Review of TGI Golf Partners’ annual business conference

The ‘Home of Golf’, St Andrews, hosted TGI Golf Partners for the group’s annual business conference recently, where PGA Professionals where able to enhance their knowledge ahead of the new season.

More than 160 partners and guests, which makes up roughly a quarter of the golf retail services group, attended the event, and in a post-event survey 77 per cent said they found the seminars beneficial to their business. An amazing 100 per cent also said they would attend the event again next year.

Over the two-day event partners had the opportunity to hear from a range of speakers, covering a whole host of subjects, including merchandising, custom fitting and retail best practices from experts both in and outside of the golf industry.

Crossover Technologies’ Phil Barnard during his seminar at the TGI Golf Business Conference 2018

The event certainly created a real buzz among partners on social media, with Twitter mentions of @TGI_Golf up 346.2 per cent and profile visits up 451.6 per cent.

The keynote speaker was Ian Kelsall, an experienced figure in the world of retail having previously held prominent positions at industry leaders such as Tesco, Boots and M&S.

During his enlightening presentation Ian covered a range of vital topics, including leadership, staff motivation, communicating with customers and understanding their needs.

Other speakers included, TGI Golf’s own retail consultants who presented following requests from partners; head of communications Matt Millard, who covered the important and tricky subject of the new General Data Protection Regulation, that comes into effect this year; Phil Barnard from Crossover Technologies; Sean Brady from TaylorMade discussed custom fitting best practices and Neil Heslop from Under Armour covered merchandising.

On the final day of the event the group held its AGM where Chairman Paul McEvoy completed his three years in the role and handed over to Malton & Norton PGA Professional Michael Brooks.

Following the AGM, TGI Golf managing director Eddie Reid gave partners a briefing on the group’s standing and some industry insight.

His presentation was followed by Richard Payne from SMS Inc, who discussed participation figures and how golf could grow its numbers.

Following the event, Michael McAllan, from Elgin Golf Club, said: “This event really is a must attend for any TGI Golf partner. You can learn so much and is a great way to get you motivated going into the new season.”

Mike Bradley from Notts (Hollinwell) Golf Club added: “The planning that goes into making sure there is something for everyone is exceptional. Even if you don’t pick up anything from all the seminars, just being here and chatting to your peers about things you could be doing is essential. You are guaranteed to come away from the business conference having learned something.”

The TGI Golf Partnership is made up of more than 470 of the UK and Ireland’s top PGA professionals, who are all equal shareholders in the business, so pay no monthly or annual subscriptions. They receive the best terms from golf’s leading suppliers as well as first class assistance from TGI Golf’s experts in all aspects of their business from in store merchandising assistance to marketing and accounting help.

For more information on the TGI Golf Partnership, visit tgigolf.com