Golf Business Forum Wrap-Up

Deemed Australia’s greatest ever gathering of golf industry leaders, the inaugural Golf Business Forum took place in Melbourne in late July, uniting 220+ facility owners, operators, industry leaders and business partners.

In form of a two-day educational event between July 25-26, delegates and facilities from throughout the various sectors of the industry were represented, including municipal golf facilities, private golf clubs, driving ranges, mini-golf facilities, virtual golf facilities, hotels and holiday resorts.

Organisers and suppliers of the industry were also well represented on the occasion.

“We set out to create a new opportunity for industry owners and operators to engage with industry leadership, suppliers and other participants, with a focus on facilities servicing public golfers,” said Forum co-Director Andrew Davies.

“We were thrilled to see so many respond, and have received great support from across the industry to take the Forum further.”

The forum, which was design to form conversation between operators and owners in the golf industry that serve the public golfers, featured a mix of educational sessions and a major networking event along with an exhibition featuring key industry business partners.

“The hardest thing really was to get the attendees back into the room again,” Davies added. “We were fortunate enough to have many different people from the industry and many of them met for the first time so it made for excellent networking opportunities.”

With 18 leading industry speakers sourced from both Australia and internationally including keynote speakers Jay Karen (CEO of the National Golf Course Owners Association) and Lodewijk Klootwijk (CEO of the European Golf Course Owners Association), forum attendees was provided with a plethora of topics relevant to all golf businesses across three key themes: Market Dynamics, Facility Development & Innovation, and Customer Engagement & Experience.

“To get the international perspective from leaders like Jay and Lodewijk is a huge bonus,” said Forum co-Director Guy Chapple. “Their insights gave many confidence that we can embrace the trends in other markets and leverage their experiences to our advantage here.”

The forum also featured four case studies by Wembley Golf Course in WA, Moore Park Golf in NSW, Yarra Bend Golf in Victoria and Club Parkwood in Queensland, with each club demonstrating the benefits of strategic planning and sufficient management.

“The case studies got really good feedback,” said co-Director Davies. “A lot of the delegates joined the forum especially to see those facilities and to hear their success stories.”

Click here to read full article in GIC 2016 Spring E-Magazine