TRAVELING ALL OVER
It was a sunny Thursday in July and I was in a golf cart with Robin Taylor , General Manager of the beautiful , wooded Pennant Hills Golf Club near Sydney . We were touring the course with Club Captain John Buchanan and Mike Orloff , Managing Director of Golf Industry Central and host for my ten-day Australia visit .
I was consulting for two days with Pennant Hills , doing on-course analysis and measurements , providing a team training , and sharing pace of play improvement recommendations . Robin and John were enthusiastic as we drove the course and stopped frequently for me to point out things that looked problematic .
Over the next few days we would fly south to Sydney and then on to Melbourne . Mike had arranged to consult with several courses along the way and also to deliver workshops at Bonnie Doon Golf Club in Sydney and Huntingdale Golf Club in Melbourne for members of the New South Wales and Victoria sections of Golf Management Australia and the captains of their clubs .
We appreciated meeting with state golf associations and industry representatives , and particularly enjoyed the crown jewel - the honor of speaking at the inaugural “ Golf Business Forum Melbourne 2016 ,” Australia ’ s largest gathering of industry leaders .
The purpose of our trip was to introduce my Pace Manager Systems ® consulting and training services to the Australian golfing community . For years our pace of play improvement strategies have been implemented on courses throughout the U . S ., Canada , England , Scotland , Ireland , France , Singapore and Hong Kong , and I was pleased to bring these game improvement techniques to directly benefit Australian players and managers .
For example , studying the 17th hole I suggested , “ I bet you have lots of people hitting into those trees out there ?” Robin and John admitted that it was a big problem . “ Take a look ,” I explained . “ Your mowing pattern on the tee is parallel to the cart path and it ’ s aimed straight at the trees . You ’ re setting people up to drive right into the trees !” It was an instant lightbulb for these two responsive and open-minded managers .
We then spent a few minutes discussing how to easily eliminate this pace of play obstruction , and I have no doubt that this and other pace of play improvement measures we uncovered have by now been implemented , to add to the already high value of the club ’ s membership .
My trip actually began earlier that week in Brisbane , first driving north to the lovely Victoria Park Golf Complex and a press interview with the personable David Newbery for an article in Inside Golf Magazine . The day ended with a wonderful afternoon spent at the spectacular oceanfront home of the hospitable Steve Walsh , CEO of Tracknology , a high-tech GPS company in Queensland , to lay the foundation for a partnership in bringing my two current GPS-based services to Australia .