Pete Styles has been a PGA professional for over 20 years and has taught from beginners to cat 1 golfers, celebrity clients and professionals alike. Pete has built up a fantastic following from his reputation as a coach and as a leading figure in our industry.
Upon arriving at Trafford Golf Centre, Pete could see a clear vision for how the centre could become the ‘Go To’ golf centre, not just for avid golfers but for families, couples, groups et al. Having worked on site and experienced many changes prior to his tenure as Director of Golf, Pete knew he could make a significant change to the running of the centre.
Having experienced Power Tee at Newark Golf Centre in 2002/2003 early on in his career Pete knew what Power Tee would bring to the golf centre here in Manchester. Whilst Power Tee Mark 1 was hydraulic and had some teething problems it proved the concept of how golfers engage more and hit more balls. The golfers spent more money and really appreciated the system.
In July 2014 Pete met with Power Tee to start discussions on how we would help grow his business. We agreed that as a starting point we would look at the first 5 bays in-between the office and the then teaching academy. We installed in January 2015 and by February 2016 we were adding 14 more Power Tees down the right-hand side of the range. In 2017 we completed the downstairs of the range as the teaching studios moved upstairs so all 28 commercial bays were being powered by Power Tee.
Pete said: “It was an organic growth with Power Tee from day 1 of working with them. Our customers loved the product and it has been intrinsic to creating a high value offering from us to them. Power Tee appeals to our younger audience as well as providing our existing golfers with an unrivalled practice experience. “
In 2020 the week before the first lockdown in the UK Pete had signed to have every commercial bay installed with Power Tee. This on the face of it may have scared some businesses but not Trafford. No one could foresee the golf boom that was going to come but their view was that if they give their customers the very best experience then they will come back time and time and time again. (They have done – significantly!)
Power Tee upgraded all of the downstairs bays before lockdown hit and completed the upstairs for Trafford upon opening back up. It was so busy that our team had to work around one of Europe’s busiest golf centres* at the craziest time.
Pete said “Offering Power Tee upstairs was a natural progression for us, something we would have done sooner but we had plans throughout the business, so this seemed to be the perfect timing. The upstairs looks fantastic with our purpose made platform with lighting in the steps, it has elevated our offering upstairs and gives us as a business the speed of play we required, especially during our busy periods. We receive so much positive feedback for how upstairs looks with the layout it is testimony to how we work and how Power Tee work and deliver, we now have 54 Power Tees across our centre.
The addition of the extra ‘Fake’ doubles was a fantastic solution for us with our other tech offering in bay. When we have groups in a bay and one is left-handed, they do not have to book a separate bay, they can play with their friends. We have full double Power Tees and ‘Fake’ doubles across all floors.
Obviously, we have worked hard across our business, adding our first 18 hole adventure golf, which was so successful we now have 2 x 18 hole adventure golf courses that have seen us have 41,000 rounds on in August 2021! The different demographic that has been enticed to the centre has been amazing and has exceeded our plans.
Our walkway to the Dino Falls is past our left-hand side of our range and all Dino Falls customers get to see the exciting technology we have on offer in our bays. Our take up of range balls has increased from our Dino Falls customers because of how cool and exciting this looks. Date nights, families, friend groups, company groups all using the whole of our centre to have fun in.
The vision was clear, yes, we are a golf driving range at heart, but we offer so much more to our visitors. We have a large meeting room for corporate customers who wish to host at our venue, a large Starbuck café and bar, we offer alcohol, food and everyone we have using our centre leaves with a smile on their face, that is priceless for us!”
When asked about becoming an ambassador for Power Tee Pete told us “I was flattered when I was asked to become an ambassador for Power Tee. Having known the product for nearly 20 years now I have always admired their business ethics. We as a customer (regardless of where I’ve worked) come first. Our needs are met and the service support is absolutely second to none. For a product to have evolved and kept golfers around the world happy for 25 years is testimony to them. I have great attention to detail with the business here and my team know that I expect the very top levels of customer service throughout our business. This is why it is a honour to be an ambassador for a company with the same values as my own.”
Matt Foley MD Golf-Tech Ltd said of Pete Styles becoming brand ambassador: “I have known Pete for many years now and have always respected him for the way he conducts himself and his business. Pete is the consummate professional and it is an honour for us to have him as a brand ambassador for Power Tee.
“Pete is driving the Trafford Centre Bus and he is taking it on a spectacular ride. Every time I visit them, I always get a warm welcome from his team and I get to watch them in action with their customers, how they have juggled so many people safely and securely is testimony to the hard work put in by Pete to ensure everyone visiting has the best experience they can have.
“The success of The Trafford Golf Centre and Power Tee has been multi -faceted, we have a great working relationship that has seen us spend a lot of time together making sure everything is right for the business.
“When we started to work with Pete and his team, I knew they needed more Power Tees to supply the demand, but we let nature take its cause and now we have a phenomenal customer (They hit 1,800,000 balls per month currently, all from Power Tee!) who is a massive advocate of ours. We are fortunate to work with great people and great businesses, working with Pete and his team has always been a great experience and I wish him and all of his team the very best of success for the future.
“I am thrilled to announce Pete Styles as our latest member of our Ambassador team, welcome Pete may the fun continue! To find out how Power Tee will enhance your business and grow your profits email enquiries@powertee.com or visit us at www.powertee.com”