East London Golf Club’s constant position high on the leader board of South Africa’s finest courses proves that it has the potential to attract the lucrative overseas golf tourism market. The upgraded course, with the recently upgraded new greens growing in nicely, is great, and East London and the surrounding area, especially the magnificent coast line, is perhaps the country’s best kept holiday secret.

However for all its potential to bring in tourism dollars, the club cannot go it alone, as it lacks the advertising and marketing budget to compete against the growing number of hotel and estate courses. In fact ELGC, as with many of its counterparts around the country, is not flush with cash, and needs to up its rounds from the late 30000s to the mid-40000s, and only visitors can achieve this.

That situation may soon change. At the recent SA Golf Summit, held at Fancourt Hotel and Country Club in George from 20 to 22 April, South African Tourism (SATour) committed to making golf tourism a national priority. Golf will be a major partner in SATour’s campaign to market the country abroad pre the 2010 Fifa World Cup.

The initial aim is to develop a “Play SA” brand. The success of branding the country as a golf venue first, rather than each course going it alone, will follow the pattern of the now outstandingly successful Australian wine industry. In the early 70s Aussie wine was joked about as “Château chunda” and “Peppermint Perle”, cheap giddy soup to be consumed when beer money was low. That changed when the industry got together under the Australian flag and poured country first, then region and finally estate, with wine makers upgrading the product to match the marketing promise. The SA wine industry adopted the same strategy in the 90s, with similar success. Now it is golf’s turn, and the biggest winners will be the great “town” courses in the Platinum and Gold ranking, such as Humewood, George, Glendower, all the Royals, Mowbray, Nelspruit, Clovelly and a host of others. Advertising budget, or the lack of it, will no longer be a handicap.

There is much to done before tourists get onto the booking sheets of the less glamorous venues. Firstly golf as an industry needs to answer government’s call to get its act together and speak with one voice. At the first two Summits in 2006 and 2007, SATour demanded that golf form a unified body to represent primarily the business interests of the game, of which tourism and development were the major arms. Despite spirited efforts from many of the delegates who volunteered to serve on steering commitees, the quest for “one voice” never moved beyond talk.

This year could see a change. Many delegates pledged both financial and time support to make a unified body a reality, and the first meetings are set for June.  The goal is to raise R10 million which will cover the cost of establishing, staffing and running a SA Golf Business office for three years, whose task will be to work with government to build the business of golf. It’s a long term marketing offensive, but it does give ELGC, and others like it, hope for the future.

Ted Keenan