As part of its popular two day annual dinner and golf day event at Woburn on 23 and 24 April, the British Golf Industry Association, for the first time, hosted a ‘Growing Golf’ Conference, which provided a unique opportunity to bring together key bodies in UK and European Golf to discuss growth of the sport.
A large audience of BGIA members and their colleagues/guests were invited to listen to insightful presentations from Rob Maxfield (PGA), Ian Randell (PGAE), John Petrie (EGU), Roger Moreland (EGP), Colin Mayes (UKGCOA), and Mike Round (Golf Foundation), on how their organisation is proactively working to combat the decline in the game and the various initiatives which are bringing new players in, and old players back to, the game.
A lively Q&A session and debate then ensued, with particular reference to the England Golf Partnership’s new ‘Get into Golf’ campaign which aimed to accelerate the growth of golf inEngland. After much discussion, the industry concluded that improved communication and an emphasis on working together is key to an effective and combined approach.
BGIA Chairman Doug Poole, who facilitated the event, commented: “The Association has been keen to bring together the wider industry to discuss this vital topic for some time now, and we were pleased with the willingness of the key bodies to attend and present on their initiatives and campaigns. Clearly communication and a better understanding of what initiatives are being rolled out could be improved and new collaborations formed for everyone’s benefit. We the industry, are very eager to continue these important discussions at a follow up event later on this year, in the hope of finding new ways of working together, as after all, its in everyone’s best interests to grow our game.”
The BGIA is now looking to hold a follow up full day workshop conference in future which will aim to include breakout brainstorming sessions and firm conclusions and new partnerships.
GBN.com would like to apologise that this story was omitted from previous editions
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