Hong Kong: To attract a new generation of players, it’s imperative for golf to become more interactive and fun to play.

“The key thing for kids is the technology side. Golf has to be fun and engaging,” said Kurt Greve, General Manager at the Hong Kong Golf & Tennis Academy, a Facility Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.

Speaking during a LinksAsia webinar entitled How Does Golf Use Technology to Appeal to a Younger Generation, Greve outlined a variety of ideas aimed at expanding the base of golfers, headed by TopTracer.

Greve said the Hong Kong Golf & Tennis Academy caters to nearly 1,500 boys and girls under the age of 12, children of the 600-plus Patron families at the Academy.

“The kids love the technology side and we have any and all of the latest and greatest technologies on hand that you can think of to use. But the real fun and interactive part of our golf facilities is the recent installation of TopTracer.

“We’ve converted our three-level driving range into a TopTracer range and we also have the indoor TopGolf Swing Suite, which adds more fun with games. The first month we installed TopTracer, pre-Covid, we tripled our use.”

As well as being able to play rounds on the TopGolf Swing Suite indoor simulator, users are able also to choose American football, soccer, baseball and ice hockey.

Greve said: “It’s giving the kids more interactive activities to assist their hand-eye co-ordination and learning improvements. The key is getting them into something that they’re enjoying, that’s fun – keeping the Apps and technology involved, getting the parents involved and siblings and grandparents … anything and everything to keep the families coming and using the facilities more.

“The programmes that we have developed are really fun based. With the best possible coaches that we have, it gives an all-encompassing, holistic approach. As an academy we really look at that opportunity to teach them about wellness, food and beverage, the mental side of golf – anything that comes into what a PGA Tour player thinks about, fitness and nutrition, for example. It’s more than just swinging the golf club or lifting weights in the gym.”

Joining Greve on the webinar panel were Peter Shaw, Director International Sales for Golf Genius, one of the world’s leading suppliers of tournament management solutions and a Full Business Member of the AGIF, and Casper Schonfeldt, General Manager at Trump International Golf Club Dubai. The session was moderated by Kate Burton.

*To view the webinar, please visit https://app.livestorm.co/impact-golf/linksasia