The British Golf Industry Association (BGIA) unveiled its new logo at a lunch ceremony at the Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club in Lancashire, U.K., on July 18, alongside the Open Championship. The BGIA is the lead trade body for golf products and the service industry in the U.K.
The lunch was also an opportunity to bring attention to the BGIA “Grow Golf” fund, which recently awarded £25,000 (€31,900-$38,920) to the new 60 60 range play concept, and to the results of the Golf Foundation, with its final £40,000 (€51,030-$62,275) as part of a £120,000 three-year grant for grass-roots golf. The foundation proved particularly successful in school sport, with 94 percent of county sports partnerships adopting golf at county and local level and 453 golf events included in the School Games program.
Peter Dawson, chief executive of Royal & Ancient, accepted a Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of the Organisation of Golf and Range Operators. On a more negative note, Sports Marketing Surveys said at the event that U.K. rounds played were down by 29 percent in June, due to adverse weather conditions, but with good prospects ahead for the sector thanks to the “Olympic effect.” He said the number of rounds played in the U.K. reached a six-year high in 2011, improving by a further 5 percent in the first quarter of this year. The number of core golfers in the U.K. has risen from 1.4 million in 2008 to 1.63 million.
