Golf England has appointed Mike Couzens as managing director to run the ongoing development of the new official national programme for amateur golf. Couzens joins Golf England from CISCO where he was European marketing director.
He has a wealth of experience in developing brands at Intel, where he launched the Intel Inside campaign in Europe, and CISCO, where he brought CISCO in as the title sponsor of the World Match Play Championship. He is also committed to bringing technology and the Internet into the game and this will be key to the next phase of development for Golf England which now has over 300 member clubs.
“I admit it,” said Mike Couzens. “I’m passionate about golf and want to see more put back into the amateur game. Golf England is an exciting opportunity to bring more communities of people into golf and to increase the effectiveness of clubs through the application of technology and the Internet.”
Mike’s appointment coincides with the next stage in the evolution of Golf England. This includes the launch of the Associate member scheme, the latest development initiative from Golf England designed to promote golf to a wider audience, as well as technology testing at a cross-section of member clubs.
The Associate scheme extends the work started by the English Golf Union that already has over 7,000 members in its current scheme. For only £48 a year, Golf England’s Associate member scheme offers these golfers a chance to gain, and to keep up to date, an official handicap and to benefit from a range of great golf related offers including:
discounts at selected clubs and training academies
free quarterly magazine
free golfers introductory personal liability and personal accident insurance
a national associate championship in 2003.
The Golf England Associate member scheme will provide a stepping stone to full golf club membership and aims to attract more people, of all ages, on to the fairways and to help boost golf participation, especially at grassroots level.
Mike said, “The launch of the Associate member scheme further emphasises Golf England’s ambition to make golf more accessible and to broaden the game’s appeal. By encouraging people to join this’virtual club’, they will be able to enjoy many of the benefits of a classic golf club and more. Golf England will be the biggest virtual golf club in the world! It will raise the profile of the game and it is hoped that it will help golf thrive in this country.
“Golf England has been established to provide clubs and golfers with the broadest range of quality golf-related benefits. It represents a significant commercial opportunity to ensure that the game can meet the challenges it faces in the 21st century.”
Golf England www.golfengland.com