm-shift in the golf simulator experience that emulates down to the last detail some of the best courses in the world. TrackMan’s dedicated team uses drone mapping to render courses in extraordinary detail with incredibly high-definition graphics, providing an excellent opportunity to compete as realistically as possible.

Now, with the recent launch of Trackman iO — the company’s first purpose-built product for indoor golf – the powerful product lineup reinforces Trackman’s position as the market leader in indoor golf.

For more information on the CPG Virtual Series visit https://cp.golf/indoor and for more on TrackMan visit TrackMan.com

The golfers with a disability coming from 10 countries and four continents were revealed today. They will assemble at Quinta do Lago, Portugal, in January (21-25), 2024, for the first Player Development Camp of its kind, supported by the European Tour Group.

In a planned intense week of learning, professional specialists in their field, including coaches, nutritionists, performance experts and marketeers, will offer training and advice to the promising players, who have all qualified to take part via the World Ranking for Golfers with Disability (WR4GD).

The 12-player group, none of whom have played in a previous G4D Tour or EDGA Professional Tour event, will be made up of the eligible top five players in the Gross Ranking, the leading three eligible women players and four emerging talents.

It is anticipated that the level of assistance offered to the emerging talent pool in this first and subsequent PDCs will only serve to energise further the competitive pathway in G4D (golf for the disabled) created by EDGA over the last decade or so. The international golfers taking part can gain the tools to challenge the leading lights on the already successful G4D Tour, while showing a great many other players in the World Ranking that there is a route to the very top open to those who are dedicated to work on their game and improve.

Launched in 2022 by EDGA and the European Tour Group, the G4D Tour sees golfers with a disability compete on the same course and in the same week as the professionals on the DP World Tour.

The following players will be welcomed by the EDGA team of experts to Quinta do Lago:

Russell Aide (aged 16, Canada), Thomas Colombel (aged 21, France), Heather Gilks (aged 18, England), Casper Holst-Christensen (aged 27, Denmark), Mehmet Kazan (aged 42, Turkey), Tycho Kuiper (aged 14, The Netherlands), Rene Schwenk (aged 24, Germany), Daniel Slabbert (aged 32, South Africa), Natasha Stasiuk (aged 25, Canada), Gustav Stigsson-Andersson (aged 18, Sweden), Natascha Tennent (aged 16, Australia), and Chris Willis (aged 43, Canada).

Invitations were sent out to the leading eligible players in the World Ranking from the 39 EDGA member countries (who had not competed in a previous G4D Tour or EDGA Professional Tour event), and also included highly rated emerging female G4D players and leading young talent.

EDGA President Tony Bennett said: “We are delighted with the cross-section of talented and switched-on players taking part in our first EDGA Player Development Camp from 10 countries, who have all exhibited a thirst to learn and a joy in pushing themselves on. Although the G4D Tour is an understandable draw for players to test themselves over championship golf course set-ups in the exciting weeks of the DP World Tour, the PDC is about helping these players to develop skills to take on any test in golf. The specialists on site and the wonderful facilities at Quinta do Lago, will give the players the opportunity to explore their potential.”

Tony added: “Our work is to make the journey from sampler to competitive golfer seamless. Not everyone wants the same thing from golf, and that is the overall message for an inclusive landscape, which is to provide choice across the player pathway. There has never been greater opportunity for golfers with a disability, but G4D is still young in its development and there is a lot more to come. The PDC is just one of our initiatives that will help the whole player pathway, while we can see the number of golf courses improving their facilities increasing, more professional coaches learning how to better train players with disabilities, and an increase in the number of tournaments available at every level.”

During the PDC week players will have the opportunity to learn from others how to develop their knowledge and skill sets, and how they can use these to add fuel to their career development.

More details of the line-up of specialists who will support the PDC will be revealed soon, as will thoughts and expectations of the players taking part.

See more on EDGA at www.edgagolf.com

Impact on recreational game kept to an absolute minimum

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The R&A and USGA will update the testing conditions used for golf ball conformance under the Overall Distance Standard (ODS), which will take effect from January 2028. The decision aims to reduce the impact increased hitting distances have on golf’s long-term sustainability while minimising the impact on the recreational game.

The revised ball testing conditions will be as follows: 125-mph clubhead speed (equivalent to 183 mph ball speed); spin rate of 2220 rpm and launch angle of 11 degrees. The current conditions, which were established 20 years ago, are set at 120 mph (equivalent to 176 mph ball speed), 2520 rpm with a 10-degree launch angle.

The revised conditions are based on analysis of data from the worldwide tours and the game over several years and are intended to ensure that the ODS (whose limit will remain unchanged at 317 yards with a 3-yard tolerance) continues to represent the ability of the game’s longest hitters. An analysis of ball speeds among golf’s longest hitters in 2023 shows that the fastest ten players had an average ball speed of 186 mph, while the average ball speed of the fastest 25 was 183.4 mph (the very fastest averaged 190 mph).

The longest hitters are expected to see a reduction of as much as 13-15 yards in drive distance. Average professional tour and elite male players are expected to see a reduction of 9-11 yards, with a 5-7-yard reduction for an average LET or LPGA player.

The change in testing speed is expected to have a minimal distance impact, 5 yards or less, for most recreational golfers. Research shows an average swing speed of 93 mph for male golfers and 72 mph for female players.

Existing balls approved for conformance in 2027 may continue to be used by recreational golfers until January 2030 to give golfers, manufacturers and retailers additional time to adjust. These decisions are in line with the commitments made by the governing bodies at the project’s inception.

A significant portion of golf ball models that are currently in the market – and more than 30 percent of all golf ball models submitted for conformance across the game – are expected to remain conforming after these changes are applied.

Martin Slumbers, CEO of The R&A, said, “We are convinced that this decision is one of the key ways of achieving a sustainable future for golf, protecting the integrity of the game and meeting our environmental responsibilities. The measure we are taking has been carefully considered and calibrated while maintaining the ‘one game’ ethos deemed to be so important to the golf industry. Importantly, it also keeps the impact on recreational golfers to an absolute minimum. We are acting now because we want to ensure that future generations can enjoy the unique challenge of golf as much as we do.”

“Governance is hard. And while thousands will claim that we did too much, there will be just as many who said we didn’t do enough to protect the game long-term,” said Mike Whan, CEO of the USGA. “But from the very beginning, we’ve been driven to do what is right for the game, without bias. As we’ve said, doing nothing is not an option – and we would be failing in our responsibility to protect the game’s future if we didn’t take appropriate action now.”

The Notice of Decision follows the most thorough and comprehensive examination of the issue in the game’s history through the Distance Insights project, which was launched in 2018 and gathered data, shared research and solicited feedback from golf course owners, players, and stakeholders across the game. Data provided by the seven major worldwide tours has also been analysed by the governing bodies, who have published Annual Driving Distance Reports every year since 2015.

The reports followed the governing bodies’ joint Conclusions from the Distance Insights Project: Implication of Hitting Distance in Golf, which shared the reasons why addressing the continuing trend of hitting distance increases and subsequent course lengthening is critical to the game’s long-term sustainability.

All golf ball and club manufacturers were advised of the decision on Tuesday and were given full technical details and an implementation timeline. The Notice of Decision takes into account the extensive research and feedback received from manufacturers and other industry stakeholders throughout the six-year process and following multiple Areas of Interest and proposals starting in 2021 as part of the Equipment Rulemaking process.

A copy of the letter and technical documents can be found at www.RandA.org/distance-insights.

The extensive feedback received showed worldwide sentiment that the retention of a single set of playing rules and equipment standards is critically important to the sport and should apply across the game. Feedback from manufacturers resulted in the timeline being extended to 2028 to allow more time for innovation and production of new products for elite and recreational players.

In addition to the new ball-testing conditions, the governing bodies will:

Expand the testing approach to better detect ‘Driver Creep,’ which can result in drivers exceeding the limits set out in the Equipment Rules. This is a change in the testing methodology for submitted drivers, to identify and proactively address driver models that are within current tolerance levels and have Characteristic Time (CT) values that are more likely to exceed the limit through regular use.

Continue to monitor drivers and explore possible additional options related to distance. Specifically, we will research the forgiveness of drivers and how they perform with off-centre hits. This is an ongoing review and we will seek input from and continue to work with the industry, including manufacturers, to identify driver design features that can be regulated as a means to reward centre impact position hits versus mis-hits.

The R&A and the USGA are guided by an overarching principle to continue to preserve the fundamental elements of golf – protecting the integrity of golf courses, including their overall length, and ensuring that a variety of skills are needed to be successful.

Longer golf courses require additional resources such as water, the cost of renovating or moving elements like tees and bunkers continues to rise and other long-term impacts have been identified as a result of increased distance. The governing bodies believe that if the sport is to enjoy a sustainable long-term future then these economic and environmental impacts have to be kept under control.

The Overall Distance Standard was first introduced in 1976 and has been updated on three previous occasions (1980, 2002 and 2004). This is the first time that test speeds have been updated since 2004, when the current standard was set based on the longest hitters at that time.

Details on the study and complete technical data on the Distance Insights project can be found at www.RandA.org/distance-insights.

RECEIVE FUTURE CPG NEWS

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CPG ANNUAL AWARDS SUPPORTED BY ROLEX

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PGA of Czech Republic Director of Education and Board Member, Tomáš Gryc, Ph.D., has been awarded the 2023 5-Star Professional Award by the Confederation of Professional Golf [CPG] in recognition of his exemplary role as a PGA Professional in his country.

Gryc is not only a PGA of Czech Republic Member himself, operating Prague City Golf Academy, but he also gained his Ph.D. in Sport Sciences from Charles University, renowned as being one of the best universities in Central Europe.

Combined with his work in supporting PGA Professionals, his multi-faceted roles in the education space make him stand out showing excellence in the profession and hugely deserving of the 5-Star Professional accolade that has only been presented to less than 100 PGA Professionals in its 30+ year history.

“It is a great honour and pleasure to get this prestigious award. There has been a lot of work by the Czech PGA and the people around me – so this award is not only for me, it’s for all these people,” said Gryc who received the award at the 2023 CPG Annual Awards Supported By Rolex.

“Playing golf and becoming a PGA Professional is the best thing that ever happened to me – it’s the lifestyle, it is not only a job but it is great fun.”

Gryc’s extensive impact on PGA Professionals, and subsequently golf in Czech Republic, has been felt by every Member of the PGA of Czech Republic, and his substantial involvement in their education recognition process is one example of the education leadership and drive he has shown:

“We started to evolve our education in 2014 so it’s been quite a long time. I think we have developed a lot from where we made our first big steps to the Initial Professional Education [IPE] level and then on to the PGA Professional Level of the European Education Level System [EELS]. And now there is more growing up to be done to keep going, in particular developing online learning.”

His golf career began in the early 2000s where he worked at multiple clubs in various roles such as administration, in the golf shop, course maintenance and marshalling. It was in 2009 that he became a PGA of Czech Republic Member and was then actively involved in teaching golf to players of all kinds, including coordinated children’s golf camps taking place in suburban areas. More recently he has worked with elite players and even supported the management of some of these players.

Through his role with Charles University, Gryc has written and contributed extensively to a variety of sports science-focused research papers and articles. He has worked on various research activities looking at conditioning, skill level and performance analyses in youth golfers, high performance golf, as well as gait analysis, kinematics, biomechanics and sports injuries, both in golf and in other sports.

“Our nomination for Tomáš for this award was a very easy decision for us,” said PGA of Czech Republic President, Jan Mergl.

“For many years now Tomáš has been a fundamental part of our team, guiding our education efforts and ultimately impacting upon every one of the PGA Members in our country. His passion both as a PGA Member and as an academic is clear to see and with so much experience and a varied set of skills then we believe he is exactly what a 5-Star Professional should be – we thank Tomáš for everything he has done for our organisation and its Members.”

Find Out More @ https://cp.golf/2023lpsummit

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With thanks to the CPG Annual Awards Partners – Rolex and the Ryder Cup European Development Trust [RCEDT].

CPG ANNUAL AWARDS SUPPORTED BY ROLEX

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Bulgarian golf resort and host of the hugely successful BlackSeaRama Vivacom Pro-Am, BlackSeaRama Golf & Villas, has been awarded the CPG’s Special Recognition Award 2023 in celebration of the relationship and collaboration together following the 15th anniversary of the Pro-Am earlier this year.

The Pro-Am has been a regular fixture on the CPG’s schedule offering a fantastic opportunity to sample the Cape Kaliakra coastline and the Gary Player-designed championship links course at BlackSeaRama. This year the Pro-Am reached a record number of 43 teams showing just how popular the event is.

BlackSeaRama has partnered with the CPG to add the Pro-Am as a Sanctioned Event on the now-named CPG International Series with it becoming a staple part of the schedule. The strong friendships and business values that exist, make BlackSeaRama worthy winners of the Special Recognition Award.

“It is a great honour for us to receive this award and I would like to thank the CPG for not only this recognition but also the great partnership we have had throughout these years,” said BlackSeaRama’s Sales Manager, Delyana Davidova who collected the award at the CPG Annual Awards Supported By Rolex on behalf of everyone at the resort.

“This year we had our 15th anniversary, so this is a great recognition of our efforts to continuously upgrade the event and bring more and more Professionals from around the world to Bulgaria.

“PGA Professionals and their PGAs are very important to our business – we see a lot of Professionals who take part in the Pro-Am coming back over the years and being very loyal to the event and the club, but also bringing new players with them and in to Bulgaria in general so we really value them. We also see Professionals returning for golf camps and coaching trips, a testament to our exceptional facilities and hospitality.”

BlackSeaRama’s championship links course was the first signature design in Bulgaria and the first Gary Player Project in Eastern Europe. It sits 200m on atop the cliffs looking out to the Black Sea and the course and clubhouse have won various awards since it opened in 2008, including Golf Inc’s ‘best new course in the world’ in 2009.

Bulgaria as a golf destination has continued to grow substantially over the past few decades, attracting players of all types to both the Cape Kaliakra region and closer to the country’s capital, Sofia, as more courses have been, and continue to be, developed. The Pro-Am also sees players sample the neighbouring courses that share the Black Sea coast in the form of Thracian Cliffs Golf Resort and Lighthouse Golf Resort making for a varied and exciting experience for the Pro-Am’s guests.

“15 years ago, golf was just starting as a sport in Bulgaria, making its first steps. The management of the resort decided that the best way to develop the game was to bring experienced Professionals and amateurs into the country to play alongside our local players.

“Through the Pro-Am, they helped to put Bulgaria on the international map of golf. We count on the support of the CPG, its Member PGAs and their PGA Professionals to help us in this ongoing process – so our goal is more than 43 teams next year…!”

Find Out More @ https://cp.golf/2023lpsummit

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With thanks to the CPG Annual Awards Partners – Rolex and the Ryder Cup European Development Trust [RCEDT].

CPG ANNUAL AWARDS SUPPORTED BY ROLEX

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PGA of Holland Professional, Iain Forrester, is the latest recipient of the CPG’s 5-Star Professional Award recognising his excellence in the profession, in particular around the preservation of the game’s history.

Presented at the 2023 CPG Annual Awards Supported By Rolex, the 5-Star Professional Award has an elite group of past winners in its history with less than 100 PGA Professionals receiving the award since it began in 1992.

Whilst Forrester has been Head Professional of Golf & Country Club Hoenshuis for 36 years, he has also been instrumental in reintroducing hickory clubs to modern golfers, and has dedicated his time to preserving the enduring elegance and tradition of the sport.

Not only is he an example of a prominent PGA Professional that has coached golf to thousands of players, supported his fellow PGA Professionals and operated golf facilities, but he is also committed to maintaining the roots of golf and his extensive knowledge in the field set him apart as a distinguished professional in the golf community.

“I’ve had a long career in golf, but I was not expecting to be recognised in this way,” said Forrester on receiving his awards as part of the 2023 CPG Learning & Performance Summit at Fontana, Austria.

“There’s a lot of deserving people in European golf, so I was delighted to hear that I’d been nominated and then to win and be featured publicly like this is a real honour.

“I think a PGA Professional needs to have a diverse skillset – a jack of all trades and a master of one or two. That’s what I’ve tried to do with my career, to be as flexible as possible, learn as many skills as possible and then have a niche that separates you from others.”

This niche is focused on the maintaining and preserving the history of golf and in particular the way it was played in the past with wooden hickory clubs. His own expertise and work includes supplying hickory equipment for collectors and players in events, carrying out clinics, lecturing and presenting and even writing about hickory and golf history in general in articles and books.

In addition to his work with hickory clubs, Forrester is also celebrated for his role as an archivist for the PGA of Holland

in producing their centenary book that will commemorate the organisation’s 100th anniversary in 2024, and is also a member of the Dutch Golf Federation’s heritage committee. His multifaceted contributions to the golf industry exemplify the spirit of the 5-Star Professional Award.

“We at the PGA of Holland were delighted to nominate Iain for the 5 Star Professional Award due to his relentless dedication to golf’s heritage and his role in reintroducing hickory clubs to a new generation of golfers demonstrate a profound passion for the sport,” said Arian Mortier, Chairman of the PGA of Holland.

Whilst Forrester’s passion for keeping the history and traditions of golf alive came from his own family history, he strongly believes in ensuring the sport evolves in a modern way too: “I’m the fifth generation of golfer in my family – I’ve got clubs hanging on my wall that my grandfather used to win championships 100 years ago – and that’s how I got interested in the history.

“Golf has a 5-or-600 year history, and the values of golf have developed over hundreds of years. Tradition is very important, but also tradition shouldn’t be something you get to hang up on – it develops as well. So you have to bring the tradition into the modern age. People laugh at me sometimes because I sometimes coach people with hickory clubs on a TrackMan…but that’s the way I think tradition and history should be – something that evolves.”

Find Out More @ https://cp.golf/2023lpsummit

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With thanks to the CPG Annual Awards Partners – Rolex and the Ryder Cup European Development Trust [RCEDT].

Trackman are a Danish company who, for the past 20 years, have been global leaders in launch monitor technology, and thought leaders in golf club/ball physics and education.

The partnership will facilitate an advanced certification path for PGA Members, whilst also giving those members easier access to Trackman technology for coaching and club fitting. The agreement also includes a special deal for PGA Belgium members to purchase and finance Trackman technology for their own businesses.

Mike Malone, Vice President of Trackman EMEA commented “We’re delighted to agree this partnership with Bernard and the PGA in Belgium. This agreement will strengthen the existing strong relationship whilst enhancing the PGA’s educational offering to members. Both parties work closely with the CPG, so an official partnership was a natural next step.

“We’re very excited to be supporting not only the PGA in Belgium, but at the same time helping drive golf uptake and participation with our many new indoor simulator and range entertainment facilities opening around the country. At Trackman we are dedicated to driving participation and new people to golf, and we believe that starts with PGA coaches.”

Trackman public facilities can be found on our locator at trackman.com/locator.

Bernard A. de Bruyckere, Chief Executive of PGA Belgium commented “We are most pleased to welcome Trackman as our partner which will help our Members to extend their services to the golfing community as part of their teaching and coaching. Our slogan is “We Care for Your Game” and Trackman will be a great asset in this.”

VISIT TRACKMAN.COM