GOLFNOW SERVICES CREATES CHEF ADVISORY BOARD
Experts to Share Knowledge and Insight with GolfNow Partner Golf Courses to Help with Food-and-Beverage Operations.
Golf course operators can benefit from expert food-and-beverage advice to please their hungry golfers with the formation of the new GolfNow Chef Advisory Board. The new program recognizes the growing importance of food-and-beverage as a service upgrade for courses and a key to stronger profit performance.
With product cycles in casual dining now moving at a faster pace than ever before, trends in this niche have been appearing more quickly, making a notable impact on consumer tastes and the overall market. Golf management teams will find it beneficial to learn quickly about new menu items or styles of presentation that are making a hit in grill rooms and taverns across the country.
Gathering and sharing best-practice insights and information is a priority for GolfNow. “It became increasingly clear that our partner golf courses using our Ride service could utilize further expertise in this area,” said Mike Hendrix, vice president of GolfNow Business Services, referring to the dining end of golf operations. The Ride component of GolfNow serves a growing legion of course managers by lowering procurement costs in several areas, including food supplies.
“We’ve done a good job, through Ride, of helping course partners save money on their food purchases,” he notes. “But it was apparent we could do more to support and assist them by gathering the insights of accomplished chefs who could share ideas on menu construction, food preparation, seasonal specialties and the like.”
Along with the formation of the Chef Advisory Board, GolfNow also announced Joe Martin as its inaugural member. Martin is the executive chef at The Country Club at Castle Pines, located in Castle Rock, Colo. He trained at the California Culinary Academy and comes to his new GolfNow role with two decades of experience, pleasing golfers in both the grill rooms and the formal dining rooms of prestigious clubs.
“With the club industry moving toward a more casual atmosphere, we have an amazing opportunity as culinary professionals to expand our offerings and creative parameters,” Martin said. “Through GolfNow’s Chef Advisory Board, we will be able to create a vast network of professionals who will communicate wins and losses in our attempts to please our memberships. As we move forward with this program, it will be a powerful tool for all culinarians not only trying to expand their knowledge, but also to provide a place to share products and ideas that will improve the overall club dining experience.”
Additional invitations to the board will be extended to professionals across the food-and-beverage spectrum. “We’re looking for chefs who have succeeded and innovated throughout the casual dining niche, especially within golf,” says Hendrix. “For example, we’ll seek out great ideas for preparing and serving food for at-the-turn.”
Board members will pitch in with a certain number of original articles yearly for distribution via multiple websites under the GolfNow and NBC Sports umbrellas. Each of these would include one or more recipes appropriate to the menus of public golf courses. The terms of board membership include having the chefs available to assist the GolfNow team at several industry shows and conferences throughout the calendar year. Advisors also will share insight with their followers via social media platforms.
Beyond content that covers meals and snacks, the GolfNow Chef Advisory Board also will be a resource on trends in bar operations. As part of this program’s mission, advisors and GolfNow personnel will keep a lookout for new wrinkles and trends in cocktails, wine selections and the ever-changing beer market.
According to Hendrix, information and creativity from leading food pros has a particular potency in public golf, with more than 2,000 public golf facilities in the U.S. not employing a chef with culinary training. “That’s one of many reasons why we will share what we learn across the industry, not just with our GolfNow partner courses or Ride participants,” he said. “A rising tide lifts all boats, is what it’s all about.”
About GolfNow
GolfNow is an innovative technology company specializing in golf-related products and services that is creating frictionless ways for golfers and golf courses to better connect. GolfNow operates the largest online tee-time marketplace in the world, offering more than 3.5 million registered golfers a variety of ways to stay connected to their favorite courses and the ability to easily book tee times online and via mobile devices any time of day. With offices in Orlando, Fla., and Belfast, Northern Ireland, GolfNow also provides technology, support and marketing services to nearly 8,000 golf courses in 26 countries around the world. GolfNow is included in the suite of digital businesses owned by NBC Sports and managed by Golf Channel, which is available to more than 500 million viewers worldwide. For more information, go to GolfNow Business.
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Media Contact:
Dan Higgins
Golf Channel Communications
Dan.Higgins@GolfChannel.com
407-355-4018
