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The Cut : The Cut - Winter 2016
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40 THE CUT Are you fed up with hearing about the challenges facing golf worldwide? M: I think the perception is frustrating. There’s no question golf is going through some challenges, but the numbers of people participating in golf worldwide and in New Zealand shouldn’t give us cause for concern. There’s no shortage of people playing golf and the number of people engaging with the sport in different ways is growing. The fact that fewer people are joining golf clubs causes some pain and everyone focuses on that, but what we’re going through is price and product readjustment. It’s no different to what most businesses go through at some stage. The fact is, we’ve had the same membership model in golf for over 50 years. That’s under some pressure now and people are right to be worried, because there are some worrying signs out there. Do we have the right facilities? Do we have too many in some parts of the country and too few in others? Where are our next participants coming from? What happens when the baby boomers and the generation behind them stop playing the game? They’re all good questions, but I prefer to focus on what we can do about the issues. A lot of people think the fast-food industry is dead or dying on its feet, but they’ve survived by diversifying their product. Walk into a McDonald’s now and the products they’re offering on their menu are vastly different to what they offered five or 10 years ago. BMW cars look way different now to what they did 10 years ago. Golf is in that same spot. Our core, fundamental product has been around for centuries. The way we package and price and present it is just going through an adjustment. My frustration is that there is a lot of negativity around and a lot of people wishing things were back the way they were. The sooner people realise that golf is changing and get on with being positive about it, the better. The clubs that are proactive and have a clear plan in place and understand their market are doing well. The clubs that are sitting back and wondering where it all went wrong are not doing well. The clubs that can adapt and are forward-thinking will survive. Some clubs won’t. We’re not going to be wiped out as a sport, but only the fittest will survive. S: Look at the tourism sector. It’s taken over from agriculture as our number-one industry and golf tourism plays a big part in that. There are new golf courses opening like Tara Iti and there are more and more people coming to New Zealand to play golf. M: Private investment in golf courses in New Zealand over the last 15 years sits at half a billion dollars and investors (particularly private investors) are no fools. There is growth. There are two brand-new courses about to open in Auckland at Wainui and Windross Farm. You can be negative and look at the bad stuff, but there are plenty of good-news stories out there. S: Golf is timeless. I was on a plane the other day, sitting with a lady in her 70s and she had just been out for a round with her granddaughter. She plays with her husband every day and she lives for the game. Golf is not a dying sport. It ebbs and flows like any sport or any business. We do factor in the negatives that are out there but we’re looking at the opportunities for the game. We’re solution-focused. BROUGHT TO YOU BY New courses like Tara Iti help increase New Zealand’s growing golf tourism. PHOTO: Joann Dost
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