As he completes his second year as the CEO of Golf Canada Laurence Applebaum sat down with Pro Shop to look at the organization’s successes and the challenges ahead.
PRO SHOP Magazine – This year’s RBC Canadian Open and CP Women’s Open appeared to be quite successful but how did they do financially?
APPLEBAUM: We’re doing our final tally’s now but for Golf Canada’s professional championships it will be a massive record.
PRO SHOP Magazine – Can you put your finger on why?
Applebaum – A kind of perfect storm came together starting with the new date for the men’s tournament which created a separation of the two events.
We had a lot of luck with eight glorious weather days.
Events have to find their identity. The World Junior Hockey Championship found its identity in Canada. In the last two years we found the identity of our men’s championship and it came in concert with the date change.
PRO SHOP Magazine – So what is that identity?
APPLEBAUM – We’re going to be the start of summer in the front end of June. We’re going to be when competitive golf feels like it’s just hitting its stride.
We’re going to go to tracks that the players genuinely love playing. We’re going to have a city or region behind each event and this year we had two winners at Hamilton and Magna.
PRO SHOP Magazine – With Bill Paul retiring does that mean that the vision that he was working on of a new permanent home for the RBC Canadian Open that also included things like soccer fields and a stadium that could host the national cricket team as well as concerts is dead or on the back burner?
APPLEBAUM – Bill’s fingerprints are all over our professional events and he helped put us on the platform that gave us the opportunity in 2019 that was so well executed.
When it comes to this grander vision of the future the one thing that we’ve decoupled is that the championship will not be at a permanent location. And our interest is not in running golf properties.
We’re also not a multi-sport organization so we will be focused on golf.
PRO SHOP Magazine – What does that mean for the Calgary Golf Centre that you own?
APPLEBAUM – In 2019 we’ve spent considerable time looking at different opportunities for the Calgary Golf Centre.
Our goal, by the end of the year, is to be divested of the Calgary Golf Centre.
PRO SHOP Magazine – Earlier you mentioned that the RBC Canadian Open would not have a permanent home. Will you be moving it around the country?
APPLEBAUM – We’ve figured out that the model for our men’s championship is in the GTA although we’ve never had the conversation with RBC on what exactly they consider the GTA boundaries.
There are some good courses just east of the Don Valley, like Oshawa, Coppinwood or Goodwood. What about the Caledon area where TPC Toronto and the Devils Pulpit and Paintbrush are?
It’s a great strength to have so many golf courses here but it’s also a challenge in the number of places that we could potentially go to. That may be one of my biggest challenges.
The CP Women’s is a great event to move across the country. It’s also the way their company is based.
PRO SHOP Magazine – How is your membership program coming?
APPLEBAUM – For starters Golf North have joined Golf Canada with all of their golf courses which has been a long time coming.
We have about 300,000 members and there are about six million people out there who are playing at least once a year. We feel we should have about a million golfers on card. One in every six golfers in Canada should be involved with Golf Canada.
We’ve provided the new Rules of Golf in 2019 and the new handicap system is coming on board in 2020. We also run world class championships so we’re trying to show that there is value to join.
We’re also trying to say that this is not a charity and we have to prove our metal to people. We are the stewards of the game but we have to deliver and we’ve spent more money in member services in the last two years than we have in a long time.
PRO SHOP Magazine – How will you increase the numbers?
APPLEBAUM – We think our biggest opportunity is with public players who aren’t affiliated with a club and we’re going to do a public player drive. We also have to look at how are we getting the millennials and juniors. We can do better in those areas.
We’re also going to pack more into our App and make it a place where you can get your handicap and add other things including deals with our partners.
PRO SHOP Magazine – This year Golf Ontario held its first provincial championship for golfers with disabilities. What are Golf Canada’s plans?
APPLEBAUM – What we’ve learned going into the para-Olympic world is that it’s very complex. There are many groups that you have to make sure are being spoken to and considered.
Whether it’s vision impairment, sound impairment, physical, or mental, it’s a complex world, but we are committed to going forward with an all-abilities competition.
PRO SHOP Magazine – There has been talk that you are considering making your presidential terms two years instead of one. Can you comment on that?
APPLEBAUM – There are a bunch of different models globally in golf and in other sports federations and it seems to that there are a lot of good reasons being more efficient with our governance model.
With a different president every year you just get going on something you want to get behind and your term is over.
I think you will see something from us by the end of the year.
PRO SHOP Magazine – Is there anything coming up that you are excited about?
Applebaum – I think a big story in 2020 with be touting the physical and mental benefits of golf. We’re invested in doing research right now.
