Operation Dale Hill

Published: 27 April, 2011

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.

Arguably the most impressive performance during the morning’s 18-hole competition was by the state-of-the-art VPAR live golf scoring system. VPAR enables everyone on the course to keep up to date with the leaderboard. Each group was equipped with a handheld device to relay scores to the main leaderboard after every hole. The scores were displayed in the clubhouse and also online.

Afternoon engagements

There were a number of informal seminars throughout the afternoon. Grant Wright, chief executive of World of Golf and probably the most experienced operator of major adventure golf courses in Europe, outlined different styles of miniature golf, adventure golf, theming, marketing and overall preparation for the season. In the right location, such sites will do very well, but it is not merely a matter of opening the doors and waiting for the customers to flood in.

The UK Golf Course Owners’ Association was introduced by its chairman Colin Mayes, who is also chief executive of the Burhill Golf and Leisure Group. Colin emphasised the importance of catering for the needs of commercially owned golf courses.

John Bushell, from Sports Marketing Surveys, explained the benchmarking and market and performance data that are key to analysing the performance of golf facilities.

Phil Barnard followed with a presentation on the benefits of the Points4golf membership system, which allows golf clubs to sell low-usage memberships, which might be a good way to halt dwindling club memberships.

The legendary John Jacobs OBE, president of OGRO, presented Adrian Yallop of European Golf Machinery and Doug McClelland of Silvermere Golf Centre with Lifetime Achievement Awards for their outstanding contribution to the golf industry.

The day was a great success.

www.grn-ogro.com

2011 OGRO Conference exhibitors

Championship Miniature Golf -Duchell UK - European Golf Machinery - Foresight Sports UK

Global Ranges - GolfBreaks - Golf Consultants Association - Hi Nets - Huxley Golf - Jelf Manson

MIA Technology - Net 60 Six - NFS Hospitality - Power Tee - Range Servant - Range Solutions

Ransomes Jacobsen - Srixon-Cleveland - South West Greens – Toro