European Tour Properties, the network of world-class venues that forms part of The European Tour group of companies, held its autumn conference at the Tour’s Wentworth headquarters last week.
And the Tour was delighted, at the start of the day-long forum, to welcome the two newest additions to the burgeoning portfolio of high class facilities, namely Le Golf National in Versailles, host venue for The 2018 Ryder Cup, and the stunning Terre Blanche Resort in the South of France. Both will become part of the prestigious Tour Destinations brand, joining London Golf Club in England and Belek Golf in Turkey in being accorded this elite status.
The Conference was attended by owners, managers and sales and marketing professionals representing Estonian Golf and Country Club, Fleesensee Golf and Country Club (Germany), Linna Golf (Finland), Le Golf National (France) London Golf Club (England), PGA Catalunya Resort (Spain), Terre Blanche (France) and other invited guests. A wide variety of subjects were covered, all with the common theme of identifying the myriad elements which combine to create world-class facilities.
Following an informative introduction to the most recent European Tour Destination, Terre Blanche, from Jean-Marie Casella, Director of Golf , and Marion Saltiel, the Director of Communications, delegates received presentations from Marc Hayton, owner of Foxhills Resort, outlining an owner’s perspective in running a successful golf resort, and following this from Richard Stilwell, the Tour’s senior agronomy expert who highlighted the art of winter course preparation and tournament planning.
Andrew Brown from European Tour Partner Toro presented eloquently on various subjects including machinery, resource planning and management. This was followed by, Gordon Simpson, The European Tour’s Director of Communications, who discussed effective communication and how member-venues could utilise the Tour’s extensive media resources. Andy Bough from Cactus Brand Partners, together with Tim Hunt, the Tour’s Brand Director, presented the Tour’s retail strategy, assisted by Peter Bannington from Abacus and Paul Keen from Level 4. The afternoon session took the form of a question and answer workshop, facilitated by the Tour’s Director of Property and Venue Development, David MacLaren, and Real-Estate expert Sandra Ruttle to encourage dialogue and action points generated by the morning’s presentations.
MacLaren summed up an extremely productive Autumn Conference by commenting: “We greatly value the relationship we have with all our member-venues and all were delighted to welcome Terre Blanche and Le Golf National into the fold. Both venues will add greatly to the quality and scope of our network. Our Autumn Conference provided a great opportunity to share best practice and to underline the unique resources that the European Tour can bring to all our partner-venues”
For more information regarding European Tour Properties and its member venues, visit www.europeantourproperties.com by clicking the tab “Tour Properties” on the homepage.
