Golf Inc - March/April 2009 - (Page 8) Off the tee New Golf 20/20 head pushes more participation The golf industry recently rolled out its support in the form of sponsorship. It also latest effort to promote increased adult differs in the way the program is laid out participation, the Get Golf Ready in 5 with the values, rules and etiquette being Days initiative. Operating under the a big part of the learning as well as an umbrella of the Golf 20/20 organization on-course experience with each lesson. and the World Golf Q W h at k i n d o f Foundation, Get Golf N E W S M A K E R cooperation and Ready aims to sign up support are you 700 facilities in its first year. New Golf 20/20 Director Cathy receiving from the golf industry in Harbin answered Golf Inc.’s questions the wake of the launch of the Get Golf about the initiative and the future direc- Ready program? A The golf industr y has been tion of the golf industry organization. overwhelmingly supportive of Get Golf Q What makes the Get Golf Ready Ready. The energy and enthusiasm program different from other player that surround this program show how development initiatives? committed the industry is to growing A The first thing is that it is a nationally the game. A true sign of this enthusiasm promoted program the entire industry has is that five days after the program was supported on all levels, including financial officially launched, we had 330 courses signed up to be Get Golf Ready host facilities. Q Are you planning other initiatives as the new director of Golf 20/20? A Our main focus this year is to launch and execute a successful Get Golf R e a dy in 5 D ay s program. With our intent to have 700 f a c i l i t i e s r u n 5 0 Cathy Harbin s t u d e nt s t h r o u g h this program, we expect to introduce the game to 35,000 people this year. It will remain our only focus for 2009. Once it is fully established, we will look for other ways to increase awareness and participation in this great game. Q Do you see Golf 20/20 expanding internationally? Q&A Movers Shakers Maris Gulans Founder-President Modo Golf One of the biggest challenges to development of a viable golf industry in the nations that formerly made up the Soviet Union is a shortage of local knowledge about golf course construction. Maris Gulans is trying to remedy that. Gulans, who founded a home construction company in the Baltic nation of Latvia in 1993, decided to focus on golf five years ago, just as interest in golf began to develop in that region. That has enabled him to gradually learn the golf business from the ground up. Gulans’ company built the first 18-hole golf course in Latvia, Ozo Golf Club in Riga, a project backed by professional hockey player Sandis Ozolinsh and designed by U.S.-based architect Rob Swedberg. Since then, Modo Golf has focused on building courses in northern Europe. Among Gulans’ subsequent projects are Saliena Golf Club in Latvia and Estonia Golf Club in Estonia. More recently he has been involved in projects in Russia, including courses designed by Nick Faldo in Moscow and Greg Norman in St. Petersburg. & 8 Golf Inc. March/April 2009
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