Dean Murphy, NZ Golf. To: All New Zealand Golf Clubs, New Zealand Golf District Associations and New Zealand Golf Life Members 1

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1 Dean Murphy, NZ Golf From: Sent: To: Subject: Attachments: Dean Murphy, NZ Golf Tuesday, 2 May :25 AM GRP_AorangiClubs; GRP_AucklandClubs; GRP_BayofPlentyClubs; GRP_BoardofDirectors; GRP_CanterburyClubs; GRP_District_Chair; GRP_DistrictAssociations; GRP_HawkesBayGolfClubs; GRP_LifeMembers; GRP_ManawatuWanganuiClubs; GRP_NorthHarbourClubs; GRP_NorthlandClubs; GRP_NZGStaff; GRP_OtagoClubs; GRP_PGA; Tony Nowell; GRP_PovertyBayEastCoastClubs; GRP_SouthlandClubs; GRP_TaranakiClubs; GRP_TasmanClubs; GRP_WaikatoClubs; GRP_WellingtonClubs; Matt Smith New Zealand Golf - Partner Update New Zealand Golf Club & Member Benefits.pdf; New Zealand Golf Member Benefits.pdf; SLG 2016 Report.pdf To: All New Zealand Golf Clubs, New Zealand Golf District Associations and New Zealand Golf Life Members 1

2 Good morning, Welcome to the latest New Zealand Golf Partner Update. This communication supplements our regular communication channels and provides a personal update on a monthly basis from New Zealand Golf to our key partners in the golf industry. Please feel free to pass this to anyone at your club or District Association who you think may wish to read this update. In this update: New Zealand Golf Publishes 2016 Annual Report World Masters Games She Loves Golf: 2016 Campaign Report Opinion: Lydia Ko and her Caddies Golfers Equipment Assistance Programme Latest USA golf participation report New Zealand Golf trials partnership with Green Prescription Women s Golf news Jennian Homes Charles Tour New LOVE Golf video World class benchmarking tool available in New Zealand Wanted: Course raters Case Studies three new Club and Member Benefits Three reasons Your Club Needs liteclub National Group Buying Scheme Other communications from New Zealand Golf New Zealand Golf Publishes 2016 Annual Report New Zealand Golf is pleased to report on the organisations activities of 2016; an extremely busy and successful year for the organisation in many areas. Click Here to view the 2016 Annual Report. Key highlights include: Finance: the organisation experienced a very successful year posting a net surplus of $807,970 which included a cash surplus of $48,719, and an increase in equity to $2,242,635 which showed vast improvements. Supporting clubs and golfing communities: The organisation continued to run a number of national support programmes and worked directly with 125 clubs across 10 regions. This work is expected to expand again in The national membership decline has reduced significantly to be just 0.7%; the lowest for the past decade. The registered database of casual golfers has now reached over 85,000 players which provides us with valuable insight into the playing habits and preferences of these golfers. Success on the world stage during 2016 was not surprisingly headlined by Lydia Ko who claimed an Olympic silver medal, a major championship plus three other LPGA Tour victories. An incredible year that in isolation would probably be considered the most successful year ever for 2

3 a New Zealand golfer is looking promising for New Zealand golfers after pleasing performances at the 2016 Eisenhower and Asia Pacific Amateur Championship and the success of New Zealand Golf programme graduates Danny Lee and Ryan Fox on the world stage. New Zealand Women s Open: in time, we suspect we will look back at the success of bringing an LPGA event to the country as a significant moment in the history of our game. It has taken an incredible amount of hard work from some very dedicated people and New Zealand Golf are thankful for the efforts of Michael Goldstein in particular for this fantastic achievement. The men s Open Championship also continues to go from strength to strength and it was very pleasing this year to form a new partnership with Millbrook Tournaments Limited that sees the championship remain in Arrowtown for at least another five years. Our thanks to John Hart and Michael Glading who lead this superb event so well. Establishment of the New Zealand Golf Industry Council, an initiative well supported by all the organisations which work in the golf sector. Promotion of the game continued to go from strength to strength through the LOVE Golf brand and the award winning She Loves Golf sub brand. The positive results this is achieving for not only the perception of the game but also the direct membership and participation numbers is a wonderful success story. The value of golf tourism has grown from $145M in 2012 to $329M in 2016; outstanding results generated through the leadership of Ryan Brandenburg. Increased collaboration and sharing of ideas with international peers providing benefits to golf in New Zealand, particularly with the R&A, USGA, APGC, Augusta National and Golf Australia. Unprecedented support from central and local government including strong support from Sport NZ as reflected in the increased investment for the period 2016 through to New Zealand Golf offers our sincere thanks to the community of golf for their contribution to the game. The golf sector relies on over 6,000 volunteers and a paid workforce that is dedicated, passionate and professional. Many, many people contribute a great deal to ensure golf is thriving all over the country and most do so on a voluntary basis. For this we offer our sincere thanks and appreciation World Masters Games The 2017 World Masters Games was recently hosted by the city of Auckland. New Zealand Golf was chosen by WMG2017 to run and manage the golf on their behalf. This was a huge undertaking from our organisation with over 700 golfers descending upon the city of sails to compete in the golf competition. Akarana, Muriwai and Pakuranga Golf Clubs were used as the venues for the first three rounds with the leading competitors in each gender and age group category making the cut for the final round at the Remeura Golf Club. With huge fields our tournament staff were challenged and, with the weather behaving, each round was completed most evenings in the slowly failing light. Some notable players entered the tournament including ex Black Cap and noted sports administrator Martin Snedden, media personality Murray Deaker and ex All Black Bryan Williams. There were some notable performances during the week including New Zealand national referee 3

4 Peter Ellis taking out both the Championship and Handicap competitions in the Men s 75+ and New Zealand Seniors Champion Brent Patterson racing away with the gold in the popular Men s category. While New Zealanders made up the majority of the field there were plenty of athletes from other countries including Australia, Canada, USA, Germany, Japan, New Caledonia, PNG, French Polynesia, China, Taiwan and Cambodia. In the end approximately 720 players entered, 675 players completed three rounds, 2,300 total rounds were completed, 500 trundlers and 100 carts were hired and 60 medals were presented on Friday evening. She Loves Golf 2016 Campaign Report The main purpose of She Loves Golf is to have a hero brand that can be used by clubs, districts, golf professionals, driving ranges and other industry partners to run an initiative or programme aimed at attracting females to the game. In 2016, over 90 clubs around the country participated in She Loves Golf with over 112 female specific events and programmes run in the month of November and through the summer. Over 45 clubs engaged New Zealand Golf to create a variety of posters, billboards, flyers and signatures. On average there were 17 attendees per event and an average of 6 attendees from each event signing up for more lessons, programmes and memberships. For the full results, please view the attached 2016 She Love Golf Campaign Report. Opinion Lydia Ko and Her Caddies by Dean Murphy In recent weeks, I have been surprised by the level of commentary in the public and other domains around the recent decision from Lydia Ko to change her caddy. Most of what I have read or heard seems to question the decision and suggest that something is wrong with our golfing superstar. I guess that s the territory that comes with being the number one player in the world. High profile athletes are constantly in the public eye and everyone seems to have an opinion on every matter. This is all very common of course however what has surprised me most about the recent commentary is the uninformed and inaccurate summations that the team around Lydia is making poor decisions. The suggestion that decisions are being made by Lydia s team to the determinant of Lydia s golf is absurd. Most people making these statements seem to be forgetting that Lydia remains the world s number 4

5 one golfer a feat never before achieved by any other New Zealander let alone a 19 year old. People also seem to forget that in the past year, Lydia has won an Olympic silver medal, a major championship plus three other LPGA tour victories an incredible year that in isolation would probably be considered the most successful year ever for a New Zealand Golfer. Golf is a game of honesty, integrity and respect however many folk including many in the media have been very quick show a lack of respect for Lydia, her team and in particular her family. Having been very close to Lydia and her family over the last eight years, my informed opinion is that the Ko family are the very reason for her ascent to the top of the world game rather than any hindrance to it. They are among the most professional, dedicated and knowledgeable people I know and from what I know and from what I have seen, Lydia and her family are firmly in control of their destiny. Lydia is laser focused on being the best golfer in the world and the suggestion that her and her family would make decisions that would compromise her ambition or performance is just out of touch with reality. In my opinion, whether the world number one athlete wishes to hit a different golf ball, wear different clothing or work with a new caddy shouldn t be second guessed or criticised so quickly. Through outstanding performances over many years, I think Lydia and her family have earnt the right to make decisions that are respected. Not many people could say that the decisions made to date have not had the right outcome. So far, her career has featured a jaw dropping number of world firsts and unparalleled success. Team Ko must be doing something right. Golfers Equipment Assistance Programme Golfers Equipment Assistance Programme (GEAP) is a New Zealand Golf established service to serve the interest of golfers throughout New Zealand. It provides compensation for golf equipment that is outside the scope of cover provided by household or personal effects insurance. Store your clubs at the golf club? No need to worry about theft, with GEAP your gear is protected. Broke your club while playing? Most contents policies don't cover sporting equipment while in use, with GEAP you're covered. Rest easy knowing you won't have to fork out $200+ with excess fees. WHAT'S INCLUDED: GEAP provides cover for golf equipment for damage caused while in use and also offers reimbursement of the excess from insurance claims. GEAP offers cover for golf equipment such as clubs, bags, trundlers (including handheld, battery powered trundlers), golf shoes, golf apparel and golf umbrellas. Claims are first made through the golfer's own insurance company. The excess or any uninsured loss is claimed back through GEAP. Claims must be made within three months of the event. 5

6 Latest report uncovers favourable trends for golf s future in the U.S. The National Golf Foundation's (NGF) annual golf participation report uncovers favourable trends for the game's future in the U.S. NGF has started to include off course participation to better reflect the overall golf activity and involvement beyond an 18 hole round of golf. Below is a summary of the key points: The number of beginning golfers grew to 2.5 million. That number is an all time high, breaking the previous mark of 2.4 million set in 2000 during Tiger s era. There was a slight decline ( 1.2%) in overall on course participation in 2016 with the majority of those who left were fringe golfers. The number of committed golfers grew, rising to 11.3 million golfers the first year overyear increase in five years and increases golf s total consumer base to 32 million. Participation has been driven by the success of driving range/entertainment facilities (most notably Topgolf) and increased simulator use, the number of off course golf participants grew to more than 20 million, an 11 percent increase. Of those, 8.2 million never played on a golf course. Latent demand for golf from aspiring golfers also was on the rise. Non golfers interested in playing was double what it was five years ago and millennials made up the largest single age group of non golfers who expressed interest. 33% of junior golfers aged 6 17 are girls, a dramatic increase from the 17% they made up in Young golfers today are also more ethnically diverse than in the past. You can click on this link to read the published article National Golf Foundation Participation Report New Zealand Golf trials partnership with Green Prescription Green Prescription is a Ministry of Health funded programme that aims to get inactive adults up and moving again by supporting them to lead active healthy lifestyles. Close to 48,000 Green Prescription referrals are issued by GPs or practice nurses annually with encouraging feedback from the latest patient survey with more than two thirds saying they have noticed a positive change in their health and 64 percent now encouraging others to be more active. Richard Hudson, the Regional Support Manager for New Zealand Golf, has linked with Sport Canterbury who manage the Green Prescription Programme in the Canterbury region. Richard has identified golf clubs and worked closely with them to ensure programmes and pricing are suitable to attract participants to give golf a go. 6

7 The programme sees patients referred to Sport Canterbury s Green Prescription team by their local GP. The team at Sport Canterbury offer free consultations to encourage patients to get involved in safe and appropriate physical activity to improve their health and wellbeing. Golf has some very positive health benefits particularly for inactive adults looking for low impact exercise and a way to continue social engagement with their community. We look forward to following the progress of this trial. Women s Golf News There is now a new Women s Golf tab on the New Zealand Golf website under Play Golf. This gives convenient access to information relating to the national club based competitions, namely the 18 and 9 Hole Home Links and National Teams Championship, together with 18 and 9 Hole LGU competition conditions. The site will be updated with results of the annual club based competitions as they occur. View the new page here: Jennian Homes Charles Tour season It was an enthralling finish to the 2017 Jennian Homes Charles Tour season with the Autex Muriwai Open and Carrus Open providing a perfect finale to end the summer. In early April, Gareth Paddison completed back to back victories on the Jennian Homes Charles Tour with a dominant five shot win at the Muriwai Links Golf Club. This backed up his exciting play off win against Mike Hendry at the Akarana Open the week prior. Paddison was unable to secure the three peat at the recent Carrus Open, but came very close finishing in a tie for second place behind the now four time champion, Mark Brown. Brown s dominance at this event is un matched in New Zealand and the adopted local couldn t be happier to have won in his last four starts here. To see thousands swarm to the course to watch the last event of the summer showed golf in New Zealand is growing and the Jennian Homes Charles Tour is only getting stronger. It was awesome to see a lot of people out by the tees and around the greens, it s a nice sight to see golf in New Zealand getting popular again. I love playing these tournaments, there are great young 7

8 amateurs and the girls are out here playing in what is a great format. Both fields are strong and it creates a perfect contest here in New Zealand. Experienced amateurs finish off Jennian Homes Charles Tour in style It was an equally impressive finish to the season in the women s division as Chantelle Cassidy returned to the winner s circle with a clinical performance at the Autex Muriwai Open last month to win by four strokes. This is her fourth title on the Jennian Homes Charles Tour and Cassidy was ecstatic to be back on top of the leaderboard and win her maiden Muriwai Open title. In the final event of the summer, Bay of Plenty s number one amateur Alanna Campbell equalled a course record to complete an epic come from behind victory at the Carrus Open hosted by the Tauranga Golf Club. In front of friends and family from all over the region, Campbell made eight birdies on her way to a record equalling round of six under (66) to record her third Jennian Homes Charles Tour title. Paddison wins the race to Jennian Homes Trophy Adding to the dramatic summer of golf, Gareth Paddison deservedly won the Jennian Homes Trophy, but not without stress. Paddison, who was leading the points race entering the final week at the Carrus Open, got off to a slow start before shooting matching weekend scores of 63 to finish in a crucial tie for second. To take home the title and the additional $5000 prize, he had to finish inside the top three which he did by a whisker to also book his place in the ISPS Handa New Zealand Open. I think I have won probably over $25,000 in the last five weeks which is amazing on our local circuit so it s growing quickly thanks to all the support from everyone involved. To top off a superb week, Jennian Homes once again added in a late bonus for players who played in every event of the 2016/17 season with an additional $2000 for their support and perseverance. Sam An, Josh Geary, Mark Brown and Shaun Jones were the four leading players and were recognised for their consistency. It was also a special week for golf fans who were delighted to see Sir Bob Charles stroll up to the first tee at Tauranga Golf Club to open the Carrus Open at the Pro Am. The 81 year old timed a perfect draw up the middle of the fairway, just as he did during his remarkable career that netted him a major title and 73 other worldwide championships. New Zealand Golf would like to thank Jennian Homes for their amazing support with the national circuit and also sharing the same goal to grow the game we love. 8

9 Jennian Homes Charles Tour 2016/17 Champions Taranaki Open Dominic Barson & Tyla Kingi Harewood Open Brad Shilton & Rose Zheng Akarana Open Gareth Paddison & Hanee Song Muriwai Open Gareth Paddison & Chantelle Cassidy Carrus Open Mark Brown & Alanna Campbell New LOVE Golf Video The ISPS Handa NZ Open provided another great opportunity to get content from people sharing why they LOVE Golf. A beautiful piece was put together that has had thousands of views already, check it out below and share on your Facebook page. If you would like a copy of it to use for anything please contact jan@nzgolf.org.nz World Class Benchmarking Tool Available in NZ Groundless opinion or uninformed decision making can hamper club progress. Getting a grip on the facts of what is going on in your club, the clubs around you and the national picture can help you compare apples with apples. A world class benchmarking tool is now available to facilitate this. The Golf Managers Association of New Zealand in conjunction with Golf Management of Australia and with the support of New Zealand Golf have made this possible. So why would this be of interest to your club? It allows decisions to be made using fact rather than opinion. It allows you to rank your club against other clubs similar to yours in an apples vs apples comparison. Using the information correctly can maximise the efficiencies at your club, leading to cost saving or better outcomes for your investment. The Benchmarking tool is business intelligence developed specifically for the golf industry. Golf Club Benchmarking allows Managers to elevate fact over opinion and will ensure that GM s and boards are properly equipped to focus on strategic issues facing golf. Want to know more? Contact Des Topp eo@gmanz.co.nz 9

10 WANTED: Course rating volunteers For a national handicap system to operate equitably we need our golf courses to be assessed with accuracy and consistency. The result of these assessments then provides a course rating and slope number which allows handicaps to be portable. New Zealand Golf always welcomes the interest of new volunteers to be trained in the art of course rating. Our nearly 400 courses and 1,600 sets of tees need to be re rated every 3 5 years depending on how many rounds are played annually. Training session will be conducted around the country in If you have members interested in learning this skill and able to work with a team to complete these ratings, then please have them contact your local District Association Case Studies & Information Guides (3 New) These case studies and information guides not only celebrate innovate thinking and success in clubs but also provide valuable information your club can use. It is hoped that clubs can learn and use the information to implement positive change within their own environment. April International Learning The Nottinghamshire Golf Club CLICK HERE 2. Setting Value, Not Price CLICK HERE 3. Trees That Count CLICK HERE In order for New Zealand Golf to continue to produce quality case studies we are heavily reliant on proactive clubs submitting their examples. We want the case studies to be informative and useful each month and as such we will only produce and share case studies with quality information. To share your Success Story as a Case Study please contact: Carl Fenton P: E: carl@nzgolf.org.nz To view all previous New Zealand Golf case studies (over 90), please visit New Zealand Golf Club & Member Benefits With a wide range of partners on board at New Zealand Golf we have managed to secure a number of benefits which are available to your club as well as affiliated members. You will see attached 2 documents: 10

11 New Zealand Golf Club & Member Benefits this lists all benefits for your club as well as affiliated members. This can be shared internally and displayed on your staff s noticeboard. New Zealand Golf Members Benefits this is the customer facing document which lists all benefits that are available to New Zealand Golf Affiliated Members. We would ask that you please print this off and display it on your members noticeboards around your club. We are always working to increase the number of benefits available for our clubs and affiliated members and we will be updating both documents quarterly and advising everyone through this Partner Update. Alternatively, you will always be able to download the latest version from the Info for Clubs section of golf.co.nz. All of these partners support the golfing community so please help out by showing your support in return. If you have any questions or want to touch base with any of the New Zealand Golf Partners please don t hesitate to drop Nick Rowland a note on nick@nzgolf.org.nz. The Smart and Environmental Friendly Way for your Club to Save Money The partnership between New Zealand Golf and liteclub is now seeing more clubs supported to be environmentally friendly and save money than ever before. 129 clubs across the country have had a visit from the LiteClub team to support cost saving, energy efficiencies and waste reduction. This is currently saving the industry $909,295 at an average of $7,049 per club across the lifetime of the products installed. Not registered for LiteClub? Here s why your club should be; Its free LiteClub is a charity It will save your club money Here s how ( liteclub works) You don t have to do any of the work Their team will do all of the work for you. Want to know more or to register your club? Go to liteclub.org or read the case study here ( %20LiteClub.pdf) National Group Buying Scheme 11

12 Clubs are reaping the benefits of New Zealand Golf s partnership with n3. The golf community saved close to $178,000 through 2016 and with further expansion to the programme for 2017 it looks set to provide an even greater range of money saving options for Golf Clubs. Not signed up to n3? Here s why your club should be; Its free New Zealand Golf has already paid for every club to have an account. It will save your club money The average club is saving over $1,000 a year with some clubs saving a lot more. You don t have to do any of the work n3 has a well trained team of account managers to support your club. To find out more please contact n3 using any of the below; ph; Other Communications from New Zealand Golf New Zealand Golf uses various communication channels to connect with the golf community. See below for an overview of the main ways we keep in touch: New Zealand Golf Website Our website ( is the best way to keep up to date with all the news and initiatives from New Zealand Golf. We update this every day with new stories or new features so it is a good place to visit for all things golf. You may be interested to know that our website is New Zealand s busiest sports specific website and generates over 3 million page views a month. All golf clubs have a profile under the Club Directory which is one of the most viewed areas of the website. You can update your club s details through DotGolf Live on a regular basis. Media Releases New Zealand Golf has a regular stream of media releases. These can mostly be viewed on our website however if you would like to be added to our Media Release distribution list please george@nzgolf.org.nz Our Social Network Facebook 12

13 Our Facebook page is very popular among golf fans. Visit and Like our page at: Zealand Golf/ ?sk=app_ Twitter Our Twitter account is used to provide quick and regular updates for Followers. Follow us here: Snapchat: nzgolf Warm regards, Dean Murphy Chief Executive New Zealand Golf Powered by: 13