By Alistair Collier | The Business of Golf Magazine
Dear Club Manager, Director of Golf, Course Superintendent,
What is the difference between raw information and transformation?
Most of you will now know that over several months, we collect data from clubs for the John Collier Questionnaire. This phase is then followed by the publication of the John Collier Annual Sustainability Survey, which in turn is followed by the acknowledgement of clubs of their respective Gold, Silver or Bronze Sustainability Levels.
As an example of the complete process, with the 17th edition of the survey, we congratulated all of the participating clubs, throughout South Africa, on their respective sustainability journeys, and then recognised the TOP CLUB for 2024 (Elements Private Golf Reserve), the special mention clubs (Umhlali Country Club and Olivewood Private Estate), and the TOP provincial golf union (Southern Cape Golf Union).
Each year I am often asked why we do this work.
In this regard, we recently read a book by Graham Cockrane, published by BenBella Books, Dallas, Texas in 2022, which, as an exercise in self-examination, went a long way to put this question into a clear perspective for the John Collier team, and we would like to share this outcome with you.
Over the past two decades, we have been collecting and interpreting data from golf clubs throughout South Africa. This wealth of information has given us many deep insights into the golf industry, and especially the implications of sustainability ESG principles on the running and management of golf clubs. These insights have also contributed to developing an understanding of what your club’s needs are.
As we gathered the information, and reached out to your club through our Info Briefs, and publications such as the Business of Golf Magazine, SA Golf Trader and others, what is clear to us is that your club does not merely want raw information, because you can easily source this information itself, from a search engine such as Google, Our research indicates that what clubs are really looking for is transformation, not just information.
Furthermore, clubs are more willing to engage where they are provided with solutions, rather than merely raw information.
The John Collier approach, and philosophy, is to guide clubs to move from point A to point B.
Our findings are that management, and the committees and boards of clubs want to go from stressed to calm, from confused to informed, from hesitant to confident, and from economic survival to financial stability.
Our approach is not merely to deliver content, as we are uniquely positioned to offer solutions that are worth considering, adopting and implementing. Good examples of this are the use of John Collier Sustainability ESG Questionnaire, or our advising on how to integrate sustainability ESG principles into your club’s current strategic business model.
Linked to this is we want to share the John Collier story, which is underpinned by our passion, deep knowledge, and 20 years of experience, researching the golf industry.
What we offer can save your golf club hours, months or even years of trial and error, while the shared intel is both of incredible value and transformational.
Our skills, experience and insights have real value and enable us in our role to act as a guide or mentor for a golf club.
To start, or continue, your club’s sustainability ESG journey, why not reach out to us through our website https://johncolliergolf.com/ and download a free copy of the 18th John Collier Annual Sustainability Survey for South African Golf Clubs, or call me on 083 455 7712, for a further discussion, which is free of any cost or obligation.
If you have any queries, why not contact the John Collier Golf through our website or via email ajcollier@telkomsa.net?
Yours in Sustainable Golf
JOHN COLLIER
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email ajcollier@telkomsa.net or visit the John Collier Golf website at www.johncolliergolf.com