Country’s first centre is already the company’s most successful
Centennial, Colorado (March 14, 2012)…GolfTEC, the world leader in golf improvement, is enlarging the size of its world with plans for significant growth in Canada.
GolfTEC Canada presently operates two GolfTEC Improvement Centres, both in Vancouver. According to James W. Suttie, chairman of the franchise, there could be as many as eight centres operational by the end of this year.
“Three of the centres will open in the next month,” Suttie reports. “By the end of the year we expect to have three in Vancouver, two in Calgary, two in Toronto, and one in Edmonton. And there may be more. We are very interested in Quebec and looking for additional franchise opportunities.
“Our plan is for as many as 40 centres to be open by the end of 2018.”
One of the new locations will be a corporate centre, opening in Mississauga near Toronto Pearson airport. Scheduled to open in April, right after The Masters, this flagship centre will cover 3,800 square feet-nearly twice as large as other GolfTEC centres. It will feature five hitting bays, a golf-fitness centre, and a full club-building shop.
“We have been very successful helping clients realize that their equipment could be better,” says Suttie, who formerly ran successful software companies. “We sell a higher percentage of equipment than many centres in the U.S.”
The original GolfTEC Canada location, in North Vancouver, originally opened in 2008 under the name “The Green Room.” It reopened as a GolfTEC Improvement Centre in December 2010. In 2011, its first year under the company’s umbrella, that same location was the corporate leader in revenue and the first centre to record more than $1 million in sales in a single year.
“There’s a great golf tradition in Canada,” says Suttie. “We have the oldest golf club in North America, the Royal Montreal Golf Club. We have the third oldest Open championship after the British and U.S. Opens. In fact, the 1955 Canadian Open was Arnold Palmer’s first professional victory. All the big names used to play in our Open. But our star has dimmed on golf’s world stage. We want to help revive it.”
“We want to improve the capability of all Canadian golfers, from weekend amateurs to Tour pros. Our percentage of participation in golf is twice that of the U.S. but we have relatively few top professionals or elite players. We need to do a better job. Hockey is in the soul and spirit of Canada. Golf is too, but only when we have a major success, such as after Mike Weir won The Masters in 2003.”
Says Suttie, “This is a real opportunity for GolfTEC and a chance to raise the level of the game in Canada.”
For further information access the GolfTEC web site at www.GolfTEC.com or call (303) 779-9900.
About GolfTEC
The undisputed leader in golf improvement, GolfTEC gives more than 25% of all golf lessons in the U.S. annually and has a 95% success rate among its students. The 500 GolfTEC Personal Certified Coaches at 150 Improvement Centres nationwide have given more than 3.3 million lessons since 1995. All lessons are based on the company’s “Five Factors”: Fact-Based Diagnosis, Sequential Lessons, Video-Based Practice, Advanced Retention Tools, and Precision-Matched Clubs. GolfTEC Improvement Centres can be found in almost all major U.S. cities, Mexico, and Canada, with new centres opening this year in Japan and Korea.
Contact:
Karen Moraghan
Hunter Public Relations
kmoraghan@hunter-pr.com or (908) 876-5100
