SEPTEMBER 14-16, 2016
Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa – Austin, Texas
Welcome to golf’s most innovative and inspirational event of the year
- 85+ Influential Speakers
- 26 Educational Sessions
- 7 Networking Events
REGISTER NOW
Why do 97% of attendees recommend the Summit to friends? It’s because we offer the highest-quality educational sessions with smart and easy networking events where you can meet industry leaders and peers in a relaxing and intimate setting.
Strategies Summit 2018
Thank you to all the attendees that made the 2018 Golf Inc. Strategies Summit a successful event. Check back soon for location and dates of the 2019 Golf Inc. Strategies Summit.
80+ Speakers • 26 Educational Sessions • 8 Networking Events
80+ Speakers • 26 Educational Sessions • 8 Networking Events
The Golf Course of Tomorrow :
Engaged, smarter, more profitable
The Golf Course of Tomorrow:
Join the most creative innovators and leading golf course operators for three days of collaboration, insight and networking. Discover how the industry is changing, build meaningful relationships, and learn out-of-the box ideas for your course.
Join the most creative innovators and leading golf course operators for three days of collaboration, insight and networking. Discover how the industry is changing, build meaningful relationships, and learn out-of-the box ideas for your course.
What To Expect
Industry Leading Speakers
Be inspired by the best! Hear from 80+ leaders in golf, including owners, general managers and CEOs from the leading golf companies. It’s a who’s who of the golf industry.
Industry Leading Speakers
Be inspired by the best! Hear from 80+ leaders in golf, including owners, general managers and CEOs from the leading golf companies. It’s a who’s who of the golf industry.
Smart Networking
Eight events designed to meet peers and industry leaders in an easy and fun way! Our networking ambassadors will introduce you to peers and new people.
Smart Networking
Eight events designed to meet peers and industry leaders in an easy and fun way! Our networking ambassadors will introduce you to peers and new people.
Highest-Quality Content
28 informative and interactive sessions presented in three tracks:
Public Course Operations, Investor Strategies and Private Club Operations.
Highest-Quality Content
28 informative and interactive sessions presented in three tracks:
Public Course Operations, Investor Strategies and Private Club Operations.
Keynote Speakers
Keynote Speakers
Steve Skinner
KemperSports
Jim Hinckley
Century Golf Partners
Erik Anderson
Topgolf
David Pillsbury
ClubCorp
Steven Ekovich
Leisure Investment Properties Group, Marcus & Millichap
Jon Last
Sports & Leisure Research Group
Rand Jerris, Ph.D
USGA
Ryan Berman
Courage Brands
Steve Skinner
KemperSports
Jim Hinckley
Century Golf Partners
Erik Anderson
TopGolf
Ryan Berman
Courage Brands
Sessions by Track
Keynote Sessions
Monday, Sept.17
Opening Keynote
1:30 pm -Three Macro Trends that will Impact Golf in the Future
• How the golfer experience is evolving the ‘facility of tomorrow’
• New rules for the delivery of golf content
• Research driven perspectives on marketing and operational trends
Jon Last, Founder & President, Sports & Leisure Research Group | Rand Jerris, Ph.D Senior Managing Director, Public Services, USGA | Erik Anderson, Chairman, TopGolf | Steven Ekovich,National Managing Director, Marcus & Millichap
Tuesday, Sept.18
CEO Keynote
8:00 am - State of the Industry: The Future of Golf
This live journalism keynote features CEOs from the world’s leading golf companies sharing their unadulterated thoughts on the latest trends, fads, and strategic plans. What’s driving golf into the future and how they plan to take advantage of these trends to continue to grow their companies.
Steve Skinner, CEO, KemperSports | Jim Hinckley, Partner and CEO, Century Golf Partners | Erik Anderson, Chairman, TopGolf | David Pillsbury, CEO, ClubCorp
Wednesday, Sept.19
Marketing Keynote
8:00 am - Are You A Courage Brand?
Award-winning brand expert and creative strategist Ryan Berman will share his methodology that turns willing companies into Courage Brands.
Berman will share why courage is needed today and how courage can transform tired brands and liberate them from their competition, help them push past internal paralysis and forsake outdated business models. The end result is an impressive Return on Investment.
Berman has helped such brands as Puma Golf, Subway, UNICEF, International Motorcycle Show, and US Ski & Snowboard Association, achieve the extraordinary. He recently launched his own Courage Brand called “Sock Problems”; a company that “socks” problems with altruistic socks.
Ryan Berman, Founder, Courage Brands
Investor Sessions
Monday, Sept.17
2:45 pm -The Predictive Index: Strategic Planning for the Public Course
Can you predict the financial potential of a golf course merely from demographics? For ninety percent of the golf courses in the US, the answer is YES. Learn how to apply analysis to boost profitability, including:
• How consolidating 44 variables can rank the profit potential of every golf course
• Why demand exceeds supply in many markets
• Learn the 60% REVPUR rule
• Case Study: How metrics are being used to revitalize a struggling course in Mecklenburg County, NC.
Tuesday, Sept. 18
10:00 am - Buy & Sell: Market Assessment
• What courses are worth and whether prices will rise or fall
• Strategies to get the best price for buyers and sellers
• How buyers evaluate a course’s worth: income vs. revenue multipliers, membership liability, upside potential, more.
• How buyer’s differentiate between the between daily fee versus private club values.
11:15 am - Plan With the Exit in Mind
• How to maximize the value of your investment
• When to sell and how to prepare your asset
• When redevelopment makes sense
• Should you add an amenity?
1:45 pm - Meet the Top Buyers
• Understand the special considerations for privately-owned, member-owned, resort and community-affiliated courses
• Today’s most active buyers share secrets to their success
• Negotiation techniques from the masterminds
• Due diligence essentials for buyers and sellers
3:00 pm - The Golf Course of the Future
Innovators are designing tomorrow’s golf courses to welcome new players, save costs and increase revenue and are achieving this through a mix of technology and outside-of-the-box ideas.
• Bringing together design and high tech
• Entertainment is king: How tech is adding wow to the game
• Robotics, AI: Reshaping operations and maintenance
4:15 pm - Rethinking Your Business Plan
• Smart business plans for a changing industry
• Market positioning: How to reposition to improve value
• Marketing and putting your new plan into action
• How to understand the true potential of a golf facility for growth
Wednesday, Sept. 19
10:00 am - Capital Investment & Governance
• How to fund capital projects without upsetting members
• Long-term strategy with a rotating Board of Governors
• Securing Board and member consensus for big projects
• Best leadership practices
11:15 am - Strategic Planning for the Private Club
There are many ways to approach strategic planning. In this session, club indutry professionals will walk us through the power of creating the right plan, and implimenting a solution with supporting tools and strategies to ensure effective implementation.
• How to set a plan that will guide long-term growth for your club
• Remain relevant and viable to four generations of members and guests
• How an effective plan attracts and retains top talent
• How to use data and best practices to drive direction
Public Sessions
Monday, Sept.17
2:45 pm - What Great Golf Courses Do: Brand Building Principles
• How a strong brand can work for you
• Ideas about capturing mind share to help you dominate your market
• Focus your brand to “own” something special in the customer’s mind
• Target a mindset to drive brand loyalty
2:45 pm - Strategic Planning for the Public Course
Can you predict the financial potential of a golf course merely from demographics? For ninety percent of the golf courses in the US, the answer is YES. Learn how to apply analysis to boost profitability, including:
• How consolidating 44 variables can rank the profit potential of every golf course
• Why demand exceeds supply in many markets
• Learn the 60% REVPUR rule
• Case Study: How metrics are being used to revitalize a struggling course in Mecklenburg County, NC.
4:00 pm - The WOW Factor: Great Ideas to make your course pop
• How to add sizzle to any sized operation
• Introducing new technology to attract new customers
• Using Video and more to showcase your facility
• Creating non-golf wow factor activities that drive new visitation
Tuesday, Sept. 18
10:00 am - Big Data and Analytics to Drive Marketing
Learn how course operators use customer data effectively to improve customer retention and drive incremental revenue, what AI and Machine Learning can do for golf, and why mobile is an important part of the equation.
• How golf courses use data to drive decisions, and improve interactions and customer experience
• Why Artificial Intelligence can drive pro shop, green fee and F&B sales
• How Mobile Technology plays an important role in collecting customer data and marketing
11:15 am - Revenue Management Tools to Boost Your Bottomline
• Smart pricing and revenue strategies for long-term growth
• Yield Management vs. Dynamic pricing
• Selling one hole at a time, and other creative approaches
1:45 pm - High Tech Marketing: Experience, Community, Engagement
• How operators are leveraging technology to win in their markets?
• Easily build community through today’s offerings
• How to engage your customers with apps, POS, web and other tech offerings
• Mobile, email, social media: perfect the mix
3:00 pm - Out-of-the-Box Revenue Generation Ideas
• Alterntatives to golf: what makes sense?
• Maximize F& B revenue with banquet, grill and cart ideas
• Unique ways to sell apparel, balls, even clubs
4:15 pm - Best Practices in Golf Course Operations
• What’s working today for top operators
• Proven methods for measuring success
• Quick and easy strategies to match your operational needs and your staff resources
• Give your customers the ultimate golf experience
Wednesday, Sept. 19
10:00 am - How to Use Brain Science to Better Understand Your Customer
Is there a right and wrong way to communicate with your prospective and current customers? In this enlightening conversation, Laura Leszczynski will explain proven neuromarketing tips, tricks and mental triggers to help you engage behavior. These fascinating strategies will provide insight to better understand the conscious and subconscious decision-making process of golfers and club members.
11:00 am - Millenials: Insights from the market everyone is struggling to capture
• What the next generation of golfers want
• Similarities and differences in the mindsets of various generations
• Dispelling myths about millenials
Private Sessions
Monday, Sept.17
2:45 pm - What Great Golf Courses Do: Brand Building Principles
• How a strong brand can work for you
• Ideas about capturing mind share to help you dominate your market
• Focus your brand to “own” something special in the customer’s mind
• Target a mindset to drive brand loyalty
4:00 pm - Club Masterminds
This group discussion is designed for general managers and club owners to experience the power of industry Mastermind groups. Through these sessions, participants unlock the power of collective intelligence through facilitated peer to peer collaboration and shared challenges to identify solutions, all backed with accountability to your group.
• Two experts will lead the discussion to get your group started, and keep the conversation productive, honest and confidential.
• Collaborate with other private club attendees
• Exchange ideas and leverage the collective knowledge
Tuesday, Sept. 18
10:00 am - Emerging Trends in Private Clubs
• Better understand the trends that are driving growth for private clubs
• What’s hot in F&B, amenities and membership retention
• What’s working in membership initiation fees, dues, and other revenue trends
• Capital investment trends: Why is everyone spending big
11:15 am - The Modern Club: Engaged, Smarter, Profitable
• What the club of tomorrow will look like
• How programming is evolving and what you should be offering
• How to leverage technology to drive efficiency
• Increase member engagement through mobile commerce and artificial intelligence
1:45 pm - Setting Yourself Apart as a Private Club
Learn strategies on how to remain relevant to your members and prospects in an evolving marketplace. Our panel will discuss programming ideas, membership initiatives and share success stories of how other clubs are retaining and attracting new members.
•Small renovations that have a big impact
•Membership marketing strategies for growth
•Moving beyond the traditional club programming
•Tools to effectively target new members
3:00 pm - Happy Members: How to max your retention
• Steps for creating a strategic plan for retention
• How to develop meaningful programs, events and activities
• Effective member communication: dos and don'ts
• Using video, photos & social media to drive engagement
4:15 pm - How to Create Amazing Experiences for your Members
• How members feel about an interaction with the club – the moments of truth – is the most powerful driver of member loyalty. Learn the three E’s of amazing member experiences: Emotional connection, Ease of use, and Engagement.
• How to create an emotional connection with your members
• 7 ways to create a strong service culture
• Specific examples of experiences that created emotional connections
Wednesday, Sept. 19
10:00 am - How to Use Brain Science to Better Understand Your Customer
Is there a right and wrong way to communicate with your prospective and current customers? In this enlightening conversation, Laura Leszczynski will explain proven neuromarketing tips, tricks and mental triggers to help you engage behavior. These fascinating strategies will provide insight to better understand the conscious and subconscious decision-making process of golfers and club members.
10:00 am - Capital Investment & Governance
• How to fund capital projects without upsetting members
• Long-term strategy with a rotating Board of Governors
• Securing Board and member consensus for big projects
• Best leadership practices
11:00 am - Millennials: Insights from the market everyone is struggling to capture
• What the next generation of golfers want
• Similarities and differences in the mindsets of various generations
• Dispelling myths about millenials
11:00 am - Strategic Planning for the Private Club
There are many ways to approach strategic planning. In this session, club indutry professionals will walk us through the power of creating the right plan, and implimenting a solution with supporting tools and strategies to ensure effective implimentation.
• How to set a plan that will guide long-term growth for your club
• Remain relevant and viable to four generations of members and guests
• How an effective plan attracts and retains top talent
• How to use data and best practices to drive direction
Have Questions?
If so, Contact me. I would be delighted to help answer any questions you have about future Golf Inc. Strategies Summit.
Have Questions?
If so, Contact me. I would be delighted to help answer any questions you have about the Golf Inc. Strategies Summit or if you would like help with registration.
Presenting Sponsors
Presenting Sponsors
Sponsors
Exhibitors
Event Promoters
Thank you for all that became event promoters for this years summit, Event Promoter registration is now closed, but current Event Promoters can access information here.
Dana Garmany
CEO, Troon
A leader in golf course management. He has helped set management standards for courses worldwide.
Dana Garmany
CEO, Troon
A leader in golf course management. He has helped set management standards for courses worldwide.
Eric Affeldt
CEO, ClubCorp
Owner of the largest ownership company in the world, and the second-largest management company.
Eric Affeldt
CEO, ClubCorp
Owner of the largest ownership company in the world, and the second-largest management company.
Winning Projects from honoree’s
Monday, Sept.17
1:30 pm -Three Macro Trends that will Impact Golf in the Future
• How the golfer experience is evolving the ‘facility of tomorrow’
• New rules for the delivery of golf content
• Research driven perspectives on marketing and operational trends
Jon Last, Founder & President, Sports & Leisure Research Group | Rand Jerris, Ph.D Senior Managing Director, Public Services, USGA | Erik Anderson, Chairman, TopGolf | Steven Ekovich,National Managing Director, Marcus & Millichap
Tuesday, Sept.18
8:00 am - State of the Industry: The Future of Golf
This live journalism keynote features CEOs from the world’s leading golf companies sharing their unadulterated thoughts on the latest trends, fads, and strategic plans. What’s driving golf into the future and how they plan to take advantage of these trends to continue to grow their companies.
Steve Skinner, CEO, KemperSports | Jim Hinckley, Partner and CEO, Century Golf Partners | Erik Anderson, Chairman, TopGolf
Wednesday, Sept.19
8:00 am - Are You A Courage Brand?
Award-winning brand expert and creative strategist Ryan Berman will share his methodology that turns willing companies into Courage Brands.
Berman will share why courage is needed today and how courage can transform tired brands and liberate them from their competition, help them push past internal paralysis and forsake outdated business models. The end result is an impressive Return on Investment.
Berman has helped such brands as Puma Golf, Subway, UNICEF, International Motorcycle Show, and US Ski & Snowboard Association, achieve the extraordinary. He recently launched his own Courage Brand called “Sock Problems”; a company that “socks” problems with altruistic socks.
Ryan Berman, Founder, Courage Brands
Monday, Sept.17
2:45 pm -The Predictive Index: Strategic Planning for the Public Course
Can you predict the financial potential of a golf course merely from demographics? For ninety percent of the golf courses in the US, the answer is YES. Learn how to apply analysis to boost profitability, including:
• How consolidating 44 variables can rank the profit potential of every golf course
• Why demand exceeds supply in many markets
• Learn the 60% REVPUR rule
• Case Study: How metrics are being used to revitalize a struggling course in Mecklenburg County, NC.
Tuesday, Sept. 18
10:00 am - Buy & Sell: Market Assessment
• What courses are worth and whether prices will rise or fall
• Strategies to get the best price for buyers and sellers
• How buyers evaluate a course’s worth: income vs. revenue multipliers, membership liability, upside potential, more.
• How buyer’s differentiate between the between daily fee versus private club values.
11:15 am - Plan With the Exit in Mind
• How to maximize the value of your investment
• When to sell and how to prepare your asset
• When redevelopment makes sense
• Should you add an amenity?
1:45 pm - Meet the Top Buyers
• Understand the special considerations for privately-owned, member-owned, resort and community-affiliated courses
• Today’s most active buyers share secrets to their success
• Negotiation techniques from the masterminds
• Due diligence essentials for buyers and sellers
3:00 pm - The Golf Course of the Future
Innovators are designing tomorrow’s golf courses to welcome new players, save costs and increase revenue and are achieving this through a mix of technology and outside-of-the-box ideas.
• Bringing together design and high tech
• Entertainment is king: How tech is adding wow to the game
• Robotics, AI: Reshaping operations and maintenance
4:15 pm - Rethinking Your Business Plan
• Smart business plans for a changing industry
• Market positioning: How to reposition to improve value
• Marketing and putting your new plan into action
• How to understand the true potential of a golf facility for growth
Wednesday, Sept. 19
10:00 am - Capital Investment & Governance
• How to fund capital projects without upsetting members
• Long-term strategy with a rotating Board of Governors
• Securing Board and member consensus for big projects
• Best leadership practices
11:15 am - Strategic Planning for the Private Club
There are many ways to approach strategic planning. In this session, club indutry professionals will walk us through the power of creating the right plan, and implimenting a solution with supporting tools and strategies to ensure effective implementation.
• How to set a plan that will guide long-term growth for your club
• Remain relevant and viable to four generations of members and guests
• How an effective plan attracts and retains top talent
• How to use data and best practices to drive direction
Monday, Sept.17
2:45 pm - What Great Golf Courses Do: Brand Building Principles
• How a strong brand can work for you
• Ideas about capturing mind share to help you dominate your market
• Focus your brand to “own” something special in the customer’s mind
• Target a mindset to drive brand loyalty
2:45 pm - Strategic Planning for the Public Course
Can you predict the financial potential of a golf course merely from demographics? For ninety percent of the golf courses in the US, the answer is YES. Learn how to apply analysis to boost profitability, including:
• How consolidating 44 variables can rank the profit potential of every golf course
• Why demand exceeds supply in many markets
• Learn the 60% REVPUR rule
• Case Study: How metrics are being used to revitalize a struggling course in Mecklenburg County, NC.
4:00 pm - The WOW Factor: Great Ideas to make your course pop
• How to add sizzle to any sized operation
• Introducing new technology to attract new customers
• Using Video and more to showcase your facility
• Creating non-golf wow factor activities that drive new visitation
Tuesday, Sept. 18
10:00 am - Big Data and Analytics to Drive Marketing
Learn how course operators use customer data effectively to improve customer retention and drive incremental revenue, what AI and Machine Learning can do for golf, and why mobile is an important part of the equation.
• How golf courses use data to drive decisions, and improve interactions and customer experience
• Why Artificial Intelligence can drive pro shop, green fee and F&B sales
• How Mobile Technology plays an important role in collecting customer data and marketing
11:15 am - Revenue Management Tools to Boost Your Bottomline
• Smart pricing and revenue strategies for long-term growth
• Yield Management vs. Dynamic pricing
• Selling one hole at a time, and other creative approaches
1:45 pm - High Tech Marketing: Experience, Community, Engagement
• How operators are leveraging technology to win in their markets?
• Easily build community through today’s offerings
• How to engage your customers with apps, POS, web and other tech offerings
• Mobile, email, social media: perfect the mix
3:00 pm - Out-of-the-Box Revenue Generation Ideas
• Alterntatives to golf: what makes sense?
• Maximize F& B revenue with banquet, grill and cart ideas
• Unique ways to sell apparel, balls, even clubs
4:15 pm - Best Practices in Golf Course Operations
• What’s working today for top operators
• Proven methods for measuring success
• Quick and easy strategies to match your operational needs and your staff resources
• Give your customers the ultimate golf experience
Wednesday, Sept. 19
10:00 am - How to Use Brain Science to Better Understand Your Customer
Is there a right and wrong way to communicate with your prospective and current customers? In this enlightening conversation, Laura Leszczynski will explain proven neuromarketing tips, tricks and mental triggers to help you engage behavior. These fascinating strategies will provide insight to better understand the conscious and subconscious decision-making process of golfers and club members.
11:00 am - Millenials: Insights from the market everyone is struggling to capture
• What the next generation of golfers want
• Similarities and differences in the mindsets of various generations
• Dispelling myths about millenials
Monday, Sept.17
2:45 pm - What Great Golf Courses Do: Brand Building Principles
• How a strong brand can work for you
• Ideas about capturing mind share to help you dominate your market
• Focus your brand to “own” something special in the customer’s mind
• Target a mindset to drive brand loyalty
4:00 pm - Club Masterminds
This group discussion is designed for general managers and club owners to experience the power of industry Mastermind groups. Through these sessions, participants unlock the power of collective intelligence through facilitated peer to peer collaboration and shared challenges to identify solutions, all backed with accountability to your group.
• Two experts will lead the discussion to get your group started, and keep the conversation productive, honest and confidential.
• Collaborate with other private club attendees
• Exchange ideas and leverage the collective knowledge
Tuesday, Sept. 18
10:00 am - Emerging Trends in Private Clubs
• Better understand the trends that are driving growth for private clubs
• What’s hot in F&B, amenities and membership retention
• What’s working in membership initiation fees, dues, and other revenue trends
• Capital investment trends: Why is everyone spending big
11:15 am - The Modern Club: Engaged, Smarter, Profitable
• What the club of tomorrow will look like
• How programming is evolving and what you should be offering
• How to leverage technology to drive efficiency
• Increase member engagement through mobile commerce and artificial intelligence
1:45 pm - Setting Yourself Apart as a Private Club
Learn strategies on how to remain relevant to your members and prospects in an evolving marketplace. Our panel will discuss programming ideas, membership initiatives and share success stories of how other clubs are retaining and attracting new members.
•Small renovations that have a big impact
•Membership marketing strategies for growth
•Moving beyond the traditional club programming
•Tools to effectively target new members
3:00 pm - Happy Members: How to max your retention
• Steps for creating a strategic plan for retention
• How to develop meaningful programs, events and activities
• Effective member communication: dos and don'ts
• Using video, photos & social media to drive engagement
4:15 pm - How to Create Amazing Experiences for your Members
• How members feel about an interaction with the club – the moments of truth – is the most powerful driver of member loyalty. Learn the three E’s of amazing member experiences: Emotional connection, Ease of use, and Engagement.
• How to create an emotional connection with your members
• 7 ways to create a strong service culture
• Specific examples of experiences that created emotional connections
Wednesday, Sept. 19
10:00 am - How to Use Brain Science to Better Understand Your Customer
Is there a right and wrong way to communicate with your prospective and current customers? In this enlightening conversation, Laura Leszczynski will explain proven neuromarketing tips, tricks and mental triggers to help you engage behavior. These fascinating strategies will provide insight to better understand the conscious and subconscious decision-making process of golfers and club members.
10:00 am - Capital Investment & Governance
• How to fund capital projects without upsetting members
• Long-term strategy with a rotating Board of Governors
• Securing Board and member consensus for big projects
• Best leadership practices
11:00 am - Millennials: Insights from the market everyone is struggling to capture
• What the next generation of golfers want
• Similarities and differences in the mindsets of various generations
• Dispelling myths about millenials
11:00 am - Strategic Planning for the Private Club
There are many ways to approach strategic planning. In this session, club indutry professionals will walk us through the power of creating the right plan, and implimenting a solution with supporting tools and strategies to ensure effective implimentation.
• How to set a plan that will guide long-term growth for your club
• Remain relevant and viable to four generations of members and guests
• How an effective plan attracts and retains top talent
• How to use data and best practices to drive direction