Eddie Reid, managing director of the newly named TGI Golf Partnership, explains why TGI Golf has been re-branded, as announced at the group’s AGM, held at the 2011 Golf Show in Harrogate

What makes the TGI Golf Partnership unique in our industry is that the company is equally owned by PGA professionals, who all receive shares and cash back bonuses annually based on sales of accredited suppliers’ products.

Fiona Reilly, senior designer at Ping Collection, writes that the trend of golf apparel is for garments to be both athletic and flexible - At Ping Collection, our new Spring/Summer 2012 range definitely puts an emphasis on sportswear-inspired garments. We see this as a shift in the trend towards a more functional, comfortable and performance-focussed golf fashion industry.

Most golfers don’t appreciate that a trolley battery is like a living organism, which needs to receive care to deliver its best performance. If this is done, it will provide many rounds of trouble-free golfing. Unfortunately, many golfers finish their round, put the trolley in the boot and forget about it until they next expect it to do another 18 holes. This is like taking the dog for a daily walk without feeding it in between!

Under Armour’s Richard Palmer Jones writes that golf apparel has been stuck in the dark ages, until now

Firstly, it was another successful BGIA annual dinner and charity golf day at Woburn in May, where over 100 industry executives attended the gala dinner, and 21 teams took part in the golf day on Woburn’s impressive Marquess course. Considerable funds were raised for the BGIA’s ‘Grow Golf’ charity, so I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who supported the event and helped to raise funds for this worthy cause.

We know golf clubs across UK are battling to keep their costs down, while still delivering an excellent service. That’s why we formed the Golf Management Group (GMG), a golf club buying alliance dedicated to reducing UK golf clubs operating costs.

The Organisation of Golf and Range Operators (OGRO) converged on Dale Hill on March 31 for its annual Conference and exhibition.

OGRO chairman Colin Jenkins offers his reflections on the event.

The OGRO Conference, sponsored by Global Ranges and Srixon-Cleveland, welcomed over 140 delegates from all sectors of the golf industry to Dale Hill. The event was held for the first time in association with the UK Golf Course Owners’ Association, which launched in December 2010.

With golf clubs continually looking for ways to save money, Eddie Reid, managing director of buying group TGI Europe, reminds club pros how vital it is to add value to the service they provide to their club

Some professionals are feeling threatened by the need for golf clubs to continually cut costs, and some clubs see their pro as a cost rather than an investment.

Andrew Keast, director of MIA Sports Technology, believes investment in custom-fitting technology is crucial for golf professionals and retailers looking to prosper.

In terms of both sales and participation, golf is experiencing its most challenging time for over a decade. For the golf professional, keeping customers spending money is a major challenge, yet despite the market conditions, the rewards are there for the right strategy.

With so much marketing hype surrounding golf GPS products, Jacqui Hitchcock, SkyCaddie’s Managing Director UK, expresses her view on the issue of distance-measuring accuracy

Golfers around the world are buying distance-measuring devices in ever increasing numbers, making it the fastest-growing golf retail category in recent years. But we hear many stories from the industry about inaccurate marketing and sales claims, which concerns us at SkyCaddie greatly. It is important that retailers fully understand DMDs.

During challenging financial conditions, Myles Pemberton, marketing manager of Manbat, writes that all businesses must look seriously at every possible opportunity that can increase overall profitability, including replacement batteries

Batteries may not seem the most obvious opportunity to the club pro, but the substantial increase in the number of electric golf trolleys on courses all over the UK means batteries provide an opportunity the proactive professional simply cannot overlook.

Our faithful friend the putter grip has gone through many changes. It has become much more colourful, its size and shape now varies enormously, and they are made of new materials. To think plain, old black rubber was standard issue 15 years ago!

The lingering recession and January’s cold, snowy conditions may have led to a slow start to the year, but there is every reason to believe the 2010 golf season will be a very healthy one – especially in the powered trolley market.

In recent years, sales of motorised trolleys have grown and grown thanks to continued product innovation and excellent product reliability. And the market has also expanded to encompass a much wider, younger demographic than the traditional profile of trolley users.

The golf market is flat right now, and not growing like it did in the 1980s and 1990s. Potential customers to golf clubs and retailers tend to be working longer hours and they are wary of the economic climate and cutting back on luxuries. The results are that there are more and more occasional golfers, membership waiting lists generally belong to a bygone era, and so business is harder to come by.

In November well over 100,000 people travelled to Earls Court in London and to the NEC in Birmingham to attend the latest Top Gear Live events.

Top Gear Live, which stars Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, is an outstanding success for us at Brand Events and we plan to replicate this winning formula when we launch Golf Live at Stoke Park, Buckinghamshire, from Friday May 14 to Sunday May 16, 2010.

This year has certainly been challenging. At the end of 2008 we could see a slow down in certain sectors, such as our corporate business, and so we bought slightly differently for the shop. There has been a stigma attached to corporate entertaining over recent months, but I think that is trailing off now, and I am positive our corporate bookings will rise for next year.

Before Tiger burst onto the scene, the word ‘athlete' was rarely used to describe a golfer. It might be no exaggeration to claim that if it was not for Tiger, golf might not have even entered the race to become an Olympic sport. Today, we certainly have athlete golfers and soon it looks like we will have Olympic golfers.

Sticky when wet

This week at the Open was the first time I played with the John Daly Kangaroo grips right through my bag. I first tried these grips in November in Australia and I just fell in love with them. They are made by The Grip Master and this is great technology. They are great in all weather as they get stickier if it's wet, and their durability is incredible. I am hoping I won't have to change my grips for about eight years, whereas until now I have been changing my grips about once a month. The kangaroo hide here makes for a really soft, light and durable grip, and I get a lot better feel too.  

The golf apparel market has been overcrowded for some time and it is reasonable to expect some consolidation during tough trading conditions. In these conditions, in our experience, sensible buyers more readily appreciate factors that help them run their businesses better, like good stock availability and fast turnaround times.

In the time it takes a club professional to greet a sales rep, put the kettle on and stir a mug of PG Tips, another five customers have been in, tried every club, bag, putter, waterproof and shoe in the shop, memorised their favourites' details and returned home to search the internet for the best price.