Golf Club Talk UK

Two interviews on episode 60 - Eddie chats with Steve Vinnicombe, General Manager/Head Golf Professional at Bedford & County Golf Club. Steve shares his exciting journey, how he combines the diverse role responsisbilities as General Manager, Head Professional, Golf Coach. Steve is energetic and illustrates his passion in adding to the community spirit at the club while driving the strategic objectives. Leighton is then joined by GCTUK sponsors - BRS in conjunction with Golf Genius. One year into this great partnership, Conor and Alex explain some of the innovations in the system and how the partnership is going from strength to strength. There's plenty more to come too! Bedford & County Golf Club - https://www.bandcgc.co.uk/ BRS Golf - https://www.brsgolf.com/web/ Golf Genius - https://www.golfgenius.com/

Leighton makes a trip to Liverpool and the "Golf Coast" to visit the Managing Secretary of Royal Birkdale, Michael Sawicki. Michael has had a very steady progression through teh Golf Management ranks to find himself at this great club. We discuss his journey to Royal Birkdale but then also go into more depth about the club itself but also some of the things that go with hosting the Open Championship. While the next one may be some years away at Royal Birkdale, the planning is constant and Michael works closely with the R&A on all matters course, ecology and logistics. The Open aside, Michael manages a busy club with a strong membership and he provides more detail on what it takes to keep standards high. https://royalbirkdale.com/ Thanks to our sponsor BRS Golf www.brsgolf.com

On the first episode of GCMA Insights for 2022, we feature the GCMA Mentor programe released in late 2021 and due to commence in May 2022. The scheme is designed to draw on the best in our industry to nurture the next generation of industry professionals. Leighton is joined by Tom Brooke, CEO of GCMA along with four of the new mentors (listed below) and Biddy Lloyd Jones and Keith Maynard who have been training the mentors. Future mentees will be able to benefit from this training but also the many years of experience to be received through these industry professionals. Mentors include: Richard Penley-Martin - Denham GC Andrew Whitelaw - Portmarnock GC Gary Beves - Golf at Goodwood Ben Driver - Chigwell GC www.gcma.org.uk

Following Leighton & Eddie's catch up, we talk to Amelia Lewis from Players 1st to deep-dive into member and guest surveys including the results, benefits, how best to frame your surveys and how to use the information to assist member retention. Players 1st is the world's leading supplier of Customer Experience solutions specifically designed to help golf operators retain and recruit members by helping clubs gain a better understanding of members' wants, needs and opinions on what's on offer. Players 1st has forged strategic partnerships with leading national golf associations across Europe and North America, combining their expertise in customer experience management with industry best practices to deliver a powerful, easy to deploy solution for public and private course operators to help them take care of their most important asset – their members and guests. Learn more at www.players1st.golf Thanks to our sponsors BRS - www.brsgolf.com

Great to be back for 2022 and we kick off then year with two interviews. Following a catch up with Eddie and Leighton, Eddie speaks to Doug Poole, Chief Executive of the UK Golf Federation. The UK Golf federation represent proprietary and commercial minded clubs and driving ranges across the UK https://www.ukgolffederation.com/home Doug gives us a run down of what's happening at the federation as well as his own time at the helm following an interesting career in the Golf Industry. Leighton then chats to Andrew Gibbins and Damien Urwin from Your Golf Travel. Like all aspects of the Golf industry, it's been a tough time for Golf Travel, particularly on the International front. Damien tells us why this might change this year, and Andrew who is UK based tells us what's been happening locally. He also delves into what clubs can do to get their share of the UK Golf travel market, especially with the increased travel at home. https://www.yourgolftravel.com/ Thanks again to our sponsors BRS Golf - www.brsgolf.com

On the last episode for 2021, Eddie and Leighton have a good catch up and a look back at 2021 including favourite episodes. They then pull their crystal balls out for a look forward to 2022. Following the intro, we're joined by our sponsors BRS. Karen Moss and Kevin Murray provide some hugely valuable data on member utilisation numbers. This is on the back of the August episode where visitor play was covered. Numbers of member rounds are compared with 2020, but more importantly 2019 which is a more typical comparison. Well worth a listen for anyone who wants to keep their finger on the pulse. www.brsgolf.com Thanks to all of our listeners and Merry Christmas! Twitter - @golfclubtalkuk golfclubtalkuk@gmail.com

On this episode of GCMA Insights, we feature a recap of the GCMA conference held at Wyboston Lakes in November. Leighton attended the conference, not only for some education but also to carry out some interviews with attendees, suppliers and presenters. The event was a big success and Tom Brooke starts the show by giving us his views on why it was so successful. The three key topics of sustainability, wellbeing and technology hit the mark with attendees with a great education program. We were also inspired by people such as John Paramor, Catriona Matthew, Danielle Brown and Chris Cook. The interviews offer some highlights and short bites from the guests and they include: Jim Croxton – BIGGA Steve Carroll – GCMA Magazine and National Club Golfer Jimmy Sandison – Rainbird Michael Herd – Colt Mackenzie McNair James McLean – GCMA Manager of the Year & GM Bognor Regis GC www.gcma.org.uk https://www.rainbird.com/eur https://coltmm.com/ https://www.nationalclubgolfer.com/ https://www.bognorgolfclub.co.uk/

After a long awaited visit to Royal Norwich, Leighton sits down in the Clubhouse with David Coventry - Chairman, and James Stanley - CEO of Royal Norwich. After 9 holes and some Lunch, the trio talk through the Royal Norwich story, with David explaining the back-story and James taking us through the present and what's to come! David has been at the heart of the move from the former site since the 1980's. This is a great story all round and one which all in the industry should listen to, not least for some inspiration as to what Golf Clubs can look like as we move forward. One of the biggest challenges along the way was the cultural shift once the move was made and both David and James give their take on this. Royal Norwich offers some stunning Golf but it's much more than this. The club wants to open its doors wide to the community whether it's utilising the Clubhouse, Practice Facilities or even Greenkeeper training! We hope you enjoy the interview and apologies for some minor sound issues. www.royalnorwich.co.uk

GCMA Insights on Golf Club Talk UK covers Wellbeing this time. One of the three key themes at the GCMA Conference, the wellbeing of those working in the Golf industry is explored by Debbie Kleiner, a workplace wellbeing consultant. Leighton and Debbie are also joined by Tom Brooke - CEO of GCMA, Craig Cotterill – Commercial Partnerships Manager and Gareth Morgan – GM of Long Ashton Golf Club. We get some very diverse and honest views on experiences of mental health issues and signs that something is creeping up on someone. Debbie and the guests also talk about coping strategies and ways of managing stress in the workplace and at home. This is a really interesting discussion and a topic that all managers should be paying close attention to. GCMA – www.gcma.org.uk www.wellbeing-inwork.co.uk https://wellbeing-inwork.co.uk/introduction-to-mental-health/ https://wellbeing-inwork.co.uk/stress-vs-burnout/

It's our 3rd episode of GCMA Insights on Golf Club Talk UK and the topic is Technology. Leighton is joined by Gavin Robinson of GCMA, Craig Higgs of Golf Genius and Rob Corcoran from The Revenue Club. Leading up to the GCMA Conference from 21st - 23rd November, the group give a flavour of how improving your technology can improve the customers experience, but also the experience of those running clubs. There are questions like - Is Golf behind on technology because the members don't demand it?, and how can you devise a technology strategy? There's some real nuggets in this episode and some discussion to get everyone thinking. Golf Genius - https://www.golfgenius.com/ The Revenue Club - https://www.therevenueclub.co.uk/ GCMA - https://www.gcma.org.uk/