Two leading golf industry experts have joined forces to offer golf course owners and managers the opportunity of taking their clubs’ services and facilities to the ‘next level’.
Experienced greenkeeper Mathew Cropper and Geoff Pullin, the former publisher of golf industry magazine Pro-Shop Europe, have launched Creative & Country, a new business that aims to offer a range of services to golf facilities, from improving the quality of their courses along with support in managing staff, machinery maintenance, purchasing, marketing and training.
Explaining the variety of services on offer, Cropper, who spent two years at Wentworth Club, as well as serving as head greenkeeper for Sir James Dyson, said: “We will supply your club with agronomic and greenkeeping information, while supporting you with H&S, machinery maintenance, training, purchasing and quality control. We are a team that has years of experience at European Tour and Challenge Tour level.”
He added: “We’re offering support to courses who are finding themselves ‘resource challenged’. It’s all about being cost-effective and offering financial savings, as well as procuring a better product for our clients. We want to offer a better standard of golf course; well-maintained and equipped machinery; and a higher level of education for greenkeepers, so that they can perform at the highest level.”
Pullin’s experience in the golfing industry includes the role of associate publisher of Pro-Shop Europe, a golf trade journal that was aimed at pros and golf club staff members across Europe, while he also worked as a regional account manager with Srixon Sports Europe.
Cropper and Pullin are keen to emphasise that their aim is not to replace greenkeepers. Indeed, their goal is to offer support to greenkeepers who aspire to improving the condition of their courses by giving them in-depth technical support along with access to top-level scientific analyses.
To get the ball rolling, Creative & Country plan to offer 20 club managers or golf course owners a free course report. “We’ll carry out a course report, and give clubs an overview of the main issues and the solutions we would recommend to fix them,” said Cropper. “If a club signs up, it will get the full report.”
In the long term, Creative & Country is looking to offer three options. These comprise courses starting at a one-off consultation, perhaps ahead of a major club event or tournament. The second option will be a quarterly package to visit at key times of the year to ensure that consistency is being maintained and to offer advice and solutions in areas that may need addressing. The third option consists of a total care package, which equates to 24 visits per year and complete control of all aspects of the golf course, including machinery, H&S and staff rotas.
Creative & Country www.creativeandcountry.com