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Making Winter Leagues part of your member engagement strategy

A “winter league”, or any league for that matter, can come in a variety of formats, shapes, and sizes – whether this be single or multi-round, club leagues or regional societies.

Having a league set-up during the off-season has become a successful way for Golf Genius’ customers to improve their service offerings, create greater member engagement and increase participation at a time when their golfers find it difficult to play and justify the cost of their membership.

“Running leagues are an absolute no-brainer for any golf facility. Our golfers are really engaged in them for numerous reasons – the formats on offer and flexibility to play when they want being just two – and without a shadow of a doubt, I would recommend running a form of league to any club that wants to improve the golfer or member experience and drive their facility forwards.”– Ian Orrell, Wychwood Park Golf Club

So, with the colours on the trees turning, temperatures dropping and the summer daylight fading, now is the time to take advantage of this great opportunity.

Here are our top three tips and recommendations you should think about:

  • Mix-up the formats – Singles formats are very popular for a reason, but how about introducing a multi-format winter league that caters for a variety of competitive tastes? Pairs and even team formats play into the hands of those less-so-serious golfers who want to have a social game. By introducing multiple formats across a single round, this will help speak to more of your membership base. You could even try changing the format each week, to cater for those who can’t play one week but can another.
  • Participation points – Staggering your point allocation tables with the right level of ‘gaps’ or ‘intervals’ is key to making your winter league as competitive as possible. However, one of the most demoralising feelings a golfer can have is not receiving any points on a particular round. Awarding participation points means no matter their performance, there is always something to play for, which creates a multi-round league series with higher levels of participation and engagement.
  • Technology – For golfers and organisers alike, technology has helped to enhance leagues across the country, allowing General Managers and PGA Pros to run winter leagues hassle-free, and in turn, provide their golfers with a seamless experience from their first round to their last. Whether it is managing league registrations, enabling live scoring or posting end-of-round results, Golf Genius is helping clubs across the UK to deliver these great winter leagues.

How can your Winter Leagues benefit from Golf Genius technology?

Golf Genius’ cloud-based Tournament Management software affords every club in the UK with a more efficient and flexible solution to run any type of winter league, with features that keep members and golfers more engaged throughout the off-peak months.

With an innovative library of formats, Tournament Management allows clubs to create winter leagues that are fit for your golfers, whilst improving administrative demands.

The software’s versatility also means the event and format can change each time, with golfers benefitting from live mobile scoring, league portals, online registration and payment, as well as live leaderboards that are accessible in-play or post-round.

So, any golf club manager running leagues this winter can maximise the golfer experience they provide through Golf Genius, whilst also making the process much simpler and more efficient.

“We used Golf Genius for a three-day golf trip to Scotland and ran a league. The fun we had after the golf with everyone checking scores as they came in and viewing photos that had been shared during the round, made the whole experience very enjoyable. It created fantastic memories for us all.” – Brendan McDermott, Belvoir Park

Now is the perfect time to organise a winter series for your club and offer your membership an interactive playing experience all year round.

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Allister Frost

A former Microsoft Digital Strategy leader who now inspires audiences to discover the life-enhancing benefits of having a Future Ready Mindset. As a tech pioneer, Allister gained unique insights into how to transform uncertainty into opportunity, and now loves giving others the positive mindset and simple habits needed to:

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With AI and robots coming for our jobs (hint from Allister: they won’t, if we know how…), many people are anxious about the future. But Allister asserts that we’ve nothing to fear when we leverage our human superpowers and ingenuity to thrive alongside emerging technologies. That’s why having a Future Ready Mindset is now a must-have skill to remain competitive and relevant to the people we serve, our golf club members and the local community. And the best bit: everyone can do it!

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John Steele

John Steele is a former professional athlete, sports coach, Olympic Leader and is the Executive Director of Sport at Loughborough University. He has been Chief Executive across a range of sectors. Drawing on leadership experience of nine different Olympic and Paralympic Games (including the amazing events at the Rio Games), John reflects on the lessons from this unique period in British sport and relays his fascinating views on creating high performing teams.

Indeed, inspired from PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, by the most successful performance ever for Team GB, he has a whole host of new business and leadership insights into how this was brilliant performance was achieved and how it can translate back into your organisation.

John moved into the corporate world, before he enjoyed an outstanding career as a professional rugby player achieving international honours. After his playing career, he turned his hand to coaching and achieved the highest accolade for a British club coach by winning the European Cup with Northampton Saints. He then became Executive Director on the Saints Board during a period of unprecedented growth, and served on the England Rugby Board during the successful world cup campaign of 2003. It was no surprise that John’s talents were called upon to drive through a change and modernisation programme as CEO of the Rugby Football Union – a challenge that became controversial and ended in his departure from the post after only a year, but with his dignity and professional pride intact.

Headhunted by UK Sport, John took up post as CEO the day before London won the 2012 Olympic bid – and this promising start was sustained as he embarked on developing the UK’s high performance sport system, which he led for a six-year period of unprecedented success through the Beijing and London Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Post-London 2012, with the Olympic legacy in place and an obligation to continue inspiring a generation, John took up his post as Group Chief Executive of the Youth Sport Trust. He has also succeeded Steve Cram as Chairman of the English Institute of Sport, an organisation described as ‘the team behind the team’, which delivers a range of performance impacting solutions to over 40 Olympic and Paralympic sports and some non-Olympic sports.

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Dr Jo Salter MBE

Dr Jo Salter MBE is famed for becoming the first female fast jet pilot, having flown the Panavia Tornado ground attack aircraft during her services in the Royal Air Force. Joining the RAF aged 18, Jo has since taken Air Cadets into the skies as part of Air Experience Flights, become the Director of Global Transformative Leadership for PWC, and most recently become a Global Advisory of GenAI for PwC.

Jo has piloted flights in the Air Cadets Air Experience Flights and inspired countless budding armed service members to pioneer a male-dominated sector, having been the leader of an all-male squadron. Since leaving the military behind, Jo has established a strong business career working in roles such as Head of Technical Services for NetConnect, European Operations Manager for Automated Power Exchange and Managing Director of Saltin Ltd.

Having developed first-class expertise in leadership, analytical thinking and performing under pressure, Jo is now a highly sought-after public speaker to share stories from her time in the skies.

Jo is a passionate Trustee of The Royal Air Force Club and an Ambassador of the Global Angels charity, an organisation that gives communities around the world access to clean water, education, healthcare and encourages female and youth empowerment. Jo has also authored two books, titled Energy: 52 Ways to Fire Up Your Life and Become an Energy Angel and Energize: Spring Clean Your Mind and Body to Get Your Bounce Back Today and Every Day.

In recognition of her achievements throughout her career, Jo has also been named as one of the 50 Most Inspiring Women in the World by Harpers & Queen. She is now working as the Director of Global Transformation Leadership at PWC, after working in other roles such as Director of Risk Technology Strategy, Director Chief of Staff to Head of Technology & Investments and the Director of People & Organisations.

In 2022, Jo was invited personally by Tom Cruise to attend the premiere of Top Gun: Maverick. Most recently, Jo received an honorary doctorate of Arts from Bournemouth University.

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Colin MacLachlan

Colin Maclachlan, star of Channel Four's captivating reality TV drama SAS: Who Dares Wins and Channel 5’s ‘Secrets of the SAS’, is an operator with over 25 years of security and risk related experience who is a popular and frequent fixture on the speaking circuit.

Colin Maclachlan, celebrated for his roles on Channel Four's SAS: Who Dares Wins and Channel 5’s Secrets of the SAS, brings over three decades of expertise in security and risk management. Colin's military career began in 1989, and after serving nine years with the Royal Scots, he joined the elite 22 SAS at just 23. His time in the SAS saw him participating in numerous high-stakes operations, including the notable rescue of hostages from the West Side Boys in Sierra Leone—a mission so perilous it was dubbed Operation Certain Death.

Colin was also pivotal during the longest hostage siege on UK soil, when a hijacked Afghan plane landed in London in 2000. The standoff lasted four days with Colin as the first sniper on the scene.

After leaving the SAS, Colin exchanged insights with international forces such as Delta Force and Seal Team 6 and provided security consultancy to the Saudi Royal Family and various celebrities. His academic pursuits led him to earn a First Class MA (Hons.) in History from Edinburgh University and an M.Litt in Terrorism from St. Andrews University.

Today, Colin extends his expertise through television, books, radio, and video games. He supports numerous charities and has founded Who Dares Cares, which assists veterans and those experiencing stress. As a speaker, Colin excels in discussing Resilience, Teamwork and Leadership.

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