Practice in Paradise: Fall has arrived yet again, which means the end of the golf season is in sight for much of the country. If your members/golfers still haven’t gotten their fix and are starting to plan winter getaways, Poipu Bay Golf Course on the Hawaiian island of Kauai is offering an amazing Practice & Play deal that includes unlimited range balls and access to their practice area, as well as play on the first three holes of the course (with a golf car) for only $25. Not to mention, the view isn’t too bad.
Golfweek Makes Dedication to the Future of the Game: Last month Golfweek announced the nationwide launch of Golfweek College Bound Membership (CBM) – a new mentoring/recruiting program for junior golfers and their parents. After its initial Oct. 24 rollout with the Texas Junior Golf Tour, the first Golfweek CBM partner tour, it expanded nationally by beginning to work with additional junior tours.
Housed on GolfweekCBM.com, Golfweek CBM is an online, 10-month mentoring program for junior golfers who want to play college golf and secure a scholarship via golf or academics. Members have access to insight and wisdom of former and current college coaches, parents of college golfers and college golfers who have successfully navigated the transition from junior golf to college golf.
Prepare for Golfers to Know More: In this age of instant information, golfers know more about equipment, golf courses and their own swing than ever before. Get ready for them to know even more. SkyTrak LLC, a partnership between SportTrak, LLC and SkyGolf, the makers of SkyCaddie, announced the release of SkyTrak Personal Launch Monitor. It’s about the size of a book and weighs less than 2 pounds, but captures thousands of data points from a golfer hitting balls into a net at home. With this being one of the first “at home” launch monitors, it still comes with a pretty hefty price tag of just under $2,000 – but if it catches on, it could turn into an emerging market. Remember when people shelled out $500 for rangefinders? Something to keep an eye on as a golf instructor.
Connecting Her With Golf – Online: The PGA of America launched Connecting With Her as an industry-wide initiative to grow the game of golf among women. In an unrelated effort, the LPGA is now connecting with women golfers online through a partnership with Pearson, a global leader in learning and education. LPGA and Pearson have created an online program called the LPGA Teaching HER Course. The self-paced course, which launches this month, consists of four one-hour modules with knowledge checks and interactive video segments.
