New Golf Tour Your input required please

Guys and Gals

It has been requested by a friend and fellow golfer that I source your opnion and views on what he is looking to do for the golfing community.

He played last year on the Trilby tour which he says was a decent crack, but not very thought out for the different divisons and their winners and qualifying for final event according to him was not the most straight forward of things to do and the order of merit did not accurately reflect all competitors.

So he has asked me to scour opinion at my new club and here online (he's a technophobe long may he be too i get a lot of business out of his company )

Basically what he wants to know is do you think he could generate enough interest in a Tour for the people! e.g 6 Regions, North, East South, West, Wales and Scotland with say 4 events in each region. Each event has points award for finishing position first to last place, with prizes to the top 5 players in each event (Plus the usual long drive/nearest pins to). Each event would have 4 categories Scratch, Then handicap categories e.g 0-9, 10-19 and 20+. Each category being ranked in and OOM. With the top 5 in each OOM catergory and end of their regional events progressing to a final event against other regional winners.

He would also have an overall national OOM for each catergory with the winners of these gettng further rewards.

I think he is aiming this be be competitive for every one and more affordable than the trilby tour is for every one, he is a succesful businessman so i don't doubt he has the backing to make it work but wants toknow if there would be interest in doing so. ( i hope there would be as I would get todesign the site and manage that part of the business $$$)

Plus I would compete but the question is though is there merit in his idea or is he be being to ambitious

There are a few if these things like the single figure golfer thing. I have no idea how popular these things are. You have to think that on top of normal club people may not have time to participate in other golf events.

I agree mac i have looked at few of the different tours myself, and agree as well as subs finding time and money to copete in the current economic climate is toug, I think thats why he is asking me to post on here, I know he has already sent a mail shot to a fair number of clubs down here in Kent to get an idea of what interest levels maybe. From my perspective, I'd play in it as I know the guy plus I'd get all of the internet business my way so i'd be on a winner but as for whether its a good business idea only he would know of his margins, but one thing i would say his idea has over the others i've looked at it would be more competitive than the others where events seem to be specific to certain areas, but not sure how he would logistically manage it

Another issue may be how busy the clubs he would use are. I assume his events would be on a weekend. Once tee times are issued to the weekly comp, members and visitors how many tee times would be free for his event. Of course clubs are increasingly looking for new revenue schemes, would causing inconvenience to the member be the way to go?

Not sure the higher end clubs would be in for this meaning the events may have to be played on lesser courses. Would a no name course be enough to attract customers.

All good points MAC and all i shall pass on to him.

I think your right regarding the use of top course on a regular basis but maybe a solutoin would be 1 event out of 4 in you r region is on the Prestige course and the other 3 on course of varying type to allow for different abilities to flourish and different challenges to rise e.g parkland, links etc.

As for the days events would be on, again something he would have to address with the clubs in hand but a lot of course like the de-veres and marriots are reasonably priced and public too as well as good qulaity in may places they may be of interest or as you say some clubs seeking revenues

All good questions & good idea Mav.

I do play a lot of golf now but last year was the first year I tried Opens, love testing myself at different venues but out of all my golfing buddies where I'm a member I'm about the only one that seems to want to broaden my horizons, most are happy playing the same course week in/week out (which is fine, they pay their subs they want their moneys worth).

I have had a brief look at SFG and may pursue that further, I think some of the Opens I'd like to play in this year are SFG linked. So as an idea he may want to look at perhaps using current Opens although this might be difficult as the good ones fill up quickly. Incidentally in looking at Opens I tend to look at Top 100 courses (mainly because winter green fees and Opens are the cheapest way to play them). What I would also say is that during the summer months he will be competing with local club comps so time of year wise it may be better looking at Sep/Oct/Nov time.

I'm sure you'll let us know if he gets something off the ground. Good luck to him if he does.

What kind of numbers are we talking about ?

For Tour finals might there be room to look at Spanish or The Algarve courses to accommodate this type of tour, or are the economic logistics too expensive ?

Mav,

Another couple of things for your friend to consider is handicap monitoring and what happens if someone changes category.

If his event is going to be run over a reasonable period of time it is feasible that competitor handicaps would change and I'm not sure if there is an accessible central system that can be used to check handicaps. In the US there is a system where you can check the last 20 scores a player has entered to see if their handicap is in keeping with the competition scores. It has been debated on the boards many times about players maintaining false handicaps for one reason or another, if your friend can't check it could leave him open to these types of players.

He would also have to consider what to do when a player's handicap changes and they move either up or down a category. Would their OM points transfer over and at what value? If say, a 9 handicapper moved up to 10 he could potentially have a better chance against the 16 plus handicappers in that range.

However, I don't want to pour cold water over your friend's idea, I think it's great. The real key to the success is making sure he gets it right and the competitors come away with positive feelings. Good luck to him, Grumps

Mav I think it's a great idea and like you looked at the Trilby, but he had it right and has got himself a money making machine which benefits the clubs involved in the event. When he kicked it off it was a slow burner as you'd expect, but it soon got momentum. So there is a place for these things so a point of difference is needed.

1) As you say he's looking to do something a bit cheaper, which is a great.
2) The Trilby doesn't allow females at the moment, so would be a good selling point and steal a march on the Trilby who are going to do it at some stage.
3) The Trilby doesn't allow female caddies yet I believe, so another good point of difference would be to allow this as husband and wife/girlfriend can 'enjoy a little trip out' and feel involved
4) To ensure your mate gets the numbers he would need, he needs also to look at the catagories; the ones you mentioned ar ok, but should also have ladies (They enjoy away days) Seniors (Who also enjoy away days and have the time) and maybe juniors.

I would be willing to have a go as its something different than the normal medal etc and as someone said earlier it can all be verified on how-did-I-do etc to ensure handicaps are current.

I think that it's a really great idea but it would be a hell of a lot easier to get going if he teamed up with a sponsor. The William Hunt Tour does seem to be in a confusing format but it works so well with the whole trilby thing. If he could sell the idea to a golfing related company (clubs/clothing etc) then he could make a great deal of use out of their extensive resources, particularly with regards to marketing. I would assume that a newer brand looking to gain some exposure would be more open to the idea as they would gain a great deal from it or maybe one that is looking to go into a new direction. Maybe someone like Cobra would be good to approach as they are now owned by Puma who will be looking to gain as much success as the Adidas/Taylor Made combination and would probably look to now differentiate themselves from Acushnet (Titleist, Footjoy, Pinnacle). This would also come with the benefit of being able to get a tour player involved with, say, an appearance in the final. This would then create more of an attraction to the whole thing.

Obviously the key would be to get a meeting with some golfing companies and then be able to sell them the business plan but make sure that the business plan is aimed at each brand individually. For example, Cobra need good marketing because they will not be associated with the quality of Titleist, Mizuno make very high quality clubs but do not market them aggressively, companies like Taylor Made and Callaway bring lots of clubs out and pay tour stars a load to endorse them etc etc. In this way, you can taylor make the pitch to be in keeping with their current strategy.

In this way, there would then be the potential to get them to put up the prizes which would be of negligible cost to them, help market it and let you make use of their experience and resources. Imagine a situation where you could get Cobra with Ian Poulter on board?! He has commitments to Cobra as his sponsors and also happens to produce a clothing line that would also gain some profile (similar to William Hunt?) and you could then hold the finals at Woburn because they love to associate themselves with Poulter's success as they helped to get him there. It would also the be easier to get better deals on green fees.

This sort of tour would be much easier to get players for and easier to organise as you would have the might of a big brand. Obviously the margins might be slightly lower but then the chances of success would be higher so it's a trade off that might be worth making.

Thanks for all the input guys:

I'll feed this back to him tonight, and then post responses to all queries raised tomorrow morning.
I believe he wants an affordable tour for all to be able to compete in.
The handicaps thing is something that will need addressing for those that may move between categories but im sure there's a simple solution in there some where maybe they dont move category in the OOM but play with there lower handicap in the same division this may even out the odds then as they will be competing with guys getting more shots but wont have to forfeit the points accrued and there chance at OOM glory.

I think the ladies and juniors idea is very good it gives more scope for everyone then.

I'll keep you all posted

Mav, 1 addition I forgot was 'mixed' very popular at many clubs now and there seems to be plenty of open's around for this catagory. He needs a point of difference.

Guys:

In response to some great ideas/comments and interest in actually turning out in this.

I spoke with the guy looking to get this up and running and the points addressed are as follows:

General interest: He is receiving some good interest from both guys on here and at the clubs he has sent out a mailshot to
Ladies/Juniors/Seniors: Is an area he hadn't initially though of, but is now going to pick this up as something to run along side the mens tour he wants to get running, as has been said these 3 groups are always looking at playing away days.

Sponsorship is something he is currently looking at and has been drafting correspondance to varying levels of manufacturer I believe at the top end of his list he is looking at Cobra/Puma as was suggested on here as well as he has been offered sponsorship on a lower level by Benross. He has already got interest from local businesses in order to gain revenues to help fund events and is now looking at bringing in some discount golf shops for prizes.

He has contacted the PGA to ask for a list of newly qualifed pro's to seek their time out to help provide clinics at different events, this is to help the young pro's raise their profiles and gain some valuable experience in teaching as well as giving the golfers involed in the tour some help with their games.

I believe he is looking at ball sponsors for this too, any ideas on this guys?

WIth regards handicaps and how it can be managed if guys manage to cross the division/catergory cut off sections, he is interested in your ideas for this too, one thing he mentioned to me was FedEx style play off system for these guys, e.g as previously stated the top 5 OOM qualifiers from each category auto qualify for regional finals, the next 5 on the list so 5-10 plus anyone that has crossed the divide get entered into a playoff event where top few places after this one of event qualify for regional as well. This will help guys that are not doing so well in the OOM still have a chance to make regionals by playing well at home club events and stop them protecting there handicaps for competitions (Hope i have explained that right)

So input please

Forgot to mention the busy clubs issue, he has interest from a number of clubs interested in hosting and they range from high end to good quality private and muni's so there is something for everyone

Theres deffo' a market for something a little different that will be good fun, competative, inclusive, so hope it works out for him

Absolutely, fantastic idea as long as he's truly committed to it...which he appears to be! Doesn't seem overly ambitious, especially if there is (and you said) a niche in the 'market', as it were, for juniors/ladies/seniors in particular. I agree it'd be much easier to get on the phone to a sponsor and see what can be rustled up - and that would also help with general advertisement/awareness about the new tour. Using local business is a fantastic idea, especially in these times with independent stores frequently looking for more exposure. The pro idea is a good one too! Just from reading about it, I'd be excited to get involved myself, as a newcomer - hopefully that sums up my input more than any analysis could.

It's great that your friend seems dedicated to problem-solving and figuring our the logistics of everything, and making everything have a 'friendly' feel to it for those of all abilities. Sort of reminds me of the parkrun events (athletics). May I ask what sparked off the genesis of the concept in his mind, if you know? I suppose the main pitfall might be that it's tough for anything in the first year of existence, but given time and perseverance I'm positive that something like this would only go from strength to strength.

Update on the tour for all guys and gals.

Its really starting to look like the project is going to take off as he has been receiving interest from local business around the country that would put up sponsorship and is close to agreeing a deal with a company that sells products who also have an online branch!

He has also been invited by both Cobra/Puma and MD Golf to put a full proposal together so that they can put their names to the tour/event and look at full sponsorship and prizes

will keep you updated