How Did Wascana CC Secure the LPGA CP Women’s Open?
Outside of the high level customer service, the spotless Wascana CC clubhouse facility and overall golf course conditions, we wanted to try and understand for ourselves how exactly Wascana Country Club secured the 2018 CP Women’s Open?
We were fortunate enough to be invited to the 2018 CP Women’s Open Media Day at Wascana Country Club on Monday, June 18th. The day was amazing, with the opportunity to not only play the golf course, but to get up close and personal with 2 of Canada’s greatest Women’s Golf ambassadors, Lorie Kane and Brooke Henderson, and hear the excitement they expressed in visiting Saskatchewan this August (it will be Brooke’s 1st time in Saskatchewan).
Regardless of the entire checklist of requirements that Golf Canada and the LPGA Tour uses to select a host facility for the annual CP Women’s Open, we know for a fact that Wascana Country Club ensured they would be in the running by accomplishing the following;
- Showcasing the facility by investing in a cutting edge Golf Course Website
- Utilizing Professional Aerial Videos and Still Images
- Featuring their most premium images on their website home page
- Ensuring updated, fresh images and content throughout the entire website
Showcase Your Facility with a Fresh, Modern Golf Course Website
The Wascana Country Club website does a fantastic job of showcasing their facility, and capturing their website visitor’s attention immediately, by using high quality images on their home page. A few images scrolling through provides enough of a visual to prompt the website visitor to continue on viewing the website. A great 2 to 3 color scheme, matching their club logo, works well for a Private Golf Course. Well thought out page headings (The Club, Dining, Golf) provide quick, concise access to the required information on the site. To top it all off, the site is mobile friendly, which these days is an absolute must for every Golf Course.
Utilizing Professional Aerial Video and Images
Implementing Video on your Golf Course Website is a very nice touch, but only if done right. One of the most difficult parts of implementing video is coordinating the perfect day with your Professional Photographer or Videographer. Be sure to work into the agreement with your Photographer the ability for your golf course to receive (and use with no extra fees) the original video and image files. All too often when we work with a golf course to add video or images to their site, the course has a very difficult time tracking down the appropriate files. Wascana Country Club greatly improved their chances of hosting the 2018 CP Women’s Open by creating an amazing aerial video that they can showcase in their overall marketing efforts.
As a golf facility, do you really want to risk an opportunity to greatly increase your Golf Event Revenue by not investing in a fresh, modern website? Probably not.
As mentioned already, we aren’t fully aware of the criteria used by Golf Canada and the LPGA Tour to select a Host Facility for the CP Women’s Open. Without incuring the high costs of flying all of the main decision makers out to Regina for a course visit at the Wascana Country Club, I’m quite sure their premium quality videos would have been more than enough to sway the vote in favor of choosing Wascana CC as a very worthy candidate. Of course the entire team at Wascana Country Club, led by CEO Greg Dukart and Head Golf Professional Todd Zado, played a key role in the securing of the Championship as well.
We want to point out that current course conditions at the Wascana Country Club are not perfect. With some course improvements currently being done to holes #1 and #10, and by speaking with a couple of Members during our visit on Monday who have been following the improving course conditions, we are quite certain that the golf course will be in it’s peak condition come August 23rd when the top LPGA Tour player’s from all over the world come together in Regina.
A couple of key announcements from the 2018 CP Women’s Open Media Day included;
- The CP Women’s Leadership Summit to take place during CP Women’s Open Tournament Week. The inaugural event will focus on networking, empowerment and philanthropy and will be held Tuesdday, August 21st at Hotel Saskatchewan. Keynote speaker Hayley Wickenheiser, five-time Olympic medalist, will be joined by the likes of LPGA Champion Lorie Kane; CP Vice President of Grain and Fertilizer, Joan Hardy; and many more like-minded businesswomen from across the province.
- The CP Women’s Open is proud to name Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Foundation as the official tournament charity for 2018. Funds raised will be dedicated to pediatric cardiology space as well as specialized equipment and are being matched by CP through its CP Has Heart community program. www.cpr.ca
- Kids 17 and Under get in Free. To introduce more juniors to the sport, children aged 17 and under get FREE admission to the CP Women’s Open for the entire week.
Big thanks to Golf Canada for the special invitation to participate in the CP Women’s Open Media Day.
If you are interested in learning more about how you can effectively utilize your Golf Course Website to secure more business from both the public and corporate community, contact us and we can help provide some solutions.
