In the eternal search to always give the best to our readers, Amura Yachts & Lifestyle is proud to announce its communications alliance with the Golf Total Corporation, a leader corporation in the golf sector.

As a product of this synergy, we had the opportunity of speaking to Engineer Salvador Gómez who among many of its titles his curriculum poses, outstands having been president of the Valle de Mexico Golf Association, the biggest in the country, between 1997 and 1999, plus presiding in the Valle Escondido Golf Club Committee, scenery of its loves.

Enrique Rosas (ER): ¿Don Salvador, could you tell us how did you start out in golf?

Salvador Gómez (SG): More than 38 years ago when by a medical prescription I was forbid to do high impact sports, and I was suggested to go out and walk. When I warned my doctor about my need for constant exercise he recommended me the “old people” sport: Golf.

I didn't had any other choice but to find out what was it about and through a friend and for the first time I played, I was hooked with the first drive I hit and was later told assuredly by my caddie: “You will be a very good player”.

 

 

ER: ¿How did you create Golf Total?

SG: When my son Salvador said to me “Dad I think that the golf's world has grown a lot and there's not a corporation that gives out organization professional services to corporation groups for their golf events, I think it's a business opportunity”. He, being a passionate golfer as well, knowing the atmosphere and being a business administrator, made a business project. We started the company between three partners and I only attend to it sometimes, but it was such a success that after a year I sold my business and became part of it 100%, and this December we will be 10 years.

ER: ¿What are the main activities of Golf Total?

SG: It's a company promoter of services and products at the service of golf. With this sport having five business lines and with the experience acquired through this decade, we can serve our clients with a modern technology applied to this specialty, which has placed us as a high quality leader enterprise, to satisfy our client's needs.

ER: ¿ How many tournaments do you think take place in Mexico and of what sort?

SG: In this country there are over 700 annual tournaments, which equal two daily tournaments all over the country. There're corporative events, commercial, of beneficence, professional and sports.

 

 

ER: You, practically having lived the history of Golf in this country, how would you sum it up and what do you think of the rise in the last few years?

SG: Golf was a 100% elitist sport. You needed to be a club member and have a very high economical profile due to the cost of the equipment (clubs) and the price of the memberships of the clubs. With globalization, companies that begin to come to Mexico, with its representations and branches, see golf as a fertile field for the business synergy.

These companies have bought stock in the clubs so their executives can access the world of golf. When seeing this new investment, the developers create new fields to cover this demand and also those who were not members start to attend public and tourist golf courses in which you don't need to be a member to play.

This is how new possibility for that those potential golfers were generated, plus golf practices are created (practice platforms).  At the same time of this boom comes the Tiger Woods phenomenon and modern communication is also simplified, since today we can know what's happening at the other side of the world, and follow step by step Tiger's activity, wherever he may be.

Aside to this, in Mexico Lorena Ochoa came out, drawing interest for knowing what is it about and who she is.  This causes the famous invitation to youth of knowing the golf sport.  So the families that would limit only to have the father played, today everyone in the family plays and is in some way involved in the golf world.

 

 

 

ER: Despite the crisis ¿do you think this rise will continue?

SG: The crisis affected a segment of the sector, middle class and high middle. The player who could before afford a Green Fee to play, now perhaps doesn't do it that often and goes more to the practice, which is a lot cheaper. However, this crisis has six or eight months and we felt it the first semester of the year was difficult because the companies would wrongly reduce their sponsorship budgets and publicity spending. Fortunately the activity in the industry (event organization) has begun with all the movement that wasn't displayed during the first trimester.

ER: ¿What do you see in the golf's future, will more public golf courses will be seen or will golf remain an elitist sport?

SG: In our country there are already public and mixed golf courses, but not everyone knows them. The tendency marks that the number of golf courses is growing in tourist destinations, in tourist destinations there are 14 or 15 in construction plus another bit with real-estate developments for private clubs or semi-private. I think that in the next five years the number of golf courses in Mexico will duplicate from 40 to 50%.

To finish, Don Salvador added,  “as far as golfers go, there has been a huge explosion, especially in players that are not part of a club. There must be around 50 thousand golfers in this country that don't belong to a club, but go to mixed courses and to the ones in tourist destinations. And this boom will stress with the fact that today golf is also an Olympic sport”, he concluded.

 

 

 

Text: Enrique Rosas ± Photo: Cortesía Yucatán Country Club / Mayakoba / Tamarindo Beach & Golf Resort / One&Only Palmilla