Local Knowledge

USGA TM PRODUCT UPDATE: MARKETING CAMPAIGNS

Just before the end of 2019, Golf Genius introduced one of its most impactful new features of the year: Marketing Campaigns. If the product update notice slipped your attention in the lead up to the busy holiday season, now is a good time to review some of the applications of this powerful new tool. USGA TM clients can now use existing email and text message templates to automate promotional emails for events. Using marketing campaigns can be a great way to increase event participation and revenue by engaging with golfers to promote events that are about to open for registration, events with low registration, events that are almost full, or events where registration is about to close.

The product update gives clients the ability to segment their Master Roster and customize marketing campaigns in a variety of ways, including by gender, age, Handicap Index and more. There are also options for when the emails and text messages are sent and how frequently. LEARN MORE

LESLIE HENRY ELECTED TGA PRESIDENT

Leslie Henry, who plays out of Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston, was elected to a two-year term as President of the Texas Golf Association, effective Jan. 1, 2020. She succeeds Carey Schulten out of Dallas National Golf Club; Schulten served from 2017-19.

Henry began her volunteer service in 2012 as a board member of the Women’s Texas Golf Association. She was instrumental in the process of merging the WTGA with the TGA in 2014 and was subsequently one of five women named to the TGA Board of Directors. Two years later, Henry was elected as the first female executive officer of the TGA. An accomplished amateur golfer, Henry has competed in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur and is a two-time winner of the Greater Houston Women’s Senior City Championship.

Henry is a Partner with Adams and Reese, one of the nation’s top law firms with offices in 16 cities across the southern Unites States. In 2016, Henry was elected a Texas Bar Foundation Fellow, one of the highest honors a member of the State Bar of Texas can receive. She also currently serves on the Adams and Reese Executive Committee. READ MORE

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN FOR DCP QUALIFIERS

This month is a good time to remind all those promising junior golfers at your course that registration for 2020-21 Drive, Chip and Putt qualifying is officially open.The schedule of qualifiers, set to begin this summer at hundreds of locations nationwide, was also released, including the 10 venues hosting regional qualifiers for participants who advance in the fall.

Drive, Chip and Putt is a fun and free youth golf development initiative for juniors of all skill and ability levels, aimed at sparking a lifelong interest in the game. The initiative welcomes boys and girls, ages 7-15, to participate in local qualifying events in all 50 states throughout the months of May, June, July and August. Entrants will play in girls’ and boys’ divisions in four age categories, with scoring centered around golf’s three fundamental skills – driving, chipping and putting.

Top performers at the local level will advance through subregional and regional qualifiers in July/August and September/October, respectively. From these qualifiers, 80 finalists – 40 boys and 40 girls – will earn an invitation to compete in the National Finals at Augusta National Golf Club on Sunday, April 4, on the eve of the 2021 Masters Tournament. Qualifiers are conducted by all 41 sections of the PGA of America across the country. LEARN MORE

WHY IT’S TIME TO UPDATE YOUR EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK [CMAA]

Keeping a club’s employee handbook and policies updated is more important than ever, given America’s fast-changing legal landscape.

From the growing number of states that are legalizing medical and recreational marijuana to shifting employer obligations surrounding gender issues to new requirements for determining whether someone is an employee or a contractor, it can feel as if the regulations governing a club’s day-to-day operations are changing at a dizzying pace.

But lawyers who specialize in employment law say there are a few best practices regarding employee handbooks that, if followed, can minimize the liability a club might face. In his article for CMAA’s Club Magazine, author Jim Trageser outlines what topics to cover in an updated Employee Handbook To-Do List. LEARN MORE

QUICK REFERENCE PLACEMAT

The World Handicap System is comprised of the Rules of Handicapping and the Course Rating System. The Rules of Handicapping replaces the USGA Handicap System, which has been in place since 1911, and the USGA Course Rating System has become the Course Rating System.The Quick Reference Placemat is an easy-to-follow, one-page guide that gives a brief overview of the key topic areas from which you can expect to receive the most questions from golfers. DOWNLOAD QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE