2016 GMANZ Conference Wrap
The 2016 Golf Managers New Zealand (GMANZ), 7th Biennial Conference is now officially done and dusted. With 100+ delegates attending over the two days, which included our own Golf Industry Central Managing Director Mike Orloff, the conference was deemed a success by organisers.
With its primary aim to develop better and more capable golf managers, the conference held on August 28-30 encouraged industry delegates from NZ and Australia to share their knowledge and expertise in order to cultivate golf participation across the country.
With the tagline “Delivering Golf”, the event was concentrated on GMANZ’s main purpose to support membership and increase golf and other club management capabilities nation-wide, by providing training recourses, network and support.
The event opened with the Biennial Golf Tournament at the Shandon Golf Club on the Sunday, followed by a Conference Dinner held at the host venue – Rydges Wellington Hotel on Monday night.
In line with the All Blacks’ spectacular win over the Wallabies the night before, which saw the team retained the Bledisloe Cup for the 14th-straight year, the presentations were kicked off with New Zealand Rugby CEO, Steve Tew, performing as a keynote speaker on the Monday. Of course the Australians in the room could not dodge the “friendly banter” hurled toward them about the loss by pretty much every speaker, but instead held their heads as high as they could and took the well deserved punishment!
Other industry leaders presenting on the first day of the Conference led off by New Zealand Golf CEO Dean Murphy, included the former Deputy CEO of Air New Zealand Norm Thompson, Sport New Zealand General Manager Geoff Barry, Deputy Chairman of the Perry Group Murray Gutry, CEO of Sport Taranaki Howie Tamati and Bayview Golf Club (Sydney) Board Member Adrian van Gogh.
NZ Golf CEO Murphy acknowledged the many challenges still faced by the industry, but was pleased to see such a great number of delegates at the event committing to improving the situation and vowed NZ Golf’s continuous support to the GMA.
“While much has changed over the past two years since the last conference; much remains the same. Our sector remains challenged by a range of matters and none of the big issues are going away,” Murphy said.
“While we all know there are many challenges facing our sector, it is important to remember there are also lots of success stories. More often than not the club manager is behind this success and for this reason, New Zealand Golf is very deliberately both the major sponsor of this conference and the principal supporter of the Golf Managers Association. We have been for some time and will continue to be a big supporter of the GMA.
“I’d particularly like to acknowledge and thank the national GMA for their work and their support of New Zealand Golf. While our organisations have been partners for a very long-time, the current relationship is the best I’ve seen over the last ten years.”
Murphy further touched upon GMA’s progress in terms of educational programs and how it positively impacts the management division in the country.
“In my view, the GMA has come a long way in the past two years and the current positioning that GMA as the leading provider of Golf Management education is the right way forward, he said”
“I think this is an excellent way for the GMA to provide leadership that really improves the golf management sector in New Zealand. To Warren, Chris and your team – congratulations on the progress you are making.”
The second day of the event started off with breakfast at the Beehive (Parliament House), followed by a brief tour of the Parliament building including meeting Prime Minister John Key. GMANZ President Warren Collett was caught discussing golf tips with Mr Key. Not sure how much it helped Warren though!
Back at the conference venue, topics relating to managing the green space, living in facilities that have passed the test of time, the relationship with staff and how it is best managed along with the international trends were covered in depth.
Mike Orloff presented on ‘How to deliver the total golf experience’.
“With a changing expectation in what golf is all about, we can look at many ways to improve the total experience someone has at your facility,” Orloff said. “It doesn’t have to be costly to do so, but more simply embracing some new technology along with ongoing staff training.
“The sum of small things do add up to a better overall experience.”
Click here to read full article in GIC E-Magazine Spring Issue 2016
