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They say you should never look a gift horse in mouth!

Here in the North East of Scotland we hit the jackpot with gift horses, when The Trump Organization opened their course right on our doorstep.  Now whether you love or hate the Trump philosophy, you cannot deny that the man brings with him an amazing PR machine.  He definitely subscribes to the opinion that all publicity is good publicity.

Now, Scotland is renowned across the world as a world class tourist destination; we have mountains, coastlines, a chequered history, historic buildings and of course we are the home of golf.

We have some spectacular courses throughout the country and you would assume that every region capitalises on this fact and captures their portion of the £220 million a year that golf generates for the Scottish economy? Well you would be wrong!

This does happen in the likes of East Lothian and Fife but here in the Aberdeen city and shire area we seem to have dropped the ball, as there seems to be a distinct lack of visible results.  In 2013 a post was created that would employ a person or company to create an alliance to promote golf in the area. Golf Aberdeen City and Shire were created. They were given a remit to market the area and the vast array of excellent facilities available to both the rest of Scotland, the UK and the rest of the world.

What have they done with this?

They have created a website that shows you the courses available but doesn't necessarily take you to the correct information.  They have produced a brochure that is at best an advertising feature and doesn't necessarily sell the area to the audience. In fact the one thing that is really missing is passion. To be honest they haven't really visibly done much else.

2014 was what can only be described as an epic year for tourism and golf in Scotland. It was the Scottish year of Homecoming, which saw a phenomenal amount of money invested in marketing and promotion for Scotland as a whole.  As a country we hosted not only the Ryder Cup, but here in Aberdeenshire we hosted the AAM Scottish Open for the first time. This tournament was broadcast live on American Television and allowed the whole world to witness the beauty that is Royal Aberdeen Golf Course. The ultimate in free advertising.

What has been done to capitalise on the revenue and visitors brought in from these events?

Did Golf Aberdeen City and Shire have a presence at these events to promote the area? They claim they did at the AAM Scottish Open, but I found it wasn't very visible.

These bodies are publicly funded, by various bodies including the local authority and the European Union. As we are all stakeholders in these bodies.  I ask you do you feel that you are getting value for money from this alliance? Do you feel that your club is benefiting from the efforts of this alliance? Can you directly see a rise in revenue and visitors? 

Now whilst golf is the main theme of this here are some facts and figures that may interest you in relation to what golf brings to Scotland

• £220 million a year to the Scottish economy
• Directly supports over 4400 jobs
• The total golf economy generated £1.171 billion to the wider Scottish economy
• The Golf Industry supports over 20,000 people in employment
• By the end of the decade the golf economy could generate £300 million and grow by 30%

These figures can be found in the following report

http://bit.ly/1AQV02R

Within 11 miles of Aberdeenshire coastline we have three of the top 100 courses in the WORLD! Let me emphasise that again, not Scotland.  Not the UK, BUT THE WORLD!

We should be a golfing Mecca.

While I understand that every organisation will have teething problems and takes time to become established, I find the position, some sixteen month down the line, with Golf Aberdeen City and Shire bordering on the absurd.  Its not like there is no successful template that we can learn from, as you only need to look what Golf East Lothian has achieved and also look at the more recently Golf Perthshire to see how to progress with a similar remit.

The most important thing when you drop the ball, is recover it swiftly and there may still be time.

The question I will leave you with is this, as a golfer and potential club member do you want your club/industry to benefit from this growth? Bare in mind that we in this area are facing an economic turn down.

When do we act? Now or when it is too late?