Tuesday, June 19, 2001
APAG - a real club now
By Wong Sai Wan
MORE than 12 months ago, the Asia
Pacific Amateur Golfers (APAG) discount card
programme was introduced. It is now considered
more than just a revolutionary way of getting
non-club golfers access to courses at a cheaper
rate.
Today, APAG has grown from a
virtual club with loose affiliation to one with a
membership of 5,000 and a clubhouse to call their
own.
 Swoboda holding
the Asia-Pacific Amateur Golfers Card
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The people at APAG
and RGT Sport Sdn Bhd have taken over the running
of the beleaguered Beringin Golf Course (BGC)
that is now the APAG members home course.
According to APAG's managing
director Franz Swoboda, getting the golf course
was a fitting climax for APAG's first year of
operation.
"It has been a very exciting
12 months. We took over BGC on May 17. In just
three weeks, 400 rounds have been played.
"We have spent more than
RM150,000 to upgrade the course and hope to get
it in tip-top condition in the next few months.
"We are very grateful to
L&G for having the confidence in us to manage
the course," said Swoboda.
APAG and RGT Sports have been
given a seven-year lease to manage the course by
the owners Land & General.
The course was closed for four
months prior to the takeover and had fallen into
disrepair. Many of the bunkers were badly damaged
and needed urgent renovation.
Since taking over, Swoboda and
his ground staff have been working overtime
getting the fairways into shape and the greens
playable.
BGC was designed by Ted Parslow
five years ago. It was opened for play two years
later. The course is a short one measuring just
5,955m from the blue tee.
The landing areas are tight with
out-of-bounds at seven holes. Keep it on the
fairway and birdies and pars are just a matter of
fact.
Swoboda said BGC would remain a
public golf course where anyone with a playing
certificate would be allowed to play as long as
they paid the green fees.
"Under our management, we
want to encourage juniors to come and play. We
will be drawing up a junior programme opened to
all. We want BGC to be the home of junior
golf," he added.
But APAG is more than just a golf
course. With almost 5,000 members, it has more
members than most golf clubs. The monthly medals
draw more than 120 players.
APAG also offers clubs of the
month where members get to play there without
having to pay green fees. In the past few months,
there had been an average of about six golf clubs
of the month each month.
"We are very grateful for
the support given by these clubs especially Bukit
Beruntung for agreeing to be the home club for
APAG members," Swoboda said.
However, APAG's success has also
drawn criticism from club owners who are worried
about this new trend of golf clubbing and who
view it as a threat to their business.
They are worried that APAG and
other similar programmes would "drag
away" business and potential club members.
Their fears are unfounded.
Programmes like APAG are bringing in more new
golfers into the game which will ultimately be
good for the whole industry.
Figures from APAG show that
in the past 12 months, its
members played 49,035 rounds of golf. This
includes 24,688 at Bukit Beruntung.
These players do not play
absolutely free as they have to pay the buggy
fees. This means that Bukit Beruntung and the
other clubs of the month made RM1.2mil from APAG
members.
On top of that, APAG paid these
clubs to be clubs of the month. Swoboda said
about RM2mil was paid to these clubs to host his
members.
The figure for the other
programmes is not available but they must have
obviously brought in money for some clubs to
continue supporting them.
However, many of APAG members are
new to golf and are junior executives who cannot
afford club membership. By gaining access now,
many of them may later consider buying a
membership when they rise up the corporate
ladder.
Most of APAG members are renewing
their membership and Swoboda is expecting a
further 20% increase in membership next year. All
this can only be good for the golfing industry as
a whole.
For more information on APAG,
call 03-7874-4566 or visit its website at www.asiapacificamateurgolfers.com.
NOTE: A spokesman for Country
Heights has pointed out that the Hornbill Golf
& Jungle Club's membership has increased to
RM120,000 for this year.
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Article
provided with courtesy from The Star Publications.
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