The first few months of the year have been very busy for us at the Confederation of Professional Golf – our winter season is drawing to a close with the culmination of our early year tournaments, dates for upcoming events are being put in place, and preparations are being made for our 25th Anniversary celebrations later in the year.

I was lucky to be invited to South Africa earlier this month to spend time with the Chief Executive of the PGA of South Africa, Ivano Ficalbi, and his team. It was great to work with them on some details of their operation and to see first hand their work in the country.

A whistle-stop tour of the country took me to three cities in four days along with a stop at the World Club Pro-Am that was defended again by the PGA of Greece’s Henrik Engdahl. It’s been a pleasure to see the event grow in its two years and we’re looking forward to working closely with them on the 2016 edition next year.

Meanwhile this month our eyes have been drawn to the announcement of not one, but two Ryder Cup Captains in the form of Davis Love III for the USA Team and Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke as the European Captain.

We have had the pleasure of Darren competing in the Beko Classic on several occasions and having left his mark on the Ryder Cup, including his fantastic efforts in 2006 at The K Club, we wish him every success in this latest chapter.

We should also take time to acknowledge the outstanding achievements of New Zealander Lydia Ko. To see an ascension from someone so young is incredible.

Back-to-back wins including her second home-win at the New Zealand Open are exemplary of what could easily become full-scale dominance of the ladies game. Lydia plans to retire when she reaches 30 – who knows what she’ll have achieved by then!

This month’s issue of IGPN focuses on marketing and PR and the ways in which PGA Professionals and golf facilities promote themselves and their products and engage with their clients.

Pretty much all of the things I have mentioned above involve marketing and PR – when you stop to think about it then marketing touches more elements of life than you would assume. The success of events, our Organisation’s work, and much more is dependent on the ability to provide value to sponsors, partners, and ultimately the end-user.

The communications side of the Confederation of Professional Golf’s operations continues to be hugely important to the success of our endeavours and with an increasingly digital world, along with more and more discerning customers, marketing yourself and your business properly has never been more important.

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