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The PGA TOUR's Tournament Players Club Retains LRA Worldwide
The TPC Unit Partners with LRA to Design and Deploy Innovative Brand Assessment Program
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida/HORSHAM, Pennsylvania; October 20, 2001 - PGA TOUR Golf Course Properties, Inc. today announced that it has retained LRA Worldwide to design and implement an innovative program to measure and enhance operational performance and member and guest satisfaction at its Tournament Players Clubs located throughout the United States. The Tournament Players Club (TPC) brand represents a commitment to excellence unsurpassed in the golf industry. Owned, licensed and/or operated by PGA TOUR, Inc. subsidiary PGA TOUR Golf Course Properties, Inc., the TPC network consists of 23 high-end private clubs and daily-fee/resorts located throughout the United States. Conceived in 1979 by then PGA TOUR commissioner Deane Beman, the Tournament Players Club network has become a wildly successful venture for the PGA TOUR.
The TPC network provides golfers the world over the opportunity to come "play where the pros play!" Before building the TPC at Sawgrass, few recreational golfers had a chance to play courses on which the game's elite professionals competed. But Tournament Players Clubs - most of which host PGA TOUR, SENIOR TOUR or BUY.COM TOUR events - opened a new world for all players, allowing them the chance to test their skills on championship layouts. "There's a magic to playing on a golf course that hosts a PGA TOUR event, " said Vernon Kelly, president of PGA TOUR Golf Course Properties, Inc. "That's a huge advantage for us in growth and marketing. We can offer a special experience, and then deliver on that promise with a great golf course that is well maintained and a club that is first-rate."
Eight TPC golf courses operate as daily fee/resort facilities. The remaining TPC's are private membership clubs, but membership has its privileges like nowhere else on the American golf scene. Members and their guests have access to all of the other TPC facilities and limited access to licensed courses, a particularly attractive feature to men and women who travel frequently and would otherwise miss out on the country club experience.
The TPC organization is vigilant in protecting and nurturing its brand and its clubs. During 2001, the TPC began a partnership with LRA Worldwide in a continuing effort to help differentiate and distinguish TPC facilities, TPC associates and the TPC brand experience. Says Pete Davison, Chief Operating Officer, "LRA Worldwide is one of the most respected and talented brand consultants serving the hospitality and recreation industry today. LRA is providing us with certain systems and processes we need in order to ensure that the TPC network continues to offer our members and guests the very best experience in golf. We are always seeking ways to improve and differentiate Tournament Players Club facilities, and enhance our service levels, our people and our overall brand experience. LRA is providing us with some important brand-building tools for our TPC toolbox."
Rob Rush, President and CEO of LRA Worldwide remarked, "We are delighted to be working with the Tournament Players Club organization. The brand is clearly positioned as the industry leader as a result of the hard work and nurturing provided by Vernon, Pete and their colleagues over the years. But during the past decade, the high-end of the golf club business in the United States has become very competitive. In this environment, only the very best brands will survive and grow. We are working very closely with Vernon, Pete, and his colleagues to ensure that each and every TPC member and guest enjoys a memorable and consistent experience. Our work entails ensuring that TPC standards and training programs are in place, that they are closely aligned with the TPC's value proposition, and that performance measurement and customer feedback systems provide the TPC with the information needed to continue to improve the brand."
About LRA Worldwide, Inc.
LRA Worldwide, Inc. is a leading consulting, organizational development and research company that specializes in Customer Experience Management (CEM). LRA helps companies and brands design and deliver the optimal customer experience across all key touch points using an integrated suite of services that measure and improve service quality, customer satisfaction, employee performance, loyalty, customer advocacy and profitability. LRA specializes in "operationalizing the brand" - turning brand promise and customer strategy into operational reality. LRA's CEM practice areas include CEM Strategy Design, Standards Development & Content Management, Organizational Development & Training, Research and Quality Assurance & Mystery Shopping; these are either deployed together in a strategic manner to continually monitor and improve the customer experience or deployed individually to address a specific tactical client need.
LRA's clients include some of the world's leading companies and brands, including Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos, the PGA TOUR, Albertsons Supermarkets, the NBA and First Niagara Financial Group. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.LRAworldwide.com
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