Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/130253
iG1304--rev 5/10/13 4:21 PM Page 1 iG'S 20TH ANNIVERSARY BY JEFF SUTHERLAND JEFF SUTHERLAND RECEIVING THE 2012 PGA OF BC PATRON OF THE YEAR AWARD EARLIER THIS YEAR the past few years... Demand for golf is definitely leveling off. Add in an increase of more than 20% in the number of courses throughout the lower mainland, and it's not surprising that you see average rounds decreasing 16%... a dramatic figure when you take into account that rounds of golf had basically increased 5% each and every year from the 1950's until 1989." The real irony here is that just change the dates and the quote would be almost as applicable today as it was almost 20 years ago. Does golf face different challenges today than those that occured in previous downturns? Sure, each cycle brings new issues and concerns. Right now connecting with youth is a big problem but I am now seeing the initiatives taking root that will address that long term problem. Courtesy of the internet, fierce price competition is the big short term concern. This may be good for golfers but courses eventually have to make money and market forces will resolve this issue. The bottom line is, based on 20 years of observation, golf is cyclical but over the long term is always growing. Will golf survive and prosper? If history has anything to say, in a word, yes. Jeff Sutherland has been the publisher / president of Inside Golf Inc. for the past 20 years. He can be reached at publisher@insidegolf.ca. With the reaching of any milestone, it is always a good time to pause and reflect. In the 20 years since the first Inside Golf 8-page newspaper distributed in the lower mainland, our publication has evolved into the 100-page glossy magazine you see today. Distribution is now all the way through Manitoba with five separate regional editions. We now have a golf news oriented website that I would like to think is one of the best around. Longevity in publishing is almost a contradiction in terms... especially these days with the rapidly changing media landscape. The support that our loyal advertisers have shown is one reason why we have thrived. Another is our staff. Success like we have enjoyed can only come from commitment, effort and loyalty from a large number of individuals working together as a team. It has been our good fortune to have a staff that has shown a strong commitment to quality. From a loyalty perspective, it is with a great sense of pride that I can say that the average tenure for our staff is almost a decade. We are also proud to be able to say we have virtually the same set of columnists as we did at the turn of the century. In this issue we have selected pieces from each that we thought really stood out and have sprinkled them through the publication. In going through past issues to select those pieces, one thing stood out. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Right now, the golf business is climbing out of a slump that began a few years ago. Here is a quote from our May, 1995 issue when iG only distributed into BC, "The Canadian Golf Foundation (CGF) has proven what every head professional and general manager has suspected for Success like we have enjoyed can only come from commitment, effort and loyalty from a large number of individuals working together as a team. 11