from Hotelier Indonesia
Magazine
17th Issue,
April 2014
We
are honored to have an opportunity to sit down for a chat with Ted Pease, one
of the region’s preeminent golf club managers.
He is an experienced club General Manager and Canadian PGA member,
dedicated to the development and operation of successful club facilities. In particular, Ted has specialized in
reorganization or pre-opening projects; with an emphasis on finance, marketing,
and operations. He offers an extensive
background in simultaneous and parallel program development, including golf course
development in multiple countries.
[HI] You seem to stay quite busy with several
projects in both North America and Asia, yet we were able to catch up in both Toronto & Bangkok
in recent months. What are projects are
you currently involved with?
[TP] I am the active General Manager for Barrie
Country Club, a private membership golf club in Ontario,
roughly an hour’s drive north of Toronto,
Canada. That keeps me in Canada for most of the year.
I’m
also a Director with Premier Golf, a full service e-commerce golf management
company with a presence in the Americas
and Asia.
With Premier, we offer our clients top-notch management technology while
remaining price competitive. We strive to maintain our role as specialists in
golf course management, offering innovation and service development. My efforts
with Premier Golf bring me to Asia quite
often.
Our
partner in golf software technology is Quasar Group International.
[HI] What is the focus of your involvement with
golf management systems and Quasar?
[TP] The technology that we are working on with
Quasar and Premier Golf is to offer a complete solution for golf clubs to
manage their facilities and distribute tee times - while at the same time to
provide golfers the ability to book and confirm golf times that meet their
needs.
Golfers
are becoming more independent and using the internet to organize their entire
travel plans. They now book and confirm
their golf at the same time as they plan their other travel needs. This presents a tremendous opportunity for
golf clubs to secure advance pre-paid golf for the mobile golfer.
We
have seen that some of the leading destination resorts around the world have
used cooperative advertising and marketing to promote their areas and been very
successful - the natural progression is
to help clubs maximize this with internet promotions and booking opportunities.
[HI] You’re no stranger to Golf in Asia. You’ve spent
quite a bit of time here. Could you
highlight some of your work here?
[TP] I’ve been based in Asia
for much of this millenium. My first
position was as General Manager – Project Management & Operations at Zhuhai
Golden Gulf Golf Club in China
from 2001 to 2004. I followed that with management positions at several clubs in
Thailand
including: Blue Canyon Country Club, The
Montgomerie Krabi, Sri Racha Hills Golf Club and then with Absolute Golf
Services.
My
work with IMG also brought me across to Nirwana Golf Resort in Bali.
[HI] Your start in golf however, was over in Canada. What is your history there?
[TP] I grew up playing golf in Ontario and was fortunate that I could make
it my career. In my younger years I was
an Associate professional at both the Royal Woodbine Golf Club and Barrie
Country Club. From there I progressed to
Head Professional at the Grandview Inn - Resort and then the Carrying Place
Golf Club.
I
then moved into the position of General Manager at a few clubs including: The
Sands at Taboo GC - Resort, the City of Mississauga,
and my current position at Barrie Country Club.
[HI] With these positions, you must have had quite
a few management responsibilities?
[TP] Yes, with my work in Canada and Asia, I had
many managerial responsibilities including, but not limited to: a) development and implementation of all
pre-opening Capex and operational budgets, b) development of international
markets for golf and academy business, c) development of F&B kitchen
designs, staffing and menus, d) development and implementation of standard
operating procedures, e) development and production of staff handbooks, f)
financial controls and budgeting including daily reconciliations, and g)
coordination of membership and marketing programs. I’m keeping the list somewhat short, as there
are quite a few more responsibilities that come along with managing a golf
club.
[HI] You’ve also had a share of success as a
golfer. What are some of those
highlights?
[TP] As an amateur, I was Canadian Juvenile
Champion, Canadian Junior Runner-Up and placed well in the Canadian Amateur a
few times. I also have 6 victories in
various annual invitational tournaments.
As
a professional, I was the Ontarios PGA Associates Champion several times,
London Ontario PGA Zone Order of Merit Winner, Absolut Vodka Professional
Champion at Pebble Beach Golf Club and placed well at quite a few additional
professional competitions including Senior PGA events in Malaysia, Thailand
and Taiwan.
[HI] All of this success must have brought a few
course records?
[TP] I have been fortunate to get course records
in three countries, including:
• Sunningdale CC Old Course London,
Canada
64
• Greenhills CC Old Course London, Canada 62 –
competitive round
• Greenhills CC New Course London, Canada 65 –
competitive round
• Crickentree CC Columbia, South Carolina 65
• Tatum Ranch CC Scottsdale, Arizona 64 –
professional competitive round
• Cypress
Lakes GC Hunter
Valley, Australia 68
[HI] As an accomplished golfer & club manager,
what is your perception of the SE Asian golf & leisure market?
[TP] Its certainly the world’s biggest growth
market for golf and leisure. The golf
travel market in Indonesia
& Thailand
s significant, particularly with the region’s growth in disposable income. Businessmen and families from China and
elsewhere are looking to travel internationally. Bali, Phuket and most of SE
Asia are their top markets for travel. Many of them are traveling to enjoy the
beaches, scuba diving, surfing and golf.
[HI] And your experience in golf and leisure
management can certainly assist in building the market?
[TP] Yes.
Golf clubs and resorts must be able to properly address these in-bound
tourists, to be able to understand and accommodate their needs through multiple
channels. We’ve been actively involved
in multiple social networking sites to insure we stay plugged into the regional
& global markets.
[HI]
We would like to thank Ted for his time, and wish him a good deal of success in
their SE Asian & global golf e-commerce efforts. Anybody wishing to reach Ted can email him
at: ted.pease55@gmail.com
