Key Focus on Member Service
28.01.2020

In 2018, the Swiss PGA celebrated its 75th anniversary. A reason to be happy, but also a reason to review and adapt its own strategy in order to be prepared for the next 75 years. Because the world has changed since Swiss PGA was founded, the requirements and general conditions have changed. In order for the success story of the Swiss PGA to continue, it needs a realignment and the inclusion of fresh ideas.

Swiss PGA President Keith Marriott is aware that adjustments are needed to ensure that the job for golf professionals remains attractive for young people in the future.

2019 was a year of transition for the Swiss PGA. There was a lot of work going on behind the scenes. With the support of the business consultant Bernhard Boettinger, the structures of the association were reviewed and scrutinized, the strategy reconsidered and a new, future-oriented strategy developed. In January 2020, this new Swiss PGA strategy entitled "The next 75 years" was launched. Boettinger will present the new strategy in detail to the Swiss PGA members at the Swiss PGA general assembly in April. Swiss PGA President Keith Marriott already reveals their key points.

«When reviewing our structures, we became aware that we want to put our 380 members more clearly at the center of everything we do in the future. The task of our association is to support the pros even better.

Our members are the figureheads and ambassadors of the Swiss PGA - and they have a decisive influence on the growth of the Swiss golf scene,» says Marriott.

With the new strategy, the association will be modernized and made fit for the future. «The Swiss PGA has now been a 77-year success story, the association has also become increasingly professional during this time. But the world, especially the golf world, has changed in those 77 years. ». In today's world it is important to play an active role in the market, to act dynamically and to help shape the changes. "In the future, the Swiss PGA wants to take on a leading role in Swiss golf with its own ideas and projects,” says Marriott. Keeping the tradition in mind and using the knowledge gained over the past 77 years is not wrong, “but we want to become younger and more dynamic in our communication”.

With the new strategy, the Swiss PGA President is also coming up with new and tailor-made approaches in the area of ​​sponsorship and (as mentioned) communication for the Swiss PGA. The structures within the organization are also being modernized and adapted to the requirements of the third millennium. "The board is organized more professionally, we have drawn up specifications for each department," explains Marriot. In addition, each board member receives a working group with three to four members for their area. "On the one hand, these working groups should bring in additional expertise, but also the perspective of the young generation."

Because an association strategy entitled "The next 75 years" must focus on the needs of the young generation. "Only if young golf instructors see a future in this profession and the opportunity to provide their families in Switzerland with a safe living and guarantee the children a good education, our association will also have a future," said Marriott.

The Swiss PGA wants to provide its members - 90 percent are golf instructors, 10 percent playing professionals - with a wider range of services in the future and offer support for a wide range of issues. The Swiss PGA President says that there is great potential in the communications sector in particular. «Many of our members have great business ideas, but these ideas and offers must also reach the customer. As an association, we can offer a hand,” Marriott is convinced.