Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/165363
iG1308--proof2 8/28/13 8:50 AM Page 1 IN PROFILE INTERVIEW BY GORD MONTGOMERY Alberta Golf's Next Executive Director Matt Rollins knows he has big shoes to fill when he assumes his new position with the Alberta Golf Association (AGA), but that's fine with him. After all, the guy teaching him about his new responsibilities is the guy whose shoes he'll filling. Rollins, speaking with Inside Golf at the media day prior to the 2013 Alberta Open championship at RedTail Landing GC in Edmonton recently, said the transition of taking over for the present executive 48 director and CEO Brent Ellenton, who has headed the AGA for 25 years, has taken some work. "It hasn't been bumpy but obviously I'm not quite there yet," Rollins said of his taking over the reins of the huge organization. "Brent's going to be with us until December so I have a perfect opportunity for a really good mentorship role with him right now. I'm spending as much time as I can with him, trying to learn as much as I can. "Obviously, the shoes to fill are very large. He's been there for 25 years now but I've been there for 10 years and in different roles so I do know a lot about the organization and I'm trying to learn as much from him as I can." Besides learning the ins and outs of all things AGA, Rollins, whose title is presently that of assistant executive director, has been taking governance courses and sharpening his financial skills in preparation for the day he assumes the head honcho's responsibilities with the provincial body. In looking ahead, Rollins said he has a few things in mind he'd like to incorporate once he takes over and those follow in line with what the association has been up to as of late. "We've made a lot of changes over the past few years. We have some great new staff members so I want to work closely with the staff, make sure they're leaders in their areas and can just roll with their job. That's what we hired them for and we also have a great new board... Our strategic plan, the vision we have now is engaging every golfer in Alberta. We want to make sure that we are reaching out to all the public players, all the private club members, to everybody out there and really get them involved in the game and playing more often." Another key element to growing the game, which has become the mantra of just about everyone associated with the sport over the past few years, is the Golf in Schools program. Rollins noted that it's a huge deal for Alberta Golf, and that in order to do that they need to reach out to the phys ed teachers who present these learn-to-play elements to kids in order "to transition them from the schools to the golf courses." While there is that element to deal with, there is also one that caught everyone in southern Alberta flatfooted and has left many questions in its wake. Of the untold damages caused to many courses by the recent flooding problems, Rollins agreed it's a challenge for his organization. "It's going to be tough. We've never dealt with a situation like this," he began. "Obviously there are some of our key members out there that have been majorly affected by this. We're in a tough spot and we've been talking with the staff about how we can volunteer to help some of these clubs, give back to our clubs a little bit. We have a small staff but we're going to see what we can do." In looking ahead to when he's on his own with no more mentorship available from Ellenton, who is leaving his long-time post for personal reasons, Rollins said he has his eyes set on what he considered Job 1 at that time -- getting the Alberta Open completed. Again, this tournament was touched by the floods but went off as planned, although shortened to 36 holes because of rain. "We took our time with the Open," said Rollins. "We polled the entire players' field, we polled our staff, we checked with our board, our sponsors, RedTail Landing, to see if we should go ahead in everybody's opinion. Everybody thought we should go on with it and it's a positive thing even though it's a difficult time for the people down south. "We'll roll with this event and tackle the ones that come next. We've got a lot of work ahead of us."