National Golf Buyers Association members and its vendor partners gathered October 5th, 6th and 7th 2020 via Zoom and Microsoft Teams for the first ever virtual annual NGBA / Golf Headquarters Corporation Meeting and Order Writing Show.
“This has been a year that we in the golf business have never seen”, said Executive Director Lee Clapp.
“If we think back to late April, many members were in a negative cash flow position with no real sense of what the next months would look like. If open, members were operating under severe capacity restrictions. As member inquiries came in the N.G.B.A. teamworked to locate hand sanitizer, spray sanitizer and masks to help equip members to re-open. Then, seeing the golf business and our members rebound with many on track for a good year is incredible. It speaks volumes about member relationships with their customers and is truly the foundation of the group’s sustainability. The reports of new golfers added this year is a big surprise and a huge opportunity for the game and our businesses, for which we’re all very grateful.”
Bruce and Patti Brooke were welcomed as recent members and with the addition of Golf USA Iowa, N.G.B.A is now 41 members and 67 stores strong. Board of Directors Bill Ott of Illini Golf Headquarters in Peoria, IL and Joe Thomas of Golf Headquarters Boardman, OH were both re-elected.
NGBA Vendor Partners offer NGBA members specific programs as well as promotional show specials. This year the organization printed and shipped its massive 269-page 2020-2021 program book so the members could have it on hand all week as well as over the coming year. The NGBA Corporate team provided an overview for the members of the program book containing some new vendor partner additions and the member show specials packet.
The N.G.B.A.’s October 5th Marketing and Best Practices seminar workshop included an enlightening presentation by Tom Stine and John Krzynowek of Golf Datatech about COVID 19’s Impact on the Business of Golf that was very well received by the membership.
Zoom or Microsoft Teams vendor presentations to the membership resumed October 6th and 7th where over the 3 days and spanning as much as a 15 hour time zone difference between members and vendor partners partner brands presented overview of products and programs “live” with Q and A, with an opportunity to invite members to coordinate a follow up Zoom or Microsoft Teams one-on-one meeting.
An N.G.B.A. member only virtual roundtable wrap-up Wednesday October 7th enabled members to exchange opinions regarding the most impactful products and platforms they saw. The valuable feedback and shared ideas reinforced that members all benefit when leveraging one another’s talent and experience. With members stating incredibly positive remarks about the golf industry and were extremely enthusiastic about the upcoming year. The meeting closed with everyone commenting about looking forward to reconnecting at the annual NGBA / Golf Headquarters Corporation Meeting and Order Writing Show to be held at the Rockwall Hilton in Dallas October 4th, 5th and 6th 2021.
Contact:
Lee Clapp
Executive Director
N.G.B.A / Golf Headquarters
843-402-0142 ext. 202
lclapp@golfheadquarters.com
