EPISODE 71 Playbook for Golf’s Future

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
In a world where fairways meet the airwaves, where Bertie's
and Banker collide. Welcome to the show that takes you
beyond the clubhouse and onto the green. There's balls and tees,
your passport to the golfing universe, where every swing tells
the story and every part has its punchline. Get ready

(00:26):
to step onto the large screens and dive into the
world of givens, drives and delightful.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Better ladies and gentlemen. Welcomes to Bosanties once again we
have the big men today and Dedrick, how are.

Speaker 3 (00:49):
You very well? Seople, Thanks for having me on. It's
a pleasure to be here.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
Hi, Diddric, I know that you've just assumed the position
of CEO for Can you please tell us a bit
more about it and yourself with the PGA.

Speaker 3 (01:06):
Sure, maybe I'll start with the PGA, because that's a
little bit closer to my heart. The PGA is a
nonprofit organization and we essentially look after the professionals that
work within the golf industry. So many of our members.
We've got about seven hundred and twenty full active members
with the association, and many of them work in all

(01:27):
sectors of the industry, other being mainly coaching, you know,
coaching people to play golf. Management, so either managers or
golf directors at golf clubs that manage these things. And
then there also a bunch of other sort of areas
that the guards go into and ladies go into, so
they either do rules or there's travel. A lot of

(01:48):
them do social media. So it's a vast, vast different
sort of job description that our members has. And we're
we're also a non gender association, so mail and email
we look after both of those. And you know, our
members are very successful at what they do and they
may be turning to me. I'm forty five years old.

(02:10):
I come from a little town used to be a town,
but it's a kind of a city now in Jobur
called Kempton Park and it's probably more commonly known for
Ernie Els, which is one of our two golfers legends
of the game on the tour, and he's also an
honorary member of the PGA of South Africa. So I

(02:34):
come from there. I joined the PJA slightly different to
quite a lot of people. A lot of people either
had a great amateur career and they moved into sort
of the teaching area and joined the PGA. But there's
also professional golfers that played on tour that joined the
program a little later to be able to move into
the industry and then work with people to enjoy the

(02:57):
game of health. I mean I started my dad worked
it in a stainless steel company and he just made
golf clubs out of steel rods and flat part for me,
and I had ping pong balls in a back garden
that I just used to hit so I don't break
any windows of the house. And from there on in
my mom saw a program that I did which was

(03:17):
a provider of education of the PGA. I started there,
did my three year course through them, went through the
practical stuff, and then I was able to qualify. So
I've been a member of the PGA now for twenty
odd years and I've on a class what they would
call a Class Advanced Fellow PGA Member, which just starts

(03:40):
at Class A and it goes double A, Triple A
Fellow Advanced Fellow, and then it goes to your Master Professional,
which is the most recognized one that we have. So
that's a little bit about me.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
Wow. Yeah, he assume that you've been dead with the
pgo in the perfect fertinity. But I mean, golf is
evolving faster than ever, so if you're not paying attention,
you might get left behind. You know, what, what was
there that PGA is doing right now that every golfer,

(04:16):
then industry players and needs to know.

Speaker 3 (04:20):
Well, we work with quite a lot of stakeholders with
in South Africa. There's a there's a vast sort of
a packet of our stakeholders in South Africa that we
work with too, you know, from the Sunshine Tour to
the Club Managers Association to Golf or s A which
looks after the amateur body. So our members work with
pretty much all of those in terms of what they

(04:44):
do for them. So a lot of our members coach
professional golfers so that they play better on tour. A
lot of our people, our members, coach amateur golfers. And
what we really do in terms of the PGA is
we are there to grow the game of golf through
our members. And you know, it's a funny thing how

(05:05):
these things work is that if you play better golf,
you're going to play more golf, You're going to enjoy
your golf more. And the idea behind that is that
our members do that and then grow the game of golf,
where those beginners that join into sort of the golfing
fraternity then join a golf club and then make the
golf community a lot stronger. So that's pretty much what

(05:29):
our members do and what we do from our side.
But we work also globally with what we call the
PJA World Alliance, which is the pg of America, Great
Britain and Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand. Just to knowme
a few but yeah, as you say, I mean, since
COVID golf is just boomed and it changes every single

(05:50):
day from launch monitors to technology, it's just incredibly how
fast it's moving at this point, and our members are
at the forefront of that.

Speaker 2 (06:00):
Yeah, I mean you're speaking more about the changes in golf,
you know. I mean we can clearly see all these
big changes coming to the game, the new formats, new stars,
new ways of how people can play. Can you give
us an inside or scoop on what's necked for the

(06:21):
golf in your view?

Speaker 3 (06:23):
Look, we're not so close in terms of what happens
on the professional tours, so so as we if I
can give you a little bit of a step a
little bit back. You know, there's two sort of sections.
You have what we call the Tour Player Section, which
is used to be part of the PGA, and then
in the mid eighties the two bodies split, so you

(06:44):
had what they call the Tour Player Division and then
you had the Club Pro division, which is two different
sections the Tour Player divisions now now known as the
Sunshine Tour, and the Sunshine Tour looks after the professional
golfers and what they do within their area. Our aim
on the other side, from a club pro perspective, is

(07:06):
we look after the game at golf clubs, at golf
facilities and grow the game through that, so through kind
of amateur golfers and through the professionals. But if you're
talking about sort of more the live and the PGA
Tour sort of roles and what's currently happening there, I
think there, I think it's an interesting time for golf.

(07:26):
You know, golf. Golf is a in a space where
at least people are talking about the sport, and we
love that because that's the way it should be. But
I think at the end of the day, the right
thing will happen because people want to see the best
players played together. So I can't give you the end
game because I absolutely do not know what the end

(07:48):
game is. We look after we look after our members
and what they do with industry within South Africa to
grow the game of golf, and we hope that, you know,
we hope that they so that out from a professional
golf perspective at the top level.

Speaker 2 (08:05):
Not fantastic. I mean, you know, some says equipment is
making the game too easy. Ata says it's helping to
grow the sport. Where do you stand on this debate?
And could use could we see any rule changes around
clubs golf balls in the future.

Speaker 3 (08:25):
Yeah, I think currently there's not too many. Too much
talk about changing rules and that they used to talk
to roll back the ball a little bit, but that's
just in the beginning stages and we're not sure where
that's going to go. But I think if you talk
about equipment equipment, I mean, as you said earlier on,
it's moving fast and an equipment equipments they essentially to

(08:46):
try and make the game of golf easier for people,
and I think they've done it essentially over the past
ten fifteen years. They've done it and We've seen a
lot of people get into golf. It is unfortunately an
expensive hobby to start playing. But as soon as you
have the equipment, the equipment last you a lifetime. So

(09:09):
you know, equipment is changing, but it's day to make
you play play golf and make it easier for you.
So I don't think there's any rule changes really on
the rise and very soon, apart from just maybe the
roll back of the golf wort.

Speaker 2 (09:23):
I mean, you know, you you spoke a little bit
more about the PGA, but you know a lot of
people don't really realize just how how much the PGA
is doing to shape the future of sports, particularly maybe
let's say in South Africa. So what's one thing that

(09:43):
is happening behind the scene that is going to change
the golf as we know it from the PGA perspective?

Speaker 3 (09:53):
If I tell you, I might have to kill your supports.
Unfortunately secret I mean, I mean, as I said earlier on,
it's there's no secrets to it. I mean we we
as the p GA, we just offer our members and education.
So we we do continue to education with our members
so they stay up to date with the latest and

(10:14):
greatest teaching techniques. You know, from a fitness perspective, our
people have to look after their bodies to be able
to play golf. Nutrition. And then also you know, from
a from a business perspective, we give our members the
tools to be able to run golf clubs uh successfully.

(10:35):
You know, there's there's unfortunately fortunately and unfortunately I think
golf clubs have got a committee sometimes in place, but
the experts within those industries is the club managers and
the golf directors, the retail guys on the floor that
are at the forefront, and they're there every single day.

(10:56):
And I think, you know, the changes come at some
stage where it would be better to just work together
better from a committee's perspective, with the management at golf
clubs to make it successful. And and and that's what
our members does. I mean, our members are trained within
those areas and they are experts within those areas, and

(11:18):
we look forward to expanding that within the golfing market
so that our members show what they can do in
terms of you know, running facilities, retail facilities, et cetera,
et cetera.

Speaker 2 (11:29):
I mean, I mean you you look at what you
speak up art mostly of the work that the PGA
is doing. And I mean as you look at the
the play today of golf is changing. You know, players
are driving longer, play, they are playing smarter, and they

(11:50):
they are training as our clients as well. So so
how has that strategy changed in the last decade? And
then what's next for modern golfers because you're looking at
the training side of it, but to train these professionals

(12:11):
putting together the whole logistics of very chain of golf.

Speaker 3 (12:18):
Yeah, I mean, as you rightfully said this, I mean
people specifically golfers. And if you look at two level golfers,
and I think at any sport, I think everything, all
of those people are just becoming stronger, They're becoming taller,
you know, they just swinging the club faster. So you know,
I think as good as that is, you know, I'm

(12:40):
a bit of a traditionalist, so I enjoy the you know,
the long eating is nice to look at sometimes, but
I enjoy people actually playing the golf course. From a
strategic perspective, I don't think you're going to stop that
in terms of people hitting the ball further, but there
is going to be a limit some point. You know,

(13:00):
you can only hit the ball so far, So you know,
in terms of that sort of thing. From a fitness perspective,
technology perspective. You know, I think it's just going to
continue going, but I think it's going to be to
the good of the game because it's got to keep
the game interesting for people.

Speaker 2 (13:21):
I mean, you know, did you see people playing now
we have a lot of more indoor golf, and we
have the traditional outdoor golf. But you know, if someone
isn't really following golf closely right now, what's the one
may achieved that they're going to recret missing out in

(13:43):
the next few years.

Speaker 3 (13:46):
I mean, you can see it happening in America seper right.
It's you know, with the start of this tg L movement,
which they have the indoor facility with teams playing against
each other, and as you rightfully say, I mean, indoor
golf is becoming one of the most popular pastimes for
golfers globally. So you know from recent studies that's done

(14:10):
globally what they call of course golfer. So these are
either people doing you know, playing on a simulator, doing
putt putt, just hitting balls on a driving range that's
not physically playing on a golf course. That number is
actually exceeding the number of players that's playing on a
golf course. So you can see there's there's huge demand

(14:33):
for golf. But I think from a time perspective, a
lot of people are choosing shorter versions of golf and
also potentially less intimidating versions of golf to be able
to get into golf. But for us, I mean to
be honest with you, anybody that plays any version of
golf for us is amazing.

Speaker 2 (14:54):
You know.

Speaker 3 (14:55):
Yeah, it's good for everybody. So you know, we would
love them to join a golf club and join the
community of golf. But you know, if they not as
confident yet, I think they must make a time go
down to the local PDA professional and just go and
maybe spend some time with them so that they can
show them that it's not as intimidating as they think

(15:17):
it is.

Speaker 2 (15:19):
Okay, Didrick, Now I would like to put you on
a sport right, What's what? What's one golf rule that
you think, oh, maybe have had players secretly wish that
it would disappear, but probably it will never disappear.

Speaker 3 (15:39):
Yeah, I mean, yeah, you're oputting me on the spot
because I've got to be pretty diplomatic about this simple
but I've always I've always thought, you know, and and
it's something that I believe in from my side, you know,
but we also cu custodians of what happens. But ultimately
we're trying to make the game easier for people. So

(15:59):
for me, the one rule that really doesn't make sense,
and it's a bit tongue in cheek for me, but
it's the it's the you know, the ball in the
divid rule. You know that you if you hit the
ball in the middle of the fairway and you land
in the divot, that you're not allowed to drop out
of that divot. So for me, it's not necessarily I
understand that the rules of golf, you know from the

(16:19):
RNA is you know, you play the ball as you
find it, yeah, and as it lies one hundred percent.
But if you're looking to grow the game of golf,
you know, if somebody is a twenty four handicapper and
they've you know, they've hit their best drive in five
rounds and they hit it for the first time in
a fair way and they get there and it's in

(16:40):
a divot, yeah, I just worry that it might demotivate
that person. But that's that's my opinion. You know, I
don't make those rules, so that is one that I
would potentially I could potentially look at.

Speaker 2 (16:52):
But yeah, no, nice one, nice one. I mean, so
golf is growing in your my case, you know, Asia,
the rest of Africa, especially a any environments as well.
Where do you see the biggest opportunities for the game
in the next decades?

Speaker 3 (17:12):
Yeah, you say markets. I mean there's there's obviously geographical
markets that it moves into. But we were very passionate
about I mean, we've got the rights of of the
of the PGA within Africa, so we do a lot
of work through the RNA and through our members where
we move into Africa and we do what they call

(17:35):
the African High Performance Project, which is moving into Africa
through our members and they grow the game with some
of the players within Kenya and Zimbabwe, et cetera, et cetera.
But those are geographical areas. But what we also, what
we're also quite passionate about, is just our membership base.
So I set to you early on we are non

(17:55):
gender membership base and you know our ladies and ladies
golf within South Africa is also a big market. So
so I see I see a lot of that happening.
And also, you know, gender and race. We also see
quite a lot of black, Indian and colored people moving
into the space of golf, which is just amazing. I mean,

(18:17):
wherever we can grow the game of golf, we happy,
happy to do it. But yeah, so from a geographical perspective,
I think Africa is a big one. But also from
a demographical perspective, I think the you know ladies, colored
Indian men, color, you know that sort of that sort
of markets are growing definitely.

Speaker 2 (18:39):
I mean, just to put you on this maybe just
before we take a little bit of praying. So with
all these changes that were discussing and happening around, and
there's both broadcasting is also changing. For example, what we
have right now in comparison to the tra traditional brodcast,

(19:01):
And how does the PGA pland to tap exciting, educational
to the next generations of fans. Where are people hearing
it on digital media, people being able to see it
on social media and all of all those environments.

Speaker 3 (19:22):
No, look, don't we don't really have a big presence
within the TV space. I think that's more Sunshine tour space.
They obviously run tournaments we really haven't explored, and many things.
We obviously do social media, which we try and promote
our members, but we are going to do a little
bit more. You know, these sort of platforms that you

(19:43):
guys do seeple from a podcasting perspective, we know how
powerful these things are and it also it also tells
people a little bit more about the background of what
the PJ is, how they play their role within the industry.
But yeah, I mean, I think YouTube, social media, podcasting,
that sort of thing I think is going to be important.

(20:03):
We see how big youtub has become from a golfing perspective,
and we hope we can contribute. Yeah, but as I
said earlier on, I've got a face for radio, so
maybe it's nothing new.

Speaker 2 (20:16):
No no, no, no, no, no, no, no problem. Can you
just take maybe two minutes break so that you can
some water?

Speaker 3 (20:24):
Perfect?

Speaker 2 (20:25):
Okay, thank you.

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Speaker 2 (21:28):
Welcome back again for the lovers of golf. We hear
talking with District, the new CEO of PGA, talking about
golf realizing and lending a little bit more about the
PGA today, Ditric, I mean, I see you've got a
Tattleis back behind you. You really really listen to be

(21:49):
someone who has a relationship with the Taitleist, do you, well?

Speaker 3 (21:54):
The PGA is a relationship with Titleist and what we
call a kushnet, which is start Joy and they they
the patron of our Pathway to Membership program and what
that is is there's sort of two ways to get
into the PGA as a member and to study the

(22:15):
PJ program. So you can either do as I said,
two pathways. The one is what we call an associate pathway,
and the associate pathway is you have to find a
job within the industry. You've got to have a handicap
less than four, you have to go some through some
sort of safeguarding process which which just allows us to

(22:37):
make sure that you don't have a criminal record, you know,
you know, the normal safety things, and then you are
able to join the PJA as an associate. So you
do that as a full time employee at a club
and then on a yearly basis that they go to
a residential where they then study for the week and
then they go back to the workplace and they work

(22:58):
within the industry. Now, the other partway is what they
what we call a provider pathway, which is what I did.
You we have seven providers throughout the country that that
give our education and then there's students that join those providers.
They stay amateurs so they can play, but they study
full time, full time. They don't work within the industry.

(23:19):
So they do their studies for the three years and
then after that they would then join the PGAs as
a member, and then they would start their process. They
do one thousand hours at a golf club and then
they would either do a teaching ability test and a
playing ability test, and then they would become a member.
So sorry I diverted a little bit there, but but

(23:41):
your titleist is our patron of that program, which which
allows us to do the good work we do. So
we're very thankful for their for their support in that.

Speaker 2 (23:51):
I mean, you know, you sound like someone who's very,
very busy. How often do you play golf?

Speaker 3 (23:59):
I think you you play more golf than what I do.
I mean, I come from a I come from a
management background, so I for the last eighteen or twenty years,
I've worked either in a golf club. So I started
as a person that just you know, cleaned golf carts,
you know, that sort of thing, and then I work
myself up into the retail space at a golf club,

(24:23):
then into golf directorship, and then into a general manager position,
which I had just before I came to the PGA.
So my background is management. So yes, I've been busy,
but you know, if you love what you do, you
don't get busy. I mean it's we're passionate about what
we do. So from a playing perspective, if I play

(24:47):
twice a month, that's maybe a lot. So a lot
of people think we work within the industry and we
out on the golf course every day because I head
officers yet Royal Johannesburg, which is a lovely facility. They
think we go out there and play golf every every
single day at lunch hour. Player I olls, but it's
totally the opposite. There's so much to do and if

(25:07):
we get the chance, we love it, but we unfortunately
don't get the chance too often to do that.

Speaker 2 (25:14):
No, thank you. I mean you know there's a c
you you also have a classroom, right, and then there's
a say that tool here as an h us when
you get the lessons where people are saying that golf
is a mental game. So so what's one of of
aspect player development? Is that going to separate future champions

(25:38):
to to the rest based on the mental of the game.

Speaker 3 (25:43):
Yeah, I mean mental. The mental side of the game
has also taken a huge leap forward as much as
the technology side has done. So there's there's lots of
very good psychologists that work with with players out there,
and it's a huge part of golf because I mean
I've always set up I played many sports within my life,
which is which is mainly you know, a lot of

(26:04):
sports involved moving moving balls. So it's other rugby that
the ball moves, or cricket that the ball comes to you,
or tennis that the ball moves. But golf is such
a psychological sport because the ball is sitting stationary on
the on the ground and you as the person, have
to try and move it. So there's all these thoughts

(26:24):
that run through your head. You know, don't miss it
right in the water, don't eat it left out of bounds,
or don't duff it. But from a mental perspective, I personally,
I am quite bad with the mental side. So that's
why I never turned professional to go and play on tour.
I'm a social golfer. I really love going out and
playing golf with people and enjoy the day with them

(26:46):
and try and make them play better. But yeah, from
a psychological perspective, there's so much happening within that space
and you've got to be so good at it. If
you want to play at the at the highest level,
you know you've you've got to shut or all the
noise that goes goes in around you and what people
say and and what you think. But it's all about process.

(27:09):
You know, if you've just got a good process, a
good pre shot routine, you're always going to be successful
if you do that. So if you want to play
high level, I definitely suggest that you go and go
and search for somebody that that can help you with that,
because it does definitely help.

Speaker 2 (27:26):
I mean, did you as you elaborate that you've been
around the golfing environment for at least two decades and
then you just assume that one of the big roles
in in the golfing fertinity. I mean not to go
into details to end for for for us as the

(27:49):
amateur golfers, social golferst and probably even from the people
who are coming into your program. What are the things
just a few things, uh, maybe we need to look
out look out for from your direction and then also
from the this this position that you you would probably
like to see that can even attract young young people,

(28:13):
young players and even the players of color and orda. Look.

Speaker 3 (28:19):
I mean, we've we've done lots of good work also
with the previous CEO that was in place. There's been
a lot of work done in terms of you know,
diversity and inclusion that we have within the industry. So
there's our base of ladies, our base of races either
being black colored India, and that base is definitely grown

(28:43):
and there's a lot of work that goes into it
from us. We we as I said earlier on, we
were very inclusive. So we want people to join the program.
But unfortunately, it's like any program that you have to
have some sort of criteria to allow people into the
into that that space. You know, the PGA worldwide, there's

(29:04):
only sixty thousand PGA members. If you look at it,
that's such a small it's such a small niche membership
base around the world that really do touch so much
in terms of a global fraternity. I mean so so,
I think from our side, we just want to make

(29:24):
sure that we grow the game of golf through our members.
We support our members, and we would love to get
more and more young people to join the PGA to
experience what I've experienced from the game. I mean, the
game has given me so much, not just from a
you know, from a growth perspective, but also just from

(29:45):
a relationship perspective. You know, it's such a wonderful game.
And you know, I think if I talk to people
that want to do the PGA membership, of course they
must definitely look look for us. But I think if
you're looking just from an amateur side that wants to
play better golf or understand better golf, I mean, there's
no there's no better person to go and speak to

(30:07):
other than a PGA professional at a golf club or
a golf facility. These guys and ladies are so passionate
about what they do and hopefully we can wrap that
off onto the younger generation or just the amateurs that's
out there to be able just to play better golf
and enjoy it more, because that's ultimately what we want
to is get people to enjoy it.

Speaker 2 (30:27):
Yeah, I mean you know that you when when we
see a look at golf and how people really got
introduced into into into the golfing environment. Sometimes people come
to golf not really by the PGA program. So I
have friends who play golf, they will invite me and

(30:47):
someone and then the next time I invite a friend
of mine. So but and then now I am I'm
not a professional coach or a professional from a PGA.
But I've introduced myself my friend to golf. But how
important are the rules of golf in that part? Because

(31:08):
I mean, if I've been introduced by someone, then I
introduced another person, I might have a lot of pending
on the rules of golf. But how important is it
are the rules of golf for for for amateurs, especially
the ones who are introducing their friends, who are introducing
them and their families who won't necessarily go through the

(31:33):
pg A coaching system.

Speaker 3 (31:40):
Yeah, I mean the rules are very important. I'm not
sure if you're talking about the rules of golf as in,
you know, from the r n A side, or if
you're talking more from an etiquete perspective, but both are
equally important.

Speaker 2 (31:53):
Yeah, so no, I was just saying about the rules
from Irene for for example. Is there a role that
the PGA is playing to really get the people who
just that team to play golf to understand the rules
and the ety kids.

Speaker 3 (32:11):
Yeah, definitely. I mean the PJ is not the custodian
of the rules of golf, so we just play our
part to educate people of the rules of golf. I mean,
golf is the custodian of it in South Africa and
the RNA obviously support them. But I mean, the rules
of golf is incredibly important. I mean, you've got to

(32:31):
have a set of rules that you play any sport by.
I think if you if you go out with your
friend on a Friday afternoon and you're just having playing
a nine holes, I think you can be a little
bit more lenient on the rules. But unfortunately, when you
do play in club competitions or competitions with your friends,

(32:55):
or competitions in a golf day, et cetera. Of golf
is incredibly important because unfortunately, golf is a you've you've
you've got to you've you've got to kind of look
after yourself. You you manage yourself when you're out there.
There's no rules official that walk along with you every
single time you play. So you've got to be honest
and and and I mean that's the beauty about golf.

(33:18):
The beauty about golf I've always said is, you know,
teaches you so much more than just golf. That teaches
you to be punctual, that teaches you to be respectful,
you know, honest, there's there's so many values that you
get from golf that you don't get from any other sport.
And that's why I love golf, not necessarily about golf,

(33:40):
but because all the piper peripheral stuff that come with it.

Speaker 2 (33:43):
No, no thank you for for that, did you? So?
I just want to get a little bit more controversial question,
just to get the CEO insider. How does coli success
of the game balance with its intracrity? Is there ever
a conflict between tradition and business growth around golf? You know?

Speaker 3 (34:11):
I mean if there weren't sponsors and partners within golf,
there wouldn't be golf. I mean there's a lot of
people that play, you thought, either being with us and
our partners that plays a massive role in what we
do to travel around the country to support our members,
to be able to get the message out and grow
the game of golf, but also to all the other

(34:33):
bodies within South Africa. So corporate South Africa is usually important.
But it's you know, it's like anything, you've just got
to be when you have those partners, you've got to
treat them with respect because a lot of them have
you know, are also passionate about golf. I mean there's
so many people that are passionate with about golf within
the golf in fraternity that love just supporting either us

(34:58):
or any other of the the bodies within South Africa.
So you know, it's I think it's crucial. It's just
the way you manage it within your business as an entity.

Speaker 2 (35:10):
You know, as I said, the tradition and the controversial
around this, but the you know, with my perceptions. So
what I've realized is the traditionally if we look at
the corporates that have a tradition of golf, so oftentimes

(35:31):
now based on the empowerment women are literally in big
corporates holding key positions. For example, the marketing. You find
that the marketing executive in a particular company doesn't necessarily
play golf. When they look at the golf, they see

(35:54):
golf as an environment where people who play golf are
reach so they don't have to put their CSI projects
around golf. But when you look at a lot of
social golfers, they play golf for social cohesion, so they
raise money to put that part. So in your perspective,

(36:16):
what is it that you think we need to do
to really educate the people to get golf closer to
the people I mean from our side, there's a media
that is driving the growth of the game. There's only
enough that you can do. But in your perspective, what
do you think we should probably do to really engage

(36:38):
the people who might not necessarily know anything about golf,
but they will be sitting on those budgets to say way,
I mean, they support different types of sports, they support education,
but when it comes to their view around golf, they say, well,
why should we support the golf because people who are

(36:58):
playing golf already have money, but they don't really see
the way that the golfers are doing behind it. Social
golfast golf itself where they go there, do the charity
work and then contribute for for social coersion.

Speaker 3 (37:16):
I mean, social careasion is obviously very important, and I
think you know, it's not for us to tell corporates
where they need to spend their money. But you know,
if I the only thing that I can say to
corporates is, you know, if you if you want to
if you want to get people to understand golf, you've
actually got to come and play the game before you

(37:36):
actually have to sort of have an opinion about it,
because it really is such a great game. Everybody loves it.
It It sounds intimidating and it looks like it's rich
people that that that play the sport, but it's essentially
it's not. I mean, there's such a wide variety of
golf facilities within South Africa that can cater to anybody

(37:59):
within any range of economic sphere. So so for me,
you know, it's always difficult to get corporates to come
together to some sort of main cause, but I think
a lot of them also have their own interests. But
the only thing that I can say to corporate South
Africa is that you know, if you want to if

(38:21):
you want to spend an afternoon out with your staff
and the office, there's no better way just to bring
them down to a golf course. Search and look for
the nearest PJA professional close to you and let them
do a clinic for whomever is there. You know, if
it's a clinic for ten people or fifteen people, put
them down, tell them a little bit about golf, the rules.

(38:43):
It's not as intimidating as people think, but yeah, it
is challenging. I think we're also in a challenging economic
environment and people are looking at spending their money correctly.
According to what they need to spend it to. So
you know, they also look at a different sort of
return on investments. But you know, sometimes the return on

(39:04):
investments also just creating something at us, at a place
for people. You know, the golf club is a community
and if you can help that community to thrive, it
also helps your brand at the end of the.

Speaker 2 (39:18):
Day, No, thank you for that, did you sow? I mean,
we come into our confusion over show. So, but I
just want to get this. As a CEO of the PGA,
you play a major role in shaping Gold's future. What
legacy do you hope to leave behind in the game.

Speaker 3 (39:42):
Yeah, I mean, you know, legacy is such a big word.
I'm not I'm not really you know, I'm not really
into those leaving legacies behind. I think I think if
you do what you need to do, you leave a
footprint behind for somebody else to take over and move on.
I don't think there's a specifically legacy that I'm searching
to do. I mean, we as the PGA and the

(40:04):
body of professionals within South Africa, we're just looking to
grow the game of golf and let people enjoy the
game of golf. So I think if we can do
that as a as an association and I can be
a little bit of a part of that, I mean,
that would be that would be great. So I don't
I'm not begging to leaving legacies behind. It's you know,

(40:25):
I know a lot of people want to do that,
but it's not something I personally want to do. If
it comes with a territory after I've left, that's great,
but it's not something that I'm that I'm striving towards.
I'm striving towards making our members understand that we grow
the game of golf through you know, getting the amateurs
to play better golf, them joining golf clubs, and then

(40:48):
letting the whole community thrive. I mean, that's, at the
end of the day, what we want. So I don't
know if that answered your question, but yeah, that's ultimately
what I think I would want to do when I
leave here one day.

Speaker 2 (41:01):
No, No, definitely, I mean thank you for for for
for that insight. I mean, I know that trick. You
are very busy individual to really make sure that our
game grows. So any advice would like to live with
our audience, the young players of the amateurs, beginners and

(41:26):
and those that wish to start playing the game and
all those things. So just the fun facts around around
the game.

Speaker 3 (41:34):
I mean, I don't I don't think there's too much
to say. I mean, all I'm going to say to
everybody that's to join. You know, if you want to
join a journey to become part of the golfing community
in terms of getting people to play better golf, so
become a PGA professional, You're more welcome to go to
our website and go and have a look at at
the educational side of things, which is www dot pg

(41:57):
A dot do z. And if you want to start
a journey on that direction, we would love to have
you pease engage with us. But then just from from
another side, from the beginning that doesn't play, even just
a normal amateur. I mean, I invite you go down
to your local golf facility, look for your nearest pg professional,

(42:18):
have a chat to them, get them to to take
you out and you know, get get get a little
bit of practice and see what golf is all about.
They will give you the best advice. And that's kind
of the only advice I can give people. I mean,
they have to go look for your nearest PG Professional
and just go and visit them.

Speaker 2 (42:38):
Didrick, thank you very much for your time. Ladies and
gentlemen you had today we had Dittri, who is the CEO,
the new c of PGA. This is the man who
is going to make sure and help us understand a
bit more of golf. Ditrick, thank you so much for
the work that you guys are doing at the PGA.

(43:00):
Please keep on doing their good wik so that we
can clode the game to get more amateurs, to get
more players and getting more members to quote the sport that.

Speaker 3 (43:09):
We love perfect. Thanks you, thanks for having us and
we hope to see you on the fairways at some point.

Speaker 2 (43:17):
No, no, definitely no, thank you very much.

Speaker 3 (43:20):
Thank you everyone, Thanks for having me.

Speaker 2 (43:22):
Thank you, Bye bye