AP went down to Strawberry Hills in Twickenham

AP's picture
Wed, 5 Oct 2011
�

While The Celtic Manor has already hosted a PowerPlay Golf event and Ireland’s K Club also signed-up, more than 1,000 courses have put pen to paper around the world. Here’s what some of them had to say…

“We have been looking for alternative ways to attract new golfers and increase revenues for quite some time and PowerPlay has certainly helped us achieve this. It has sparked interest and proved to be a real winner for us this summer as we have seen a significant rise in entries and subsequent bar takings when we put on a competition. As a result we will now be integrating PowerPlay events into our competition calendar on a regular basis.”
Richard Curtis, chairman of membership and marketing committee at Strawberry Hill GC in south west London

“We’ve been running PowerPlay events throughout the summer and our members really enjoy it. For many it’s an ideal excuse to play competitive golf mid-week after work. We’ve consistently had 40-plus members participating on Wednesday nights. It is a fun format and there is also a social element to it afterwards. A lot of our members have bought friends along who wouldn’t normally come to Baildon so it has proved to be a great way of attracting new golfers to the club.”
Gary Stevenson, general manager of Baildon GC in Yorkshire

“Our members have really embraced PowerPlay and have commented in numbers that they particularly like the fun, social element that the format provides, whilst at the same still remaining highly-competitive. From my perspective I have been particularly pleased with how subsequent bar and food takings have rocketed on the days we have put on the events.”
Michael Sawicki, manager of Dulwich & Sydenham Hill GC, south east London

“We believe PowerPlay Golf is the next big thing. We decided to run events every Tuesday evening as long as there was enough take-up from the members, and so far there hasn’t been a Tuesday without PPG since we started. As a resort course we have even designed our own nine-hole PowerPlay package to enable guests to play golf after a day on the beach or by the pool with the family and still be back in time for dinner.”
Rodrigo Ulrich, director of golf at Boavista Golf Resort in Portugal

“We started PowerPlay Golf to inject some life into a flagging member’s competition on Wednesday evenings, and immediately saw a 200% increase in participation.”
John Lawlor, director of golf at Mount Wolseley GC in Ireland

“Everyone who has tried it has wanted to play it again.”
Allan Jameson, general manager of Seabrook GC in Australia

Related Articles

So what is PowerPlay Golf?
Hedwall powers to Celtic Manor win
Can PowerPlay Golf set the world alight?
Cheshire club embraces PowerPlay
Dartmouth launches PowerPlay league