Regardless of our sector, discipline or team size we all have attended or have held a meeting at some point in our working lives. They are a core part of our working and organisational culture that open the doors to create new ideas, collaborate with each other and solve issues to real-world and working problems.

Unfortunately, this has been impacted heavily by the current global issues we are facing, which have forcibly created remote working environments for us all and detached ourselves from one another considerably [and it is also worth assuming that this is a situation we will find ourselves in for the foreseeable future].

So, taking all this in, how can we adapt ourselves and our way of working [in this case, the way we meet] to overcome current difficulties? What is the most productive form of meeting virtually? Is there even a ‘most productive’ form of meeting virtually that currently exists? A few thoughts to consider…but here are some ideas, collated from the CPG’s recent experiences and a wider look at the area.

1. Setup is Important

Unfortunately when we say ‘setup’, we are not talking about stance, ball position, grip or posture here…

To give a very brief explanation [because we highlighted this in our other recent blog for hosting webinars], we need to decide on the platform that we meet on – Zoom and Skype were good places to start.

Then, devising goals for the meeting are still an important part of meetings, albeit pretty different to a webinar. Once these are established, you can devise a reasonable structure to the meeting that considers:

• What are the key topics / proposals / ideas up for discussion?
• Who is best placed to lead each of the above?
• Who is best placed to coordinate the entire meeting, and the above two points?
• How long do you have?
• Do you provide much scope for open-ended discussion?

Just as an example for our own way of working – we have a weekly ‘Catch-Up meeting’, held on a Thursday for approximately an hour. This follows an approximate 50/50 structure where for the first half a set agenda is followed based on various things and points to tackle that we work through. This is then followed by the final half where each team member provides an update on their own work in a more open-ended discussion.

It has worked really well for the past six months, and has provided that much needed, regular information and connection with colleagues to function as a team, combined with the day-to-day frequent individual contact that takes place.

2. Create a Network of Meeting Bubbles

There needs to be an acceptance that it is going to be pretty difficult to get through as much as you would normally do in person and as a group. Practically, it is impossible – connectivity issues often persist and there are those amusingly-awkward time delays where we realise we have both spoken at the same time and then decide to wait for one another to speak. These are simply unavoidable elements of online meetings.

Therefore it is important to use a ‘whole-team’ meeting as one to catch up and provide overview to the current ongoings and developments, not necessarily as a time to solve every issue that the organisation is facing. By having smaller ‘bubbles’ [excuse the COVID-19 buzzword], we can collaborate more effectively with one, two or three members of our team outside the normal meeting space.

For example, there are regular Communication and Events catch-ups during the week with specific team members to solve issues and work through various documents and content together. We can then go away on our own and action these points, and then report this work to everybody at the team meeting later.

The key premise from this is that it is more important than ever to trust one another, and understand that colleagues will be working with one another without direct knowledge or awareness they have been used to in an office. This can pose challenges with tracking work, but there is a growing body of research that supports remote-working environments to be more productive than the office scenario.

3. Maintain Colleague Engagement

The premise of chatting to colleagues through a laptop screen can quite easily encourage technological fatigue, loss of concentration and enthusiasm across the board. Online meetings certainly fill a sociological void, but they do not offer a complete solution to satisfying our innate need to interact face-to-face with others.

Therefore, encouraging greater interaction with one another is an important part of online meetings. This can be achieved through simple tasks such as group breathing exercises [check out Dr. Brian Hemming’s Webinar – 14min 30 secs for a good example on this], allocating time for a quick fire quiz, or allowing everybody to introduce themselves and discuss various non-work related topics that would normally form a natural part of general work chit-chat.

The most important part of this is for the meeting leader and moderator to be aware of the situation – that it is a team meeting and not just a presentation. By ensuring every person has their time to speak and become involved in discussions, they will not only be more engaged but will contribute positively to a more productive online team meeting.

4. Share notes

Once you have conducted your online meeting, the key final stage is to ensure everyone has the information they need from it. Sharing notes is often a lot easier in person because you can physically hand them agendas, outcomes and minutes as you see fit. Doing this over the internet is slightly trickier.

A platform to share notes is the best port of call. Outlook’s Planner function is a really easy way to do this. You can create various sub-topics for each meeting, based on the agenda set. In the CPG’s case, these sub-topics include tournaments, education, members, golf development etc. Then list all the key actions and tasks for each.

It is really easy to use, provides a ‘live’ access point for all colleagues to see and add notes to and ultimately keeps everybody you need to in the know about what is going on, or has gone on from various meetings.

If this is too much, creating a word document from the meeting that can be shared with everyone via email afterwards is a perhaps more laborious way of doing things, but nonetheless equally as effective…

Whilst COVID-19 has forced an inevitable online environment for the way most of us work, function and hold such forms of educational sessions, it is tough to tell what the future holds for webinars and their uses.

Some argue that companies will choose to stick with this virtual way of working meaning webinars will hold a crucial role moving forwards. Others argue that the latter simply cannot replace the classic lecture theatre, classroom or boardroom, and all of the social benefits that these spaces bring.

What is for certain however, is that most of you will have created, taken part in, or listened to an online webinar over recent weeks, which raises numerous questions: Did you find them useful? How engaging were they? How easy was the registration and joining process? Is there another way to host one?

The Confederation of Professional Golf [CPG] have been functioning in a virtual, flexible environment for almost six months now, pre-empting what most people are doing. Here is the CPG’s take on answering these questions, using our own recent experiences.

1. Pick a Platform, Any Platform…

First you need an appropriate platform and there are lots to choose from. Skype has been around for years and something most people are familiar with in some form. Whether that has been speaking to family overseas or catching up with friends from afar, it is a good starting point.

SKYPE

Pros of Skype:

• Hold video chats and make local, domestic, and international calls.
• Conduct both screen and document sharing with large files.
• It has a variety of interactive functions such as white-board, post a poll, and Q&A sessions.
• Free version available, which works well for smaller teams.
• Integrates with Microsoft Teams, which is a useful platform used by a lot of companies already.

Cons of Skype:

• A number of technical issues during calls, such as freezing, connectivity issues etc.
• There is not a large amount of support or help options in such circumstances.
• What if you are using something other than Microsoft Teams?

Overall though Skype is a good option. But how about Zoom? This seems to be a buzzword at the moment, so does it live up to expectations? Or is it merely a shadow of Skype culture?

ZOOM

Pros of Zoom:

• Conduct live video chat.
• Access to various meeting analytics.
• Easily screen-share during a call.
• Use the recording feature to save and document your sessions.
• Hold brainstorming sessions with Zoom’s on-screen whiteboard feature.
• Access in-depth support such as live help, online chat, phone support, FAQs, help articles, and video tutorials.
• Free (up to 100 participants and 40 minute calls).
• A relatively easy registration-creation process.

Cons of Zoom:

• If you host more than 100 participants regularly, you will have to pay (Starts from $14.99 a month…)
• Picture quality is sometimes an issue.

Both are great platforms with some minor hiccups and glitches but overall they do what they say and will be great options for your next online webinar. Think about what you want, factor in your budget and how much support and guidance you want from each service and it should help you make your decision.

2. Identify Your Goals and Structure The Webinar…

This is a relatively straight-froward, self-policing matter. Ask yourself these questions: what is the main point of the webinar – Is it to inform? Create a discussion? Find answers? Provide answers? Will you require a presentation to achieve the answer to these questions? Who’s presenting? How long for?

Once you have done that, you can start to formulate a plan as to how you want the webinar to go. In the recent CPG Masterclass Series – a two-month programme of online webinars – we primarily focused on a presentation model. If we were to answer those questions it would have looked like this:

• Is it to inform? Yes
• Create a discussion? Not primarily, but we can if necessary.
• Find answers? No
• Provide answers? Yes
• Requires a presentation? Yes
• Who’s presenting? External speakers
• How long for? Short bursts of information

Now we have a basis to form our structure. Generally, we followed a presentation-style webinar, whereby the external speaker presented on a certain topic for 20-25 minutes, to provide expertise and knowledge about it and then the listeners could ask questions at the end, and spark a discussion if warranted.

By answering these goals, you can create an effective webinar template.

3. Communicate Clearly…

This is key to delivering an effective, highly-sought after webinar. If your participants do not even know about it, how can they join? Promoting your webinar is therefore important but must be done in the right way.

Think about the channels you use (social media, email, website, blog) and tailor the message to each. Coincidently, we held our own CPG Masterclass Series webinar on just that very premise here. Once you have drafted out some promotional posts (remembering to include the sign-up link in every single one!), get posting.

Then you need to think about the user-registration journey. How do you simplify the process of registering for a webinar? If it is complicated, people just will not join or be interested. Zoom’s registering system is very straightforward – it creates a registration link which takes you to a separate landing page, you fill in a few of your basic details and you receive an automated email to say you have registered along with the timings and access link (the host also receives an email to say they have received a registrant – important data!).

People’s time is precious. Pitch to them what your webinar is about, why it is of use to them and then once you have grabbed their attention ensure they don’t fall at the last registration hurdle.

4. Don’t be Camera Shy, do be Camera Conscious

Once you have completed all of the above and have created a webinar with registered participants, you need to think about how you deliver the actual webinar itself effectively. This is not as complicated as it needs to be, it just needs a little bit of confidence and preparation from you or the presenter beforehand.

Do you stay on camera? Do you turn it off? Personally, we like to stay on camera…the current circumstances have already limited our social contact considerably and whilst Zoom is a good substitute to meet, do you really want to alienate your registrants even further by not showing your face on camera? Its a tricky one but I think your attendees would appreciate seeing who they are listening to.

On a final note if you do choose to go onto camera, ensure you have considered yourself and your surroundings. As we have all seen, there have been some terrible (albeit amusing) examples in the past of meetings being interrupted by children, slightly inappropriate photos in the house or somebody not wearing appropriate office clothing! Whilst you might be at home, preparing the environment you are in appropriately has never been more important.

On a final note, make sure you have as much fun and confidence as possible whilst planning, organising and holding your webinar!

The brand refresh includes a short film created in-house, capturing the passion and potential of the LET players, celebrating their hard work, dedication and perseverance.

Narrated by Solheim Cup star Suzann Pettersen and with a script written by multiple LET champion Meghan MacLaren, it focuses on the hard work and determination it takes to achieve goals, inspiring women and girls to pursue their passion and realise their potential through the game of golf.

Talented writer Meghan MacLaren, who wrote the script, said: “I loved working on this project and it was great to play an active role in the new direction of our Tour. This is an exciting time for the LET and for women’s golf and to see the growth potential as we look ahead to the future for the next is very fulfilling. I’ve always worked hard to raise my game and I’m proud to be a Member of a Tour which gives us the opportunity to raise our game further.”

Meghan’s script focuses on the fierce commitment required to compete at the highest level and highlights the importance of the friends, family and wider community of tournament promoters, sponsors and media who together lay the path to drive women’s golf forward:

It starts with something we can’t define. 

It’s a dream, but we’re too young to know what it is, where it might take us.

Our family, coaches, friends… they know. On cold winter mornings and warm summer nights, they help us shape it into something we believe in.

Sometimes we lose it. Sometimes we stop believing. Sometimes we wonder if it’s all really worth it… but we don’t stop.

Because in every new city that embraces us and every new partner who invests in us, on every Monday that promises and every Thursday that threatens to take away – we have a chance to find it again. A chance to believe again. A chance to make each moment our own.

But it’s yours too, because you’re there by our side, guiding the way. You helped create it.

So it’s time to believe, in all of our dreams.

Together, let’s raise our game.

Suzann Pettersen, one of the most iconic European golfers of all time, who holed the winning putt at the 2019 Solheim Cup, said: “I wouldn’t be where I am without the LET and I’m excited about the next chapter of the Tour’s history as it looks to provide even more opportunities for women and girls in the game. I’m thrilled to narrate this inspirational video, re-branding the new LET. The future is bright for the LET and its Members.”

LET Chief Executive Alexandra Armas said: “This brand refresh expresses our excitement about the LET and its future, how passionate and proud we all are to represent this strong new brand and that we are in this journey together with our partners, determined to create greater opportunities for the women who play golf today and for the ones that will follow in the future.

“It has been an unprecedented and eventful start to the new decade. In January, we announced a record-breaking schedule and we were extremely excited about the 2020 season. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, it has been a challenging time for us of late, but we are now focused on the long term.

“This is not only the time to preserve tournaments in 2020 but to build the future that we’re so excited about moving forward for women’s golf. 2020 is a building block to a bigger and better 2021, 2022 and beyond. Together, let’s do all we can to raise our game.”

Further to the recent developments regarding the pandemic Covid-19 and the restrictive orders and measures for travel, sport events and social life enforced by the European Union and the Greek State to contain the spread of the virus, it is our utmost duty to you and our communities to act responsibly and protect those at high risk.

As a result, with much regret and given that the safety of our participants, staff and colleagues is of utmost importance, we are compelled to reschedule the 15th Aegean Airlines Pro-Am for 2021.

We will review the circumstances later this year and we shall be providing you with further details.

Our thoughts are with the people who have been affected by this unprecedented event and we appreciate the healthcare workers, local communities, and governments around the world who are on the front line working to contain this coronavirus.

With kind regards,

Katia Avramidou
President of the Organizing Committee of the 15th Aegean Airlines Pro-Am
& Legal Counsel Aegean Airlines

When we meet new clients, we usually go in with one opinion formed from what we know at that point, which is usually based on touchpoints such as their website or some marketing collateral we’ve seen. But once we meet the people behind that business, that opinion always changes – and usually for the better. This makes us want to work with them and we end up building up wonderful relationships with people. Through our Brand thinking™ process we get to know more of the people behind the organisation, from the top to the bottom. We learn about what they love about the company, what frustrates them and how they live the brand on a day-to-day basis.

The more we do this the more we see the real value in making sure the people in your company live, breathe and are the brand. From the moment your customers speak to one of your staff members on the phone they are forming an opinion of the brand and building an emotional feeling towards your business. Making sure your staff are on the same page as the brand will make this process a lot smoother.

However, it can be dangerous to impose a brand ethos on your team, especially if it’s not who they are or not what they believe in. The comments from them to your clients excusing the colour palette or strapline will soon creep in and undermine everything you’ve worked so hard to build.

That’s why it’s essential to build your brand around the kind of people who work for it and the kind of customers you want to attract. It’s easier for smaller businesses that have a small team, which is why we see so many of them winning when it comes to genuine brand and social content. But all businesses can follow some simple guidelines to ensure their brand works from within:

Listen

First you really need to listen to your team and find out what makes them tick. Finding out what they’re proud of in the company and what they’re not so proud of is really important to finding a brand that will work for them. Maybe there are some brands that they really admire or aspire to.

Build a story

Your brand needs a story. This doesn’t have to be like a kids’ book, it’s important to have a clear message and ethos that everyone can believe in and get behind. It needs to be genuine so that people will believe in it.

Champion heroes

Use the wealth of knowledge and personality from within the team to create brand heroes. All of your content doesn’t have to be authored by the CEO, it can be from other members of staff throughout the workplace hierarchy. Using your internal experts to show your expertise will not only empower your team, but it will make you look like a clever bunch. A website blog is a great place to do this.

The power of attraction

Showing what kind of people and company you are helps the business to grow in the right direction, with the right people. Communicating the kind of internal culture you have can show prospective employees and clients what it would be like to work with you. This may be a turn-off to some people, but they’re not your target market. You need be genuine though, otherwise people may be disappointed.

The big reveal

A big brand reveal is a great way to excite and enthuse your team. Communicating the outcomes of everyone’s efforts to the team you can give a big injection of inspiration. Showing how it will help them and how it represents them will win them over. Using fun visual aspects of the brand internally can keep the inspiration going.

Know the limits

You need to know when to push back. It’s great to get the whole team involved in the process, but you must not lose focus of what the business is and who its target market is. Some decisions need to be decisive and not by committee.

And we have been doing so throughout history. Stories have allowed us to pass on information from one generation to the next in the form of books, visuals and the spoken word. Some cultures rely heavily – or solely in some cases – on oral storytelling to pass on traditions, values and beliefs. Members of the Native American Abenaki tribe, for example, have traditionally told their children stories as a way to teach them right from wrong and so instil core values in them. Fairy tales have done the same for many cultures for hundreds of years.

So why stories? What makes them so valuable?

First and foremost, stories allow us to make sense of the world around us. The way this works is quite simple: our brains are hardwired to look for patterns, i.e. finding links between cause and effect. This is how we learn from a young age. For example, if we touch something very hot and it hurts our hand we make the causal connection between the two and learn not to touch that thing again. The end result of this thought process is a story, which we can then share with others to spread our knowledge.

Stories can touch us in any number of ways. They can open our minds to new perspectives, inspire and persuade us, help build our confidence, grow a sense of inclusion and incite change. Ultimately, they can be used to shape our values and beliefs. Think, for example, of how stories are used within religion and politics to influence how people think and what they believe.

A story’s power comes from its narrative form, which draws us in much more than dry facts ever could. Evidence from neuroscience suggests that when we listen to a story our brain patterns start to mirror those of the speaker, allowing us to connect on a deeper level. The way a story is structured – with a clear beginning, middle and end – also helps to maintain our engagement as we long to hear the outcome.

Being a great storyteller is an incredibly useful skill for any professional to have, and a relatively easy one to master: after all, it’s something that we practise almost every day. However, to perfect the art there are some ground rules to keep in mind:

1. Make sure you understand your audience and how best to best to engage them.
2. Your story needs to be easy to follow with a clear structure.
3. Don’t forget the power of delivery: your tone of voice and body language can influence engagement levels.

Evaluate your own storytelling skills: how comfortable do you feel telling a story? How good do you think you are at engaging others when you speak? Then start practising those skills. Whether it’s at your next networking event, during a presentation, or a meeting with your boss or a hiring manager: tell a story about you, your career or the project you are working on. Chances are whoever’s listening will remember that story over anything else.

This content appears courtesy of Abintegro, experts in career management, transition technology & e-learning for today’s modern, mobile and technology-savvy workforce – Find out more at www.abintegro.com

Credit: Abintegro; The Guardian; The Health Foundation

Confederation of Professional Golf Corporate Partner, Peter Millar, awarded a yearlong apparel contract to Miller furthering their support of the European game.

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Miller managed to successfully convert his lead and dominant play at Pravets Golf & Spa Resort in Bulgaria in October to take the Championship honours, the first prize of €10,000 and the Peter Millar contract.

“After winning the Championship it was great to receive a Peter Millar apparel contract for 2017,” explained Miller. “The high quality clothing is both great looking and great fitting! I really love the clothing and I have had many compliments from members at our club. Thanks again to Peter Millar for the support and I am looking forward to a great 2017 season!”

“We’re pleased to be giving a clothing contract to the very worthy winner, Ralph,” said Managing Director Peter Millar International, Mark Hilton. “He will wear the latest Peter Millar designs from both Crown and Crown Sport collections over the coming year and we look forward to working with, and supporting, him throughout that time.”

Sign-up for the exclusive Peter Millar member offer at http://eur.pe/PGA-Peter-Millar-Offer.

For more information on Peter Millar visit www.petermillar.co.uk.

This article originally featured in International Golf Pro News. Visit the IGPN Page to find out more and subscribe for free.

Myself, Jan and Chandra are returning home from a four day trip to the French capital to work with a long-standing global client who is based there. We are working with them to deliver a very complex rebrand with multiple stakeholders and teams across Europe, the US and Australasia.

Over the past few years we have delivered rebrands across Europe, the US and Africa. Being based in the UK, I wanted to share how we create brands that resonate with people in those countries, that grow and evolve with their culture, and ultimately achieve success for the companies we represent. Here are my top 5 guidelines for a successful outcome.

1. Immerse yourself in the culture.

It seems like an obvious thing to say, but we know it doesn’t always get done. Companies look to the UK for design skill and creative thinking, but to deliver a project successfully you (as a company) need to look wider than your personal experiences and that can be difficult. All good creative people are like sponges, soaking up information, ideas and bringing influences like trends, styles and messaging from the world around us into our work. But, what if those influences don’t mean anything to the people you are designing for? What if those ‘eureka’ moments don’t resonate with an audience of the outside the UK?

That’s where immersing yourself in the culture or cultures of the client is vital. As an example, when we are working in France, we go to France and visit the client, we ask them to show us what makes France French in their eyes. We visit locations of historical importance, we watch their films, listen to their music, try and learn some of the language, and most importantly we look – we look at what they design, how they design, what influences their design culture. Only by doing this can you start to consider what design and branding will work in that chosen culture.

2. Don’t trust cultural stereotypes.

We would all like to believe that we are ‘worldly’ and knowledgeable people – who look outwardly at global information, understanding cultures and people. But really we still view the world and the different cultures as stereotypes. We think of the French as chic, the Americans as loud, the Germans as serious and the British as stiff upper-lipped. Clearly that isn’t the case, but you would be amazed at how many brands are created with a stereotype at its heart, e.g. Delice De France!

By visiting, learning and living a culture you can start to see past stereotypes and begin to see similarities – parts of our cultures that merge and overlap. Once you are able to do this you can start to see where a brand resonates across multiple cultures, across languages and trends. When you reach this point you can create a brand thread which ties branding, emotion and design to cultures across entire continents or further afield.

3. Be in the room.

It’s as simple as that – be in the room. Be in the room for client meetings in their offices, be in the room when they discuss the answers to your brand questions, be in the room when they are chatting about their weekends, or plans for the evening, be in the room when that room is a pub, a bar, a restaurant – be a part of the team. By becoming a member of the client’s team, you become a part of their culture. You can learn what really makes them tick, what drives them forward, why they come to work everyday, what is in their heart that differentiates them from others, and what really should be in the heart of the brand.

4. Learn the subtleties.

Great brands are not created through billboards or advertising campaigns alone, they are delivered through subtly – beautiful touches of quality, finesse and intelligence; the beautifully produced bag, the expertly finished brochure or the refined smooth wording of a letter.
Subtleties differ from culture to culture and learning what different people see as the differentiator of quality can be vital to the overall success of a rebrand.

For example, in Africa, colour is a vital part of visual language. Colours represent different events in life, from celebration and weddings, through to morning and funerals. The colours symbolise emotion, and that emotion is imparted into the brand. Those emotional ties to colours will run deep into the subconscious of the viewer and therefore as brand thinkers we have to be mindful of this and utilise the power of colour to enhance a message or brand position – brandthinking in colour.

5. Ask the hard questions.

If you want to know if your brand works, ask the people who live it. We are specialists in creating brands that deliver growth, brands that have emotion and brands that resonate with target audiences, but when working in different cultures how do we know we have got it right, before we launch? Simply – we ask.

We spend time presenting the concept and brand developments to a wide range of the client’s team, from directors to admin staff. The directors will look at the brand from a strategic point of view and will trust our opinion and advice, but a receptionist will look at the brand with their heart – they will tell you what they feel and that is vital. When the strategic mind and emotive soul of the brand align, we know we have the right outcome for the organisation. It is easy to be afraid to show the brand and to ask “what do you think?”, as they are four words which can turn your project on it’s head. But they are the four most important words in any brand project.

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So there you have it, 5 top tips for branding in different countries and across cultures. As part of our Brandthinking™ process we deliver exciting, emotive brands through a wide range of countries and cultures. There are many more things which need to be considered when doing these complex projects, but I hope these 5 tips will give you an insight into they way we think, and help you in any future planning for projects.

If you have a brand that you wish to launch in the UK or further afield, and think our Brandthinking™ process and creativity can help, then we would love to hear from you.

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A question often asked is, What value does a PGA professional have at a golf club? The answer can be quite a lot.

Does your club have a PGA Professional?  Are you looking to recruit one?  Perhaps you had one in previous years but not anymore?  Times have changed and so has the role of the PGA Professional at club level.  In the heady days of property booms and third houses a PGA Professional at your club was seen as a sign that things were good, that business was strong and having the pro there was just something that clubs did.

Fast forward a few years and clubs saw their incomes drop and many responded by letting their PGA Professional go (or perhaps not taking on a PGA Professional) as they perhaps didn’t see the value that they brought.  Nowadays though, the modern PGA Professional is an invaluable asset to a golf club and it’s great to see how diverse and integral the role has become once again, the role of the PGA Professional is back where it belongs.

Given the right circumstances and direction a PGA Professional can add significant revenues to any club.  The logo for PGA Professionals contains the phrase “The heart of golf” for a good reason.  It’s not because they’ve gone through rigorous training and feel they deserve it. It’s because they’ve gone through rigorous training, have learned about golf clubs from the inside out, have likely spent more time in golf clubs than even the most dedicated club members and they are the lifeblood of any club.  The PGA pro doesn’t only stand in the shop to answer your questions anymore, they are involved in so much more behind the scenes and here are some of the ways in which a PGA Professional can add value and revenue to your club;

1. Knowledge

A PGA Professional goes through an intensive three-year training programme covering all aspects of golf club management as well as the physical aspects of playing the game.They have a broad knowledge of everything required to run a golf club and can be a great source of knowledge on a wide range of topics from membership to marketing.

2. Revenue

This is a key area in any business but in a golf club there are so many ways to increase & control revenue. Why not engage with your current PGA Professional and ask their advice on this and see what they can come up with? Equally as important as revenue is cost control and again the training that PGA Professionals receive puts them in a unique position to advise and assist with this.

3. Customer service & interaction

The person at a golf club who has the most customer interaction is the PGA Professional (43%, with the next person being the GM at 13%). They are the face of the club.Whether it’s a members competition on a weekend or a friendly fourball playing on a Tuesday afternoon, the PGA Professional is likely to be the person who greets you, explains the club policies, encourages you to have dinner or buy a shirt from the shop and this interaction can lead to repeat business and of course the increased market perception for your club.

4. Advice

More and more PGA pro’s are being asked to join in on committee meetings to offer advice and guidance.This is wonderful to see but many more Irish clubs could benefit from the input of a PGA Professional in this area.It shouldn’t only be competition committees, the PGA pro can be a useful asset in any committee, they know your club as well if not better than you do, they know all your members, they get direct feedback from every single visitor and surely that should make them the first name on the committee sheet?Don’t forget too that your PGA Professional is also a great source of knowledge on the latest equipment, clothing and many can even advise on some nutrition and exercise regimes if you’re so inclined – this is an under-utilised but greatly effective members asset.

5. Lessons

Many people only see the PGA pro as just being someone you go to for lessons – obviously this is far from true but lessons are a big part of what a pro can bring to a golf club.If a member can get a lesson from a good PGA Professional at their home club then they will do so.Players from other clubs can come to your PGA pro for lessons too which increases the public profile of your club. Moreover the pro can give introductory lessons and programmes aimed at getting people into golf who have never played.This can result in membership increases and further revenues for the club.Did you know that if someone takes lessons they play 20% more golf, spend 65% more on F&B and spend 70% more on retail?

6. Marketing

This is an interesting one as along with the pro and the manager, marketing was one of the first things to be cut when revenues dropped in Irish clubs.Through their personal contact with golfers your PGA pro is marketing your club, through giving lessons to non-members your PGA pro is marketing your club, through their interaction with other PGA pros and through them being very good at their jobs your PGA pro is marketing your club.It doesn’t always have to come down to spending money, but if it does then your PGA pro is well positioned to advise you on where is best to spend it.They eat, sleep, live and breathe golf, if it’s happening in golf they will most likely know about it so why would you not ask their opinion?

7. Member recruitment & retention

A recent survey found that 100% of people who took coaching lessons from their PGA Professional stayed as a club member the following year. That’s a staggering statistic when you consider the membership turnover in many golf clubs.When it comes to member recruitment the PGA Professional is probably the first person that any prospective member will meet.They will come in to ask questions, get forms or to play a round and see what the course is like.The pro can have a huge impact on recruitment and an educated, friendly face who knows about the club is the ideal person to have dealing with new members.

These are just some of the benefits of having a PGA Professional at your club, there are so many more and to talk to someone at the PGA about it or if your club is looking to recruit a PGA Professional you should contact Paul Wisniewski at the PGA Irish Region on Email: paul.wisniewski@pga.org.uk or Telephone: 085 8821756.