GOLF TASMANIA DEVELOPMENT REPORT Written by: Simon Weston. June 26th, 2017. MyGolf CLUB PROGRAM: Golf Australia set Tasmania s KPI target for MyGolf registrations for this year at 350. At the time, I thought this was a high target & after discussing this with Bev Holman we decided that 250 might be a bit more realistic. As the previous year there were only 61 registrations. I am pleased to let you know that as of June 30th we have 405 registrations for MyGolf on 2016/17. This result reflects the strong support for MyGolf across the state. I am pleased with the support that I have received from all PGA Professionals & will continue to work closely with these professionals to grow the MyGolf brand. I have made appointments to visit all PGA professionals to get their MyGolf programs uploaded for 2016/17 and discuss the positive changes coming. There are currently 13 active MyGolf programs at golf clubs in Tasmania. The majority of these have a PGA professional delivering the program. But there are 2 with community golf instructors (Kingston Beach & North-West Bay). Recently I attended the Golf Australia s Development Forum. There are some positive changes set for MyGolf post July 1 st. One of the biggest barriers for supporting MyGolf has been the $7.00 registration fee. This fee has been an issue since MyGolf was introduced. This fee was used to subsidise the cost of MyGolf kits to schools across Australia. But many golf clubs & PGA Professionals were not supporting MyGolf because of this fee. After extensive review & feedback from key stake holders Golf Australia has decided to remove this fee. This is a game changer for MyGolf. Now there is really no reason for all junior programs to be run under the MyGolf brand. The one issue that still remains is re-educating golf clubs & PGA Professional to the importance of online registrations. The days of paper forms really is behind us. While I have allowed some clubs to use these paper forms this year I really do want to stop this. It increased the burden of processing & really is unnecessary.
Once the programs are set up online it is just a matter of having the parents register their child online. The process takes about 1 minute. The majority of parents would be very familiar with the process as all major sports require the registration process. I really don t think this will be an issue but I will explain to all golf clubs/professionals the benefits to having all participants register online. Having participant register online adds credibility to the program & allows the professionals to build a data base for future program promotions. It also ensures that parent contact details are captured which is very important from a duty of care stand point. Golf Australia are looking to take MyGolf to the next level & attracting corporate sponsorship is a priority. The increase numbers of registrations make this a real possibility. Finally, I am pleased to announce that Prospect Vale GC have been awarded MyGolf centre of the month (May). This means that two of the last five MyGolf centres of the month have been Tasmanian golf clubs. Bryce Gorham was able to attract 54 registrations in the last 12 months. Having not been a MyGolf centre until this year this is a great result. It s great to be recognised on a national level for our achieves in Tasmania. There will be an article promoting this achievement on the MyGolf website & Bryce will receive a plaque in recognition of his achievements. MyGolf SPORTING SCHOOLS PROGRAM: We have 8 schools offering a MyGolf Sporting Schools program in Term 2. This represents about 600 participants. One of these schools was a high school. We have only run primary school program thus far as they are funded under Sporting Schools. This high school funded that program themselves. A community golf instructor delivered the sessions and I received very positive feedback from the school. There is a good chance that we will be back there again next year. I have received very positive feedback from the schools that offered a program in term 1. I have been in contact with about 85% of Tasmanian primary schools to gather their contact details (sports teachers name, email & phone number). I have compiled this into to a Google Doc. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1--emeixmhxpjdffzoubdoltqboo8tz4wjtdvuz2zc4k/edit#gid=0 I have since mailed a flyer & introduction letter to these schools. I want to get a flyer in the hands of every sports teacher in Tasmania to let them know that we now have a team of golf coaches across the state available to deliver schools programs.
I am excited that we have been able to confirm an all-girls school (Fahan in Hobart) in term 2. This is the first all-girls schools that we have had since I have worked for GT. I am hopeful of attracting more young girls into the game of golf through this school based programs. We are on track to reach my goal of 40 schools this year & over 3000 participants. SWING FIT: There are currently 12 Swing Fit registered centres in Tasmania. There have been 7 Come & Try Days & 13 programs (6 weeks) over the last 12 months. This is a good result compared to the past years result of just 3 programs. These are the clubs that have offered at least one Swing Fit Program in the last 12 months: Claremont Golf Club Devonport Golf Club Kingston Beach Golf Club Launceston Golf Club North West Bay Golf Club Scottsdale Golf Club Seabrook Golf Club St Helens Golf Club There have been 49 women attend the 6 week programs (plus more for the Come & Try days). Our KPI was set 80 so this represents 62% which is right on the national average. While I would have liked to get closer to the KPI it is progress & I am hopeful the we can reach our target next year. There were several success stories during the past 12 months. St Helens & Scottsdale golf clubs offered a program delivered by a club member (community golf instructor) & they were able to attract 5 new members each. I have been told that these women are enjoying playing on the course on a regular basis. This is a good example of what can be achieved by those clubs who make an effort to attract new women with Swing Fit. I have written a case study on these clubs & use this to promote Swing Fit at other golf clubs. There are two golf clubs that will offer a program over winter. Claremont & North-West Bay are both new to Swing Fit & will offer a come & try day followed by a 6-week program. I have had very positive feedback from a lot of the women who have attended the sessions. It seems our biggest challenge is getting the women through the gates because once they try Swing Fit they seem to really enjoy it.
I will work with these registered centres to help set up more programs for the coming 12 months. I am hopeful of having more clubs register & try Swing Fit. With the success that St Helens & Scottsdale golf clubs have had it just proves that those clubs who are willing to make an effort can see the benefits in attracting new women members. COMMUNITY GOLF INSTRUCTOR PROGRAM: We currently have 49 community golf instructors in Tasmania. We are in fact the only state to add more CGI s this past 12 months that the previous 12 months. I am pleased with the increase of available CGI s. We now have good coverage in Hobart, Devonport, Ulverstone & Launceston. I continue to try & increase the number of available CGI on the East & West Coast as well as other regional areas across the state. These are the suburbs that the CGI are located in: North North/West South East Coast Launceston (3) Devonport (3) Cygnet Swansea Scottsdale King Island Sandy Bay Riverside Ulverstone Hobart (2) Longford Forth New Town St Helens Huonville West Launceston Kingston (2) Newstead Tolmans Hill York Plains Margate Waverly Huonville (2) Deloraine Sorell Legana Granton Greens Beach New Norfolk Mornington Sandford Rokeby Lauderdale West Moonah Dodges Ferry West Moonah Taroona Bellerive Midway Point My goal is to have at least one CGI at every golf club in Tasmania. This then gives the club the option to be involved with MyGolf Sporting Schools, Swing Fit, MyGolf Club & in the near future the new get me started program. The majority of the school programs are currently being offered by community golf instructors. The more CGI s we have available the better the opportunity we have to increase participation.
CLUB SUPPORT: With just a couple of days until the end of the current cycle we have passed our annual target of 20 Club Health Checks. As you can see below there have been 35 Club Health Checks competed in the last 12 months. This is 170% of the target (20). This is far & away the best percentage result of any state. I find the CHC a very useful tool & often run the club through it while I am visiting golf clubs. Educating committee members to the benefits of running the CHC annually is very important & something that I am focused on. The CHC allows golf clubs to identify strengths & weaknesses within their club. The report provided a detailed action plan for clubs to work through & make some progress. I also promote the benefits of the Club Support Portal. This is a terrific website with many documents & resources that really are designed to help clubs operate more efficiently. Most of the golf clubs in Tasmania are run by volunteers & this website when used properly can really save them time. I would like each golf club to do the club health check once per year & hopefully we will see some progress year to year in their overall score. 2016/17 Health Checks State No. of Clubs Completed Annual Target % of Target TAS 68 35 20 175%
CLUB VISITS: I have visited 28 golf club so far since January. I am hoping to visit the west coast before winter sets in. I will complete all club visits before the end of the year (I am hoping to have them all done by September/October). I have met with some very hard working committee members & have enjoyed offering my assistance to these clubs. I can honestly say that the response that I have received has been 99% positive & our clubs really appreciate the effort that Golf Tasmania is making in supporting them. Visiting these clubs is a real privilege for me & something that I really enjoy. As I am 19 months into this position I have had the opportunity to form some solid relationships & build trust. Now that I have formed some solid relationships with our golf clubs it allows us to continue to build on what we have been able to achieve so far into the future. SUMMARY: I am very pleased with the result that we have achieved in MyGolf. More work remains to be done. I would really like to get more people registering online rather than relying on the old-fashioned paper registration forms. This is a matter of re-education & is one of my priorities. Swing Fit had some good outcomes at several clubs. There is more that needs to be done in getting more clubs to see the benefit of offering Swing Fit. I look forward to getting more women into Swing Fit & into playing golf regularly at golf clubs. Sporting Schools continues to grow as we attract more schools & participants. I have a good team of CGI s now & a have been able to deliver every school request that we have had to date. I am looking forward to visiting the remaining 40 clubs this year to sit down with club representatives & discuss how GT can support their club. I am making arrangements to visit all Tasmanian PGA members in the near future to explain the changes in MyGolf & set up the new programs for the coming 12 months. I will also meet with Northern Golf & SMGA at their next scheduled meetings to introduce the new MyGolf Junior League. Simon Weston.