BIGGA’s planned Festival Of Turf in July will have that ‘lovely outdoor feel’ that many in the industry have missed and will be an opportunity to get-together once again after a long 18-month gap, says Jim Croxton, CEO of BIGGA.

 

It was announced last week that the event, to be staged at the Warwickshire Event Centre, is to move from its original date in June to 21 and 22 July, subject to the Prime Minister’s roadmap of restrictions being lifted as planned.

 

“It is not intended as huge profit-making opportunity,” he told the Inside Agri-Turf podcast, “but we hope it will at least ‘wash its face’”. He added that the feedback from exhibitors and BIGGA members was that they were looking forward to attending as an early sign of a return to normality.

 

“We shall assess the success of the event afterwards and decide whether such an event should play a part in BIGGA’s future programme.”

 

Interestingly, Jim Croxton also said that he was aware of concerns from the industry that there were too many demo events taking place during the year “and that BIGGA might have a role in facilitating a more coordinated approach, which might mean going around the country”.

 

In a wide-ranging discussion, Jim Croxton also discussed with podcast host, Chris Biddle, a number of topical issues affecting the golf industry, and the impact on BIGGA members.

 

He thought that whilst a number of courses had signified closure, many were having a re-think about their future. Mental health issues for greens staff were also discussed, which he thought had not impacted on greens staff significantly but because awareness of the issue had rightly increased massively, that the whole industry had to act to prevent it becoming a real problem.

 

A main concern was that when restrictions were lifted, there would be a huge demand for playing time which BIGGA had calculated as meaning an extra two hours a day resulting in extra pressures on green staff maintaining course quality.

 

“Courses will have to put a real effort into managing their ‘estate,” he said, “and that might mean restrictions on tee time availabilities, or indeed reviewing their income models to prevent subscription-paying members feeling short-changed when so many days are lost to societies or open events.”