With a swing of a golf club the first Personnel Support Program (PSP) Business of Golf Seminar got underway on a cool October Sunday at the Hylands Golf Club in Ottawa, Ontario.

I wanted to have an informal start to the seminar and a golf game was just the ticket and I welcomed the chance to greet all the participants at the tee-off. Upon completion of a round of golf, everyone proceeded to the orientation for a meet-and-greet.

Military golf clubs have been operating for many years and reported an aggregate membership of over 7500 in 2002, explains CPO2 David Gingras, the National Hospitality Services Officer. Despite the undeniable importance of this activity for the military community and Non Public Funds operations, it was the first time that representatives from all Canadian Forces (CF) golf courses met at one location to share their best business practices and to discuss their most crucial issues.

Day two began with the presentation of various seminar topics relating to the business of golf. Randy Helgason, Director Personnel Support Program Resources welcomed all of the attendees to Ottawa and provided a briefing on the business status of all military golf clubs across Canada.

The three-day event was designed to allow the golf management team to exchange information from the PSP and guest speakers. In addition, one evening was devoted to the evaluation of various golf software management solutions. These seminars also allowed participants to network informally, which should greatly facilitate future communications between managers for eventual queries and golf advice.

Dick Hartnett, PSP Manager, CFB Gagetown facilitated this informal exchange of data which led to the ratification of a formal agreement between all CF golf facilities. All 14 golf courses, starting golf season 2003, will implement a reciprocal agreement that will allow all members of CF golf courses to receive a 50% discount on the cost of green fees at other CF golf facilities.

A number of other positive ideas and suggestions were made, one of which was the creation of an electronic bulletin board. The electronic golf bulletin board was launched on the Canadian Forces Personnel Support Agency's (CFPSA) web site on November 27, 2002. This effective communication tool will stimulate the exchange of golf information and further develop national networking. We also plan to create a Golf Home Page by the end of the year to allow managers and members to find valuable information about golf inside and outside the CF, stated CPO2 David Gingras.

Randy Helgason was pleased to inform the participants that PSP Hospitality Services will be proceeding with a golf software evaluation process and hope to run a software trial in Borden next season. Other initiatives, partnerships and new capital projects are being evaluated as we speak. They are expected to improve the overall efficiency and quality of golf operations and will endeavor to make CF courses the place to be for the foreseeable future.

Fore!