Welcome to the first Newsletter of Ascot Golf Tours.

We intend to make this a monthly edition filling you in with the developments of the golf tourism industry in Cape Town and keeping you informed with the actions that Ascot Golf is taking to ensure we stay ahead of the pack.

This first edition covers the following topics:

1. Heard on the golf courses around the country   

The general numbers to South Africa in terms of foreign golfers are down. There are a number of reasons for this including the price and the fact that the Rugby World Cup in Australia took the eyes of South Africa. We couldn’t expect a bumper season like we had last year although the flow has been pretty steady for Ascot Golf and the trends are definitely changing. This year should be different as the English Cricket Team will be out and that will mean all cricket playing nations will once again be looking at us.

One the golf course design front, Ernie Els’s first course Oubaai (situated on the Garden Route) is due for completion in December 2004. The course is on a splendid cliff top site overlooking the sea and near the town of Herolds Bay. It’s going to be a championship layout which will be longer than the Links but there is going to be lots of room off the tee so you can open your shoulders.

Another big name designing courses is Jack Nicklaus and he has been commissioned to design a ‘Bears Best’ course at pearl Valley in the Western cape. This will feature some of the best holes of the courses he has designed around the world and will compliment the already established Pearl valley Golf Course. Nicklaus is also involved with the second course being built at Arabella 9as soon as the plans are approved) and he is working on the completion of the Simola design at Knysna.

As from 1 March 2004, the Gary Player Country Club at Sun City Resort will close for fifteen weeks to reseed all the greens damaged by chemical toxicity. Golfers with bookings during the closure will, where possible, be accommodated at the Lost City Golf Course.

The Gary Player Country Club recently hosted the world renowned Nedbank Golf Challenge and Dimension Data Pro-Am. Inorder to prepare the greens to tournament standard they were placed under immense stress. To regain the grass growth after the tournaments a fertilizer mix and a fungicide were sprayed onto the greens. The application of these two products, together with excessive rain over the last three weeks caused a chemical toxicity reaction on all the greens.

Ranked number one in South Africa by Golf Digest in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2003 and the Compleat Golfer in 2002, the Gary Player Country Club bares evidence to Sun City's commitment to enhancing the golfing experience. Mr. Graham Wood, Director of Operations at Sun City Resort stated,

"The Gary Player Country Club is world renown for its continual top ratings, home to the Nedbank Golf Challenge and offering a unique golfing experience. Had there been a chance of saving the greens without negatively impacting on our golfers' experience, the difficult decision to close the course would certainly not have been made. We were planning additional enhancements to the Gary Player Country Club golf course and the closure gives us the opportunity to complete these changes well in advance of this year's Nedbank Golf Challenge. These changes have been planned in association with Gary Player in an attempt to continue to challenge the professional and amateur golfers alike.

These changes include lengthening some holes as well as remodifying the greenside bunkers. We are confident that the replacement of the greens as well as these exciting enhancements will ensure that the Gary Player Country Club maintains its ranking as the top golf course in South Africa."

2. The pricing issue regarding the golf clubs and in general   

This is a very touchy topic. Scott is actively involved in a marketing initiative in the Western Cape Area and is part of the executive committee. The reason of this committee is to create a communication platform between tour operators and golf courses. The first meeting took place on Tuesday 10 February and was a debate on what the clubs are pricing at, what they should be pricing at and where do we go from here.

At this meeting it was highlighted that in some cases clubs had raised their green fees by as much as 200% in one season. Bear in mind that it might not be a direct increase but a culmination of a high increase and the stronger rand.

Take The Royal Cape Golf Course as an example. They have been doing 65 000 rounds a year through the course, in previous years. This year they have been told by the members to bring it DOWN to 40 000 and what ever the short fall in revenue is then the members will pay it in. That is why they have put their prices up so high. It is to discourage people from playing there.

Sparrebosch is a different story, although it is also controlled by the members and is aiming to reduce its numbers. When you get to Sparrebosch you get a full service from names on your lockers and carts, welcome drinks, carts, halfway house, a souvenir and of course a round of golf on a brilliant course. In this case you get what you pay for.

The fact of the matter is that unlike the USA or Thailand which will be the main competitors for Long Haul destinations (from Europe that is) we have fewer golf courses in this country and a huge member base which means that tee-times at certain times of the year can be hard to come by. The golf clubs see their time sheets full and as the members want to pay less so the clubs push the prices up on the foreign golfers.

At time of writing we believe that certain of the golf courses will see the light and will see the full picture about what golf tourism is about and what golf tourism means to this country and will commit to talking to their committees about rates structures and what can be done about it.

Ascot Golf (we were officially announced as the top operator in terms of rounds played on the Cape Town Courses for 2003) will be meeting with the golf courses in the next week which we know will offer 1) a great golfing experience and 2) value for money, where we will be introducing a new contracting system to them which we hope will make for an all round better experience for your clients. We will keep you informed.

With regards general prices the cost of food and drink is still very low in comparison to world wide standards and the hotels have seen the light with the majority holding prices for the 2004/2005 season. If we can get the car hire companies to do the same, we will be as competitive as always.

The domestic airlines are having a pricing war at the moment with Johannesburg to Cape Town flights going at R299. Talk is that with the introduction of a couple of new airlines flying from international destinations this war will spread to the long haul flights. This is one of the key stumbling blocks with getting tourists to South Africa and hopefully this happens sooner than latter.

3. Ascot Tours moving forward   

We have taken a very active step in moving Ascot Golf forward by installing a new computer system which although it took a good deal of time getting installed now allows us to quote accurate and detailed itineraries in a matter of minutes. The system also allows us to track clients and as you have probably seen makes for a more seem less business approach.

Our next step is to put this system on line so that those of you that are confident enough with the product can put together an itinerary with out us and we will facilitate the booking and completion once the client has confirmed. This will enable you to quote while talking to the client on the phone or having them sit at your desk and take out the delay in getting the e-mail to us and our return quote. This service will be complimented with a CD which will give you all the info on the hotels, golf courses and sights that you will need.

The good news is that we have managed to talk the car rental company into lowering the excesses for the rest of the year. These excesses have been extremely high and although some category cars have only come down slightly, other has come down drastically.

All the ladies in the office as well as Angie and Scott start the country wide familiarization training in early April and will be spending three days each month exploring all corners of the country. We didn’t do it in 2003 due to the implementation of our computer system and it is something we plan to do every year so that they have the first hand experience of which are not only the best hotels in each area but which are the best rooms in each hotel.

4. Pro-Ams   

We have been asked by two separate companies to put on Pro-Ams for the coming season. These will involve the average 7 nights stay with four rounds of golf, welcome function, gala dinner and prize giving. Both these companies have also asked us to sell the Pro Ams to other tour operators and we would like your feedback on this. Do you have a market for it and if so what is the best time of the year for you and what would you budget for a Pro-Am? There will be of course opportunities for add-ons for Safaris etc for those teams wanting this.

If we do have enough interest we will commission a website to be designed and promoted for the event and will direct all enquiries to those operators who are interested in selling it. We will not handle flights from this side so it would be up the operators to add the flights and the price will include a commission.

Please let me know what you think about this.

5. Scheduled Tours    

In the same light as the Pro Ams we have been asked about scheduled tours. These are only worthwhile if a number of people are buying into it. The scheduled tour can be 4-7 people in a mini bus with a guide up to 40 pax in a coach. Once again if you are interested in offering scheduled golf tours with guaranteed departure dates to your clients then please let me know 1) what time of the year would be best 2) what length you think would be best and 3 what budget you think would sell?

The plus side about this is people that cannot afford a guided trip as a couple will benefit from the group discounts and so not be put off what is perceived as an unsafe country to self drive.

Again if we get enough positive responses from you we will commission a website and direct any potential enquiries to the closest operator to their country of origin.

6. Seven Night Self-Catering packages   

Ascot Golf owns its own guest lodge called Ascot Gardens and Lodge situated in Cape Town (www.ascotgardens.co.za). By owning the lodge we are able to offer fantastic rates all year round staring at R190 per person per night. Yes it is self-catering but there are four restaurants with in walking distance that can supply breakfast if required. The 7 lodges can sleep 14 people so if you have that group that hesitates about the price but is happy to do everything self drive then let us know. For groups of 12 -14 who stay for 14 night stays we will put on a special fish braai evening for them and any of you who have experienced Barry’s fish braais will know it is a special occasion.

7. Incentive Packages    

We all know that with group travel there is always one person that does all the work. This person might get his holiday complimentary but he also takes all the abuse when one of the group is late or can’t find his room key etc. If you get a group enquiry of 24 golfers or more which book and pay for a 7 night or more holiday, not only will the group leader go complimentary (depending on hotel policy) but we will give the group leader a 10 night stay at Ascot Gardens and Lodge for two people including car hire complimentary just for putting the group together. The only catch is the group needs to pay in full before the holiday becomes valid and it is valid for one year from Date of travel subject to availability.

8. The good and the Bad of Ascot Golf in 2003   

As mentioned before Ascot Golf has been striving to stay ahead of the pack in 2003 and in many cases we have succeeded. Numerous operators have left competitors to use our services and we thank them for that. Other operators have been tested by a breakdown in communication or a hotel not providing the correct service but together we have worked through this and in these cases we have come out with a lesson well learnt and most importantly we have put measures into place to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

We would like to hear from you! Let us know what you were happy about with what we provided and let us definitely know what we need to improve on. We are all in the golf tourism to make money and be profitable and if you, our clients, or Ascot Golf don’t give it all, we will both loose out in this ever competitive market. Please let us know everything.

That’s the end of the first newsletter for 2004 and we intend to keep you updated and informed each month so please forward this to the staff in your office and also forward us a list of all the e-mail addresses in your office that you would like us to send this to so that we can keep you informed of the developments with golf tourism in South Africa and the developments at Ascot Golf.

Yours in Golf

The Ascot Golf Team.