The 21st appearance of GOLF EUROPE – International Golf Exhibition, which this year will be held from 28 to 30 September, has established itself in the two previous years in Augsburg as an absolutely essential venue for all the decision-makers in the golfing world.
Melanie Söhnel, project leader at GOLF EUROPE, is in a really positive frame of mind seven weeks prior to the trade fair, “We are looking forward to GOLF EUROPE 2014 in a very good frame of mind simply on account of the good feedback from our exhibitors who come from overseas as well as Germany and its European neighbours.”
The supporting programme at GOLF EUROPE will be enhanced by the “Pro Shop Forum” for the first time, inter alia with the lecture topics “Planning and Management Accounts – for smaller businesses too … to increase profits” by Uwe Duchardt, independent management consultant as well as “How to display clothing and shoes properly and make best use of sales aids” by Axel Beland, adidas & Ashworth Golf. Ben Evans, editor of the magazine “Cutting Edge Golf” will be moderating a discussion on the subject of “The Golf Fashion Trade: playing to your strengths”. The focus in the “Pro Shop Forum” will be on businesses selling textile and functional clothing.
Interesting information from Professionals for Professionals
There will be high calibre lectures for professionals in the PGA Learn & Earn Zone too. Those speaking will include Tony Benett, Director of Education & Membership at the PGAs of Europe, “Ever heard of a remix? Essentially it is about taking two or more ingredients, at least one which has already been successful, and mixing them together to make something that is new and fresh. As a PGA Master Golf Professional I cannot stress enough the value of having had the opportunity to learn from experts, to hear the ideas offered and to ask questions which helped better my understanding. I have been to hundreds of seminars, workshops and conferences and can honestly say that I have taken something away from just about every session. Often it has been a simple idea, even just the seed of an idea that when mixed with my own experiences has allowed me to develop my career.”
The PGA 2014 Learn and Earn Zone at GOLF EUROPE 2014 – Messe Augsburg Monday 29th September, will feature four excellent speakers, whose knowledge and practical experiences will be of great value for professionals who are looking to move their career to the next level. The speakers will be announced over the next few weeks, but in the meantime make sure that you save the date to take the first step towards the next stage of your career.”
Dr David McGhie is leader of research and development at Swing Catalyst, concentrating on bio-mechanics as the main area of research. He will be talking on the topic “Ground reaction forces and the golf swing”.
Michael Arndt and Christian Sude from Golf-Osteopathie Deutschland will be talking about “The impact of the upper cervical spine locking up on the golf swing from the perspective of an osteopath”.
Other speakers from PGA Learn & Earn Zone are Sarah Claridge, Guest Speaker at the British PGA’s Foundation Degree Programme, who works together with a large number of PGA Professionals, who will be speaking about “A plan for increasing participants, membership numbers and coaching income”, as well as Craig Thomas, who has already held all sorts of positions within the golfing world and whose main interests are golf for the handicapped. John Bryan is vice president of the “U.S. Kids Golf Foundation Play and Learn Division”. As “a veteran of the golfing industry” he has, inter alia, developed programmes for encouraging the younger generation. The title of his lecture is “It depends on the family – how to get youngsters and parents to play golf”.
On Monday 29th September the Golf Management Verband Deutschland will be organising the “Tension between golf management and golf schools” workshop. Andreas Dorsch, managing director of GMVD, has this to say about the partnership, “The GMVD is very pleased to be an associate of GOLF EUROPE once more. The event has established itself at Augsburg as an important venue for the golfing world and the number of visitors from both near and far is encouraging. Collaboration with Messe Augsburg is very constructive and they are highly committed. We are very pleased at how well GOLF EUROPEhas developed and we are assuming that there will be a large number of follow-up events in the future.”
Two platforms for innovative entrepreneurs
The PRODUCT AWARD for outstanding product developments goes down better from year to year. The award-winning products in the different categories will be put on display throughout the entire trade fair and many firms take advantage of the opportunity to advertise their award-winning product with the PRODUCT AWARD logo.
The FIRST DRIVE Area offers innovative firms from the industry an opportunity once more to present their product developments to a wide trade public for the first time.
At GOLF EUROPE you can see what is happening live at the final of the Ryder Cup on Sky on 28th September. Sky will be transmitting the Ryder Cup live at the trade fair with a “Sky Lab” even in the earlier stages of the competition. This means that visitors will have an opportunity to experience the diversity on offer from Sky. The “Sky Lab” is fitted with a TV, iPad, iPhone, Xbox, computer and a 2 TB-receiver and you are invited to try it out.
Augsburg has loads to offer
As well as having good transport links and consequently very accessible, Augsburg has its very own attraction as the second oldest city in Germany. There is a whole string of attractive golf courses in the surrounding area plus sights of interest and cultural features and you can stroll along Maximilianstraße or drop into one of the restaurants to taste local specialities. There are plenty of things to see and do in the centre of Augsburg. And those who wish to do so can also travel on the free “Wiesn-Shuttle” bus to the Oktoberfest in Munich straight after the end of the trade fair.
Golf Europe www.golf-europe.com