Speakers

Speakers for the 2009 European Golf Business Conference:

	Tom Doak,one of the hottest designers in the world today and head man of Renaissance Golf Design Inc. He currently has 4 courses ranked among the top 100 in the world according to Golf Magazine's "Top 100 Courses in the World" list, including Pacific Dunes in Oregon, Ballyneal in Colorado, Barnbougle Dunes in Tasmania and Cape Kidnappers in New Zealand.
	Mark Bodt is Senior Tax Manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers Tax Advisory. He will join the EGCOA General Meeting to support the EGCOA initiative for a level VAT on golf in the European Union. The EGCOA formed a working group to lobby on this matter, consisting of German, French, Swedish, Dutch and English golf course owners.
	Mark Sandilands, a Senior manager working with KPMG Golf Advisory Practice. Before joining KPMG, and following the completion of his Honours degree in Finance, Mark occupied several operational positions within the resort industry.
	Jeremy Slessor, managing director of European Golf Design for the last 15 years, he started his carreer working with Robert Trent Jones Sr. Given the wide geographic range of the Company's business and the equally wide range of clients for whom the Company is working, Jeremy is acutely aware of current trends as they relate to golf resort development, together with the technical, financial and practical issues that result.
	Laurence W Pithie MG the first one to receive the honours of Master Greenkeeper and now proud owner of TurfMasterOne. He is the man that knows about managing and maintaining your golf course, and will share his thoughts and knowledge with us on Friday 4 December.
	Jeroen Boesmans is founder of Creative Marketing Results. In the Netherlands, he was involved in the project Visie 2015 that created a revolutionary insight in the Dutch golf market. This research provided the Dutch Owners Association with crucial insights in potential golfers and the equation between supply and demand.
	Laurent Oger supports the area related to sustainable agriculture at the European Crop Protection Association (ECPA) and is in charge of all issues pertaining to the non-agricultural use of plant protection products. He will join the EGCOA General Meeting to provide members with the latest information about the EU directive on pesticides.
	Peter Harradine is the Principal and Senior Architect of Harradine Golf and has personally designed and co-designed over 160 golf courses in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Peter is also a former President of the European Institute of Golf Course Architects and the European Society of Golf Course Architects.
	Roy Scheerder, holds the position of vice president Marketing for KLM in the Dutch market and the position of commercial director for Benelux for Air France - KLM. The aviation industry has noticed that their standard customer was changing, just like it's happening in the golf industry nowadays, so instead of inventing the wheel twice, we can learn some new strategies from Roy.
	Jan Ekblom, Director of Media and Communication at the Swedish Golf Federation. He will give a short presentation of a survey and mapping of the Swedish golfer. Ever wondered who Sporty Stefan is? Or Club Carl? If you are curious about the so called New Golfer, Jan Ekblom will explain!
	Jaap P.F.M. Funnekotter hospitality expert and CEO of Hotelschool The Hague Performance Management BV. He will speak about maximizing the return on investment in hospitality - stressing that an unsatisfied customer will think twice before coming back.
	Jeff Howes, a senior member of the European Institute of Golf Course Architects (EIGCA), has over 25 years experience in Golf Course design. In 1991 he established Jeff Howes Golf Design. From Jeff as a sole trader, the company now employs an expert team of seven - all with design, office, CAD and on-site experience.
	Andrew Brown, working for the Toro company and a member of the UK Irrigation Association. He will join the sustainability panel discussion of Jonathan Smith, he will share some practical steps to sustainable water resource management.
	Jo Maes, working for GolfSwitch, that creates more profitable online distribution channels for golf courses to market and sell tee times and creates new revenue opportunities for tee time resellers. Their consumer platform Golfhub.eu is fast becoming the world's largest online golf community with dedicated content, social networking, tournament schedules and online bookings.
	Alexander M. Iguchi is former executive of Pebble Beach and now owns and operates AMI Golf Consulting, an international golf management consulting company, offering quality financial, management, operational and service solutions to all types of golf facilities.
	Godron Irvine MG, earned his Master Greenkeeper title in 1994 and has started a Colf Course Management Consultancy business in 2004. He was closely involved in the redevelopment of the old Tom Morris Askernish Golf Course.
	Neil Hobday, project director of Trump International Golf Links Scotland has been involved in the golf business for 20 years. In 2005 Neil met Donald J Trump and persuaded him to acquire Menie Estate near Aberdeen to create a links course capable of hosting an Open Championship.  Neil's role as Project Director is to orchestrate all elements of the development from planning to operations.
	Marc Verneirt, secretary general of the Golf Union FLanders. Specialized in Golf development, guiding and assisting clubs and education.
	Bo Dahlberg, CEO and co-owner of Huvudstadens Golf, a company that owns and runs five golf courses around the Stockholm area.
	Jonathan Smith is Chief Executive of the Golf Environment Organisation an international non-profit body specialising in sustainable golf. He has written numerous articles and papers on the sustainability of golf and regularly organises and presents at a wide range of international golfing and environmental events.

 

More speakers will be announced shortly!