New Zealand Golf and the PGA of New Zealand have inked a Heads of Agreement to explore the establishment of a combined governance entity for golf in New Zealand.

The Heads of Agreement specifically arises from a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the parties on 23 June 2011, buy in which the parties agreed to work together with the goal of creating a long term vision and plan for golf in New Zealand.

Dean Murphy, buy the Chief Executive of New Zealand Golf, said that this was a landmark moment for the game of golf in New Zealand.

“This is a very significant achievement in the administrations of New Zealand Golf and the PGA of New Zealand,” said Murphy.

“The proposed merger with the PGA of New Zealand has been some time in the making, with some hard work from both parties. We believe this alignment of our organisations and their capabilities would have a very positive impact on both creating a secure future for the game here in New Zealand, in our clubs and communities, and would also increase our ability to compete on the international stage.

“We both know that we are operating in a challenging time for golf and we are looking to meet those challenges head on. It makes great sense to combine our capabilities and develop a unified approach where a ‘Whole of Golf’ vision for the game is being achieved.”

Duncan Simpson, the Chief Executive of the PGA of New Zealand, echoed that sentiment.

“When we reviewed the PGA’s strategic plan over two years ago it became clear that the key issues and challenges were all about the game of golf,” said Simpson.

“It was obvious that these needed to be tackled under a combined strategy and vision and this was the initial thrust of our discussions with New Zealand Golf and the resulting Memorandum of Understanding.”

The Chief Customer Officer (CCO) Council, the only member-led peer-advisory network offering insight and assistance into the critical issues facing CCOs, named Pete Winemiller, Senior Vice President, Guest Relations for the Oklahoma City Thunder as the 2013 CCO of the Year. 

The CCO of the Year Award recognizes the CCO who has made the greatest strides in improving customer relationships, driving profitable customer behavior, creating a customer-centric culture and helping other customer executives to achieve similar results. The award is presented each year at the CCO Summit, which took place on Oct. 16-17, 2012 at Teradata Corporation’s Customer Briefing Center outside of Atlanta, Georgia.

“I’m extremely pleased to recognize the outstanding contribution of Pete Winemiller this year,” said Curtis N. Bingham, Founder and Executive Director of the CCO Council. “Pete is continually learning from other companies and disciplines and creating powerfully loyal customers. A generous and tireless educator, Pete is willing and eager to share anything he has found that works for him with other people, regardless of their industry or their needs.“

Founded in 2008, the Oklahoma City Thunder has developed into an NBA franchise with strong fan, corporate and community support throughout the state. Driven by a philosophy of teamwork and humility, the team stands at the pinnacle of a regional cultural renaissance and strives to focus on community outreach and involvement.

Winemiller manages the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Guest Relations department. In addition to pursuing the goal of creating a fan-centric game environment, he has established a training protocol focused on educating Thunder frontline staff on the concept he developed entitled “CLICK!™ with your Guests.”

Winemiller said: “I am honored that the CCO Council would recognize the work of our organization with this award. Both on the court and off the court, everything the Thunder organization does is truly a team effort, and I am confident we would not be receiving this recognition without the dedication of our entire franchise, our outstanding frontline staff and our loyal fans.”

“Successful CCOs — regardless of their title — engage the entire company in their mission to become customer centric as they understand and meet customer needs,” Bingham said. “Customers reward companies they trust. The CCO is uniquely capable of helping align the company to earn this trust and reap top and bottom line results. The Thunder’s amazing journey from the new team in town to ESPN Magazine’s #1 Ultimate Franchise ranking in just four short seasons, is testament to how successfully it has won its customers’ trust.”

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is planning to hold a grand awards ceremony, ailment similar to the International Cricket Council (ICC) annual awards, erectile this October to attract foreign attention.

The awards ceremony is to promote the positive side of Pakistan cricket and its talent each year to foreign guests and dignitaries from bodies such as the ICC, with PCB being keen to resume hosting international cricket. {jcomments on}

A lawsuit by Texas Rangers post- bankruptcy administrator revealed former Rangers owner Tom Hicks misdirected “tens of millions” of dollars from the Major League Baseball franchise to buy and develop parking lots near the club’s ballpark.

Alan Jacobs, the administrator, said Hicks “embarked on a scheme to build a real estate empire on the backs of the Texas Rangers’ players and creditors and fans of the team,” according to a complaint filed yesterday in state court in Dallas.

Hicks owned the club from 1998 to the summer of 2010, when it filed for bankruptcy and was sold to a group led by Hall-of- Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan. Hicks’s Ballpark Real Estate LP now generates several million dollars a year in parking revenue near the ballpark and the Dallas Cowboys football stadium, and is believed to be worth $100 million or more, according to the complaint.

Lisa LeMaster, a spokeswoman for Hicks, said in a statement: “The lawsuit reflects a bizarre flip-flop on the part of the complainants, a group led by a distressed debt hedge fund, we welcome the opportunity to challenge these allegations in court.”

 

Sir Craig Reedie, Britain’s International Olympic Committee Executive Board member, is ecstatic after the race for the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics Games is no longer a one horse race.

The Italian capital of Rome was for a long period the only confirmed contender to host the event, leading to speculation that the battle to host the 2020 Games would be done and dusted.

However, in recent months, Rome has been officially joined in the 2020 race by Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo, while there may also be bids from the Qatari capital Doha and the South African city of Durban before the IOC deadline is reached on September 1.

Sir Craig played a crucial role in bringing the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to London at the IOC Session in Singapore in 2005 when he was then chairman of the British Olympic Association (BOA).

The race for 2012 saw London up against Moscow, Madrid, New York and favourites Paris, with the capital overhauling their French rivals to claim a dramatic victory, and Sir Craig believes the race for 2020 could now emulate that famous battle that saw London unexpectedly triumph.

“I’m delighted to see that the race for the 2020 Games will feature several different candidates from different parts of the world,” said Sir Craig to insidethegames.

“The race for 2012 is without a doubt the best race for the Olympics and Paralympics the IOC have ever had.

“There was such excitement as we had five major players with Moscow, Madrid, New York, Paris and obviously London.

“The 2016 race was also very distinguished with Chicago, Madrid, Tokyo and Rio all involved.

“There was a momentary concern when we had one candidate competing for 2020 when only Rome had declared an interest.

“Rome is an amazing city and could undoubtedly host a superb Olympics in 2020 but there are clear problems if there is only one city involved in a bid race.

“But now it looks like a real competition between at least four very strong contenders.

“We have Madrid back again, who are presumably thinking along the Pyeongchang 2018 lines of third time lucky.

“We also have Tokyo back after a fantastic bid last time out and they are popular after they ran the Games wonderfully well in 1964.

“We also have Istanbul there who are one of the new and coming cities in the world complete with ancient traditions.

“So I think the race for 2020 is now shaping up very nicely indeed and the IOC is delighted to have such a fantastic combination of different bids.

“Hopefully we could see something like we saw in Singapore in 2005 when London won that amazing race to be able to host 2012.”

Around 1.8 million applicants for London 2012 Olympic Games tickets are being reminded payments are being taken from their accounts from today, May 16, with 6.6 million available tickets being awarded from over 20 million applications.

A London 2012 spokesman said: “People should make sure they have sufficient funds available from this date.”

Successful bidders will be notified of the tickets they have won by 24 June, meaning that in some cases, money will be taken out of people’s accounts before they know which tickets they have been able to buy.

Refunds are not available but London 2012 will launch its official resale platform early next year, through which people can offer their tickets for resale at face value – although there is no guarantee they will be bought.

Any tickets unsold by organisers are expected to be made available in further ballots, along with the possibility of additional tickets for higher-profile events being released as venues are tested and capacities finalised.

The opening and closing ceremonies were unsurprisingly over-subscribed, as well as big athletics events, swimming nights, track cycling and some of the cheaper tickets, with oversubscribed events being decided by a ballot.

Ticket allocation is completely random, so some unlucky applicants might end up without any, while others may be allocated all the tickets they applied for.

New figures have been released by Sports Marketing Surveys revealing the significance of Barclays sponsorship of the ATP World Tour Finals.

Latest sponsorship awareness research from IFM Sports Marketing Surveys shows that Barclays’ investment is reaping the reward of increased media coverage and free-to-air broadcasting on BBC with awareness increasing 80% on 2009 amongst the general public in London and 60% amongst avid tennis fans in the UK.

These latest findings come from IFM Sports Marketing Surveys’ brand impact tracker, ambulance Sponsatrak.

The success of this summer’s FIFA World Cup in South Africa has led the president of the African Athletics Confederation to announce the continent is considering a bid for the IAAF World Athletics Championships in 2017.

Hamad Kalkaba Malboum said: “We are encouraged by the recent FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Morocco is most likely to bid for the 2017 World Championships and, if they do, we think they can win.

“Besides Morocco, we know that South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria and Egypt can all stage a successful World Championships but because Morocco tried the bid for 2015 we think they stand a good chance in 2017.”

The 2011 World Championships will be held in Daegu, South Korea, while the 2013 event will be in Moscow, Russia. London and Beijing have announced bids for the 2015 Championships. The event had never been held in Africa.