The Golf Course	Fenton Allen	Junior Golfers	Stunning views of Cardigan Island

FENTON ALLEN: ACCOMODATION GOLF BREAKS AND AN IMPRESSIVE PAN WALES STRATEGY

ABSTRACT

Cardigan Golf Club lies within the tiny village of Gwbert in Ceredigion. The course undulates along the coastline, with Cardigan Island as the grandiose backdrop. Fenton Allen, Chairman and founder member of Golf In Wales, relays his experiences of Objective 1, after receiving a regional project grant (Investment Support Scheme) from the Wales Tourist Board to expand the Clubhouse. The total project cost amounted to 230k, whilst Objective 1 grant received was 70k. Another interesting aspect of the club is the new Junior Golf embedded within the course, with mini-bunkers and classes offered on Saturdays and school visits for lessons. The project has created 5 permanent jobs locally and attracted more outside visitors to the area. The clubs in Golf In Wales all work closely with their linked hotels in providing a memorable golfing experience, which increases the tourist trade. Perhaps Fenton's strategy for growth in Ceredigion serves as a useful model for all who have tourism businesses there; "One of the problems we have is that if every potential visitor who could get to Cardigan in a day and back, actually came, there wouldn’t be enough visitors. If you draw a circle around Cardigan, defining the distance that people can travel, half the circle is under water, the other half, looks towards Mid Wales, and that’s a sparsely populated area. So by and large the only way we can make tourism work is by attracting people from outside Ceredigion who will need to come and stay, which is why accommodation is absolutely key." (Fenton Allen).

Full interview by Natalie Moyce:

Ok, so tell me a bit about the grant you received and how it came about.
The clubhouse had been burned down in 1975, a new one was built, and between 1974 and 2004 the world had changed. The number of people had doubled; we were into tourism, because Cardigan Golf Club was seen as a real tourism amenity, and an awful lot of money and effort, went into visitors. We needed to have wheelchair access also. I think what has changed most is the generally increased expectations. People won’t put up with inferior facilities. They want quality all the time. We spoke to Wales Tourist Board and they said that we were eligible for Objective 1 grant aid, through the Wales Tourist Board rather than direct to us.

Can you remember the name of the grant you received and what the money was set out to achieve?
Its name was the Investment Support Scheme. We had to produce a business plan that focused on tourism and what we were about. You can’t really increase membership; Ceredigion lacks large numbers of people, so therefore we’re into tourism. Our business plan aimed to build up the tourism side as quickly as possible. We formed an association of Golf Clubs, which is called Golf In Wales. If you visit golfinwales.org, the website will tell you everything about it but basically, we have about 15 clubs and 3 or 4 hotels, but of the 15 clubs, 7 are accommodation providers anyway.

So the visitors now come through accommodation bookings?
Yes to put it simply, Cliff Hotel, which is in Golf in Wales, becomes a one-shop-stop, for golf breaks and golf holidays, if you contact Cliff Hotel, they will have included in their prices, the cost of Cardigan Golf Club, and also Newport and Penrhos.”

So is this your strategy that you came up with?
Yes, we took this to the Wales Tourist Board, we created Golf In Wales ourselves, and it’s going very well actually, we now have clubs all the way down the M4, round, through us up to Borth, and now a cluster in Mid Wales. Our business plan was accepted, improving what’s called the “Golf Experience”.

What is the Golf Experience exactly?
Well from contact you need to be properly looked after through reception out onto the golf course. One is brought back in to first class bars and catering facilities. The areas that relate to tourism are top quality changing rooms, and restaurant and lounge/bar facilities, which by definition would be more than required for members alone. In terms of space management, you have to have 3 to 4 social spaces, to manage the flow of visitors and members.

How long did it actually take from the time you applied to getting the project approved?
A long time, because you have to design and plan the building, which had to be passed by the Local Authority. We had to have local planning permission to get all the clearances. We also wanted access for wheelchairs, all of which must take time, but there was nothing that I felt the Wales Tourist Board lagged behind in. We finished last month, June/July 04. We started building in May 03, but my point is in those 18 months before that, we discussed fully with a Wales Tourist Board consultant. A long time was spent discussing ideas.

What about jobs created?
5 jobs over 3 years, part time and casual. Job areas are on the greens, in the restaurant, the bar, and administration and reception. Administration includes cleaning staff, servicing and maintenance,

Ok, so what do you think your business has done for tourism around here?
Well we’ve gone from no tourism business at all to something like 50k in visitor fees, and through Golf In Wales and developing the clubhouse, we had something like a 30% increase in visitor numbers from last year. We’re not going to maintain that rate, but we hope to double the figure of 50k really.

So it’s been a success then?
It has. As I said, the only way we can make tourism work is by attracting people from outside Ceredigion and Mid Wales who need to come and stay, which is why accommodation is absolutely key. I would say that the major increase is people taking golf breaks. There has been quite a significant jump of people coming here on a daily travel basis, but if I were to identify, within a market trend, it would be the Golf Break.

People have come mainly from the borders to Birmingham, and as far as London, because Golf In Wales has set up its own website, which decants the user to the necessary hotel and golf site in the area of choice. So what we try and do is provide a one-shop stop for a quality golf break in a first class hotel, which includes an excellent golf course with matching top class facilities.

So the building, you’ve extended front and back?
The basic clubhouse was a lounge and a bar and then to 1 side were the Ladies, changing room and the Men’s. At the back of the dining room was the kitchen, the cellar, and then above, the stewards flat. You can now see an extension, which doubles the space inside. There is a second bar, a casual bar, so people don’t have to change. The Men’s side has expanded to about double. A roof was put on top of the Men’s and has now created an extra room for conferences, for people who want to combine having golf with meetings. There are solar panels on the roof. One of the characteristics of golf clubs is huge jumps in water consumption, with at peak times, many people coming to shower, and it means now that the sun is heating it up to plus 40, so the boiler is only heating the water up from 40 to 60 so that’s very effective.

Were there any problems with objective 1, would you change anything about it?
No not really, it was an excellent service. There’s one more thing with objective 1, we’ve just completed building the Junior Golf Academy. This means facilities for Junior Golf. This was through the Sports Council For Wales. The junior practice facilities we have in place are for puts, clipping and ???, a 7 acre, mini golf course. The idea is retain their interest, in that activities for youngsters need to start at the right age before they get bored. 10-11 year olds are the right ages to encourage uptake. There are currently 80 juniors in the club at the moment and 12 schools are involved in Ceredigion, involving free golf lessons as part of their curriculum.

So what has been your greatest successes since your expansion?
Well last year we won Golf Club of the Year, which was for the whole of Wales. This was based on the presentation of the course and clubhouse, environmental matters; business and communications and Junior Golf. We received a 5k prize, which was great as well.

ENDS.
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