David Fulcher is the director of golf and operations at Edgbaston Golf Club, meaning he is both the club manager and club professional. Here, he talks about his dual role, using data to manage the pro shop and the support he receives from the TGI Golf Partnership.
The landscape of the golf industry is always evolving, how has your business adapted to change in recent years?
As the golf industry has evolved and changed, our business has adapted through looking at other industries, doing education days and understanding key trends. XPOS Technologies have been a huge part of our resilience based on their knowledge in the industry and oversight.
The other adaptation we have undergone is developing a better financial understanding and we have started working with KRW Sports Advisers (sports@krwsportadvisers.co.uk), specialists in golf accounting and they have been instrumental in helping manage the business and all elements of tax, vat and general business planning and advice.
Through working with, and learning from, others this has allowed us to understand what good looks like and what steps we need to take to move forwards and ultimately improve the service to members and visitors.
When did you join the TGI Golf Partnership and what made you decide it was the right fit for your business?
I decided TGI was the right fit because their business model is focused and designed to be for the benefit of partners who are all shareholders in the business, not only a small number of shareholders. This structure ensures that all the partners are placed first. These values really resonate with me. You are not continually paying fees to be a partner, there is a one-off joining fee and that is all.
How has becoming a TGI partner been of benefit to you as an independent retailer and a PGA professional?
I find that the main benefit to me as an independent retailer is the support of the regional retail consultant. The retail team are all experts at what they do and provide a huge variety of support. This ranges from staff training to sales help as well as business analysis, planning, marketing and all at no cost. It really is a huge benefit to our staff and business as a whole.
The day of a club professional can see you wear many hats, how do you manage your day?
I have an even more complex role as I am the club manager as well as club professional, which means I have to manage my time very strictly over the week and I have clear policies in place to separate the roles.
At the club we have an excellent team who I can rely on to manage the different aspects of golf club life. It means that it is very busy, but I thoroughly enjoy the variety and challenge of both roles.
There is a constant flow of new golf products – how do you manage your stock to serve the needs of your members and visitors?
The data from XPOS helps me to focus on stock turns and this allows me to identify if I am under or over stocked compared to the market and according to best practice.
Our till system is the best source of information, so we try to ensure we keep our data clean and up to date and run reports that can get the most information from it. We can then make buying decisions accordingly based on the reports.
Do you have any programmes in place such as academy membership to make it easier to introduce beginners to the game?
We have an adult academy programme which introduces 30 people each year with a subsided membership. We also have a range of Get into Golf for beginners as well as improver programmes.
These programmes are key to sustaining membership numbers and also reinforce the professional team’s value to the club through the programmes we offer.
A lot of PGA pros are having to be a step ahead of their competitors in their offerings and technology – what additional added value services do you provide?
We have added technology such as the Golf Genius Shop to plan and upload pre-books using their AI feature. It adds pre-books from the manufacturer’s PDF, adds to a category and it shows all our drops and categories across the year.
Another service we have added is ‘Golf Day Management’, producing fully customised scorecards, mobile scoring and a dedicated website for the golf days. It adds significant value to the golf day and ensures a smoothly run event for visitors
We have also invested in marketing and CRM systems, plus automated emails through XMAIL which automatically trigger emails from sales in the shop. The CRM system also tracks enquiries and sales, so we know how many new leads and enquiries we have had throughout the year.
What year did you turn professional and what have been your career highlights, both playing and employment?
I turned professional in 2002 and my playing career highlight is qualifying for final Open qualifying in the 2005 Open at Hoylake.
I have also been fortunate to work at the PGA for four years as an executive for golf coaching, and have travelled to countries such as China, Italy and the US presenting about golf coaching and working with leading coaches in the game as well as technology companies, such as Trackman.