Golf Course Industry International debuts

Golf Course Industry International, dedicated to the growth of golf in the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions, hits the market this week.

The 80-page issue includes a cover story focused on the continuing story of golf in China, and has sponsors including Toro, Jacobsen, Aquatrols, Foley, Neary, Aqua Aid, Grigg Brothers and more.

The international edition is a collaboration between the Asia Pacific Golf Group (APGG) and GIE Media, Inc., the parent company of Golf Course Industry. APGG is a leading force in the Asia Pacific region and publishes industry focused magazines like Asian Golf Monthly, Asian Golf Business, Asian Golf Tourism and is also the owner and producer of the highly acclaimed Asia Pacific Golf Summit. GIE Media is the leading Green Industry publisher in the U.S., with titles including GCI, Lawn & Landscape and Greenhouse Management magazine.

Pat Jones, editorial editor of GCI and GCII said, “Readers and advertisers have been urging us to give GCI a global focus for some time now to bring more turf management content to superintendents and others in the business in Asia. We’re thrilled to be working with a partner like APGG which shares our commitment to advancing the game, the profession of golf course maintenance and the turf industry at large.”

Jones added that GCII will launch as a bi-monthly e-zine, website and regular e-newsletters. The new publication will not merely be a reproduction of the U.S. version. It will feature relevant current and archived articles from GCI but at least half the content will be original material developed specifically to support superintendents, greenkeepers, course managers and others in the Asian golf business.

Mike Sebastian, chief executive officer of APGG and the publisher of GCII said, “This is a partnership which has tremendous synergies in that we are very focused on addressing the needs of golf course owners and operators with vital and area specific information on a timely basis.”

The distribution of GCII will kick start with the coverage of close to 2,000 golf courses located in Southeast Asia, China, Australia and New Zealand and South Korea. “Efforts are currently on-going to map golf courses in Japan and it is expected that some 2,000 golf courses in that country will be brought on stream within the next few months,” Sebastian explained.

“All things being equal, our target is to have some 5,000-plus golf courses in our database by the end of 2012 – our launch distribution of GCII is projected to register at 30,000 made up of golf course owners, operators, maintenance staff and the golf trade,” Sebastian said.

The publication will include or link to articles in various languages to enhance education and information opportunities for non-English speakers. The first to come on stream will be Mandarin, followed by Korean. “Eventually, we expect to be able to offer translations in Japanese, Thai and Bahasa Indonesia,” Sebastian said.