DELEGATES
The 3 rd World PGA Conference was held in Sydney Australia from the 26th to the 28th, April and included representatives of 10 PGAs from around the globe; America, Australia, Canada, Europe, Germany, Great Britain & Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa and Sweden. South Africa was well represented at the conference by Chief Executive Dennis Bruyns and General Manager Marketing and Operations, Janyne Marias. The 30-person delegation addressed a host of issues including educational standards for golf professionals, the importance of the PGA brand, the economic impact of golf and best practices for research and growing golf participation.
Commenting on the principle of the conference Joe Steranka, the CEO of the PGA of America had this to say. “While the language and customs may be different, the great respect for the game is universal among all PGAs. There is also a growing understanding that our industry is global in its appeal as a recreation activity for people of every age, a catalyst for each nation’s economy and an important contributor to charity.” Steranka presented updated detailed economic impact data on the American golf industry which makes up almost half of the global golf economy
This acceptance of the global nature of the game by the largest and most influential PGA (28,000 members) was indicative of the spirit at the conference and the willingness of all delegates to share knowledge and resources for the betterment of the game. Paul Metzler, who directs the American PGA’s research and player development programs, presented an overview of PGA Performance Trak the U.S. golf industry’s leading source of monthly rounds and revenue data, and PlayGolf America, the allied industry-supported player development campaign which is led by the PGA of America. The PGA of America announced at the conference its plans to export the programs to allied PGAs to serve the golf industry in specific international territories.
“The leadership of each PGA recognizes the value of operating data to measure the vitality of the business of golf and to validate the efforts of PGA professionals to grow interest and participation in golf,” said Steranka. “Our Board recognizes the importance of sharing our knowledge and, where appropriate, our programs with fellow PGA organizations. In return, we are also receiving insights and information from these PGAs on how to better serve our customers; be they PGA professionals, employers or the golf public.”
The conference is the third in recent times and resulted in several formal and informal agreements on matters ranging from an evaluation of training programs in each territory which would help determine reciprocal privileges for PGA Members working abroad, to the management of global trademark registrations of the PGA brand and the creation of a new television ad campaign to promote the leadership of PGA Professionals in every developed golf nation.
“Always of interest are the different nuances of these PGA’s “ says Dennis Bruyns, “Some are very teaching or coaching centric such as Germany, Sweden and Japan while others have a similar mix to here in South Africa with coaches, retailers and golf managers. Of great importance is the role played by the PGA’s in the game in their countries. Again some have very close working relationships with the amateur bodies and indeed other sporting federations, particularly the role they have in working with national governments and sports federations which support sport in their countries.”
The PGA of Sweden, like many PGAs in Europe, works closely with its national government and sports federation on the proper methods of coaching youth. In the U.K., the PGA’s work with government led to a national golf in schools initiative in Scotland.
“In South Africa our relationship with government is much less formal as our game is really privately funded by the leading golf associations and their grass roots members,” says Bruyns. “All stakeholders need to work together with clear and defined strategies for the long term good of the game.”
