Industry news
INAUGURAL OVERSEAS PGA
CONFERENCE DEEMED A BIG SUCCESS
T
he PGA Members’ International
Conference will return to Thailand
in 2018 following the success of the
inaugural event held at the stunning Laguna
Phuket resort last month.
The conference brought together PGA
Members and delegates from 14 countries
to one of Asia’s finest fully integrated resorts
and home of the first PGA branded facility in
Thailand.
One of the conference
highlights was a presentation
by Paul Gibbons of MST
Golf, who spoke about his
diversified career in golf.
PGA Master Professional Paul
Burley, senior vice president
and global head of golf
course management – IMG,
impressed delegates with his presentation on
golf club management in Asia.
Junior coaching was also a topic of debate
for Junior Golf Alliance’s Neil Plimmer
and Michael Dickie, head coach to China’s
Olympic golf team who also spoke about
training elite players in Asia.
Asian Tour winner and PGA Member Simon
Yates delivered an entertaining Trackman clinic
and was aided by Thomas Tontapanish, the
company’s representative in Southeast Asia.
The conference was also an opportunity
for PGA chief executive, Robert Maxfield,
to outline his vision and plans for the
Association.
He said: “I am delighted with the success of
our first ever PGA Members’ International
Conference hosted at Laguna Phuket,
Thailand. We had Members attending from
14 different countries which is a reflection of
our truly global membership base and was
incredibly valuable.
“It was also a fantastic
opportunity to listen to
those members, hear about
the fantastic work they
are carrying out within the
industry and understand
better how we, as their
Association, can stay relevant
to them into the future. We
very much look forward to providing further
opportunities like these for our Members to
support them in their careers.”
Paul Wilson, AVP/Group Golf Director of
Laguna Golf, added: “We are thrilled to have
gathered PGA Members across the globe at
one of the region’s finest resort destinations,
to experience the resort service and facilities
including our award-winning course and
recognised PGA-branded academy. We look
forward to hosting the conference again in
2018.”
Golf Industry Central I Summer 2017
11