Par for the course

Behind the exponential growth and popular enthusiasm for a sport that until 30 years ago was viewed by most as the domain of retirees in plaid pants is one person - Peter German.

A man who has brought the game of golf to millions since he first envisioned the game's potential in the '60s.

Peter is more than a marketing executive with a passion for the game. He is a sports industry pioneer and an innovator whose efforts have created international awareness for golf and contributed to the multi-billion dollar industry with hundreds of indirect beneficiaries.

This former Marine frogman wanted to pursue a career in journalism, but his father encouraged him to become an advertising executive instead.

He was managing the Colgate Palmolive account in Europe when he teamed up with David Foster, then president of the company (circa 1970), to sponsor women's sporting events.

They spoke about enlisting celebrities to promote their products as a way of communicating with the market. By the early '70s, Peter was organising golf tournaments, first in the US, then in Europe and the rest of the world.

He has organised more tournaments over the last 35 years than anyone else.

And thanks to efforts such as his, there is endless opportunity for sport development, especially in emerging countries like the UAE.

"I first came here 12 years ago," said Peter when we met during the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship earlier this year. (The Abu Dhabi Golf Championship is a European Tour golf tournament that was staged for the first time in January 2006. It is played at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club.)

"When you look around, it's incredible. What happened to the desert? There is more of a buzz here now than ever before. The Abu Dhabi Golf Championship is seen on TV from China to Scotland, four days a week, three hours a day by 140 million people in 60 countries. It's a fantastic promotion for Abu Dhabi and it widens awareness of what the emirate has to offer," he says.

Peter runs five golf tournaments around the world, including The Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, Johnny Walker Classic in India, Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland, Austrian Open and Ponte Vecchio Challenge in Italy.

I

I have always been a keen golfer. My mom and dad both played golf. My sister Sarah played golf for the UK.

I have always wanted to be a writer. Not one who writes creative copy for advertising, but an author.

I enjoy the opportunity to make each tournament unique. I can say that I created this. It is something tangible. I find that very satisfying.

I really enjoy the Ponte Vecchio Challenge. The Ponte Vecchio is a bridge in Florence, Italy that was built in 1345.

It includes shops and houses built into the bridge between its arches. There are floating greens in the river and 16 players from 16 countries play a match. It is a lot of fun.

I find organising things very satisfying. I think it stems from my military background. You know where you are going and plan how to get there.

I need to have a tidy mind. I work hard for long hours and I have to be objective. I meet many top golfers, and am friends with some. But I have never been one to subscribe to the cult of celebrity.

My ultimate responsibility is to make sure that what happens out there goes according to plan.

I know all the top golfers from the last 20-30 years. I am always straight with them, and honest in my dealings.

I believe that it is important to admit your mistakes and not to try to pull the wool over anyone's eyes.

I rely on my judgment. The players know that I am here and they trust me. They know that the tournament will be set to the expected standard and that there will be no surprises.

Me

Me and my early years

I was born in London in 1938, and lived there until my family moved as a result of the war.

We lived in a house in Hampshire until the war was over, then returned to London. I was nine at the time, and I went directly to boarding school. These days that seems quite young, but it was common back then. I stayed in boarding school until I was 18.

I joined the Royal Marines when I was 18 and became a second Lieutenant in Portsmouth. I was a Royal Marine commander, which is a lot like the Seals in America. I was a frogman for the marines.

That's someone who dives underwater and under ships in wartime. I was in the Marines during peacetime. The nearest I got to serving in a war was in 1959, when I was sent to the Mediterranean. We got as far as Malta and close to North Africa, but we never landed.

Me and advertising

In 1960, I left the Marines and ventured into advertising. I wanted to be a journalist, but my father thought it would take too long to learn the profession. As a result, I went to work for J. Walter Thompson, an
advertising agency. I started out as a management trainee.

Eventually, I became an account executive and the manager of the company's ad campaign.

I left London for New York at 24. It was 1962, and New York was the centre of the advertising world. I got a job that paid very little – $5 a week to be exact! I did ad production and printing work.

After a while, I got the opportunity to work for Ted Bates, an ad agency on 5th Avenue and became the youngest vice-president in the company. I really enjoyed what I was doing and decided to make New York my home.

I lived in Manhattan, and I cannot begin to explain how fantastic it was for a good-income bachelor in that city. In the summer you have the beaches of Long Island.

Then there is skiing in the winter. I was also a member of a golf club.

I moved to Norman, Craig and Kummel agency on Madison Avenue. They had bought an agency in London and wanted me to run it.

After 10 years in New York, it was nice to go back home. Although I had only wanted to go back to London for a couple of years, I met my wife Julie, and decided to stay on.

Me and tournaments

David Foster was also an avid golfer, and together we discussed ways in which we could develop the sport. We believed that leisure was going to be increasingly important in the future.

He wanted to diversify into leisure-oriented pursuits, so he acquired a whole raft of golf, tennis, and other sporting goods companies. In 1974 he acquired Ram Golf Corporation, Bacroft Racket Company and Charles Eton Company.

I pitched for the development of a Colgate Palmolive sports business in Europe. It was a very exciting time.

I was doing a job that I loved.

Then Colgate Palmolive made me an offer to run the Colgate Palmolive golf tournaments. The Dina Shore Tournament was the first I organised, a women's tour.

We were the first to organise all-star athletes in one tournament while simultaneously promoting Colgate brands. Having sports celebrities promote your product was revolutionary at the time; sport endorsements were at an embryonic stage.

We needed to become market innovators. We believed if we sponsored women's events and celebrities promoted our products, we would be able to gain market share in our mainly female customer base.

Me and IMG

I then met Mark McCormack, the founder and CEO of International Management Group (IMG). Mark represented Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.

I began to work closely with him in this business. In 1975, I was responsible for organising the Colgate European Women's Open. Colgate Palmolive sponsored the event and I employed IMG to provide the players.

That is when I got involved in organising the Federation Cup (the equivalent of the Davis Cup for female tennis players). Together we developed the Grand Prix Ranking System for men's and women's tennis.

My goal at that time was to export and build the golf tournament business in Europe. I had a true passion for the sport and a commitment to see it grow internationally. In 1980, I joined IMG to organise European Golf Tournaments.

When I joined, the company had a total head count of 40 people in London. Now the London office alone employs more than 1,000 people.

This is how I got involved with running golf tournaments and promoting golf as a sport. In the early days there were very few European Tournaments – now we run tournaments in South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and, of course, Abu Dhabi.

Myself

What challenges do you face while organising international tournaments?

There are similarities in every tournament. There are 18 holes, international standards that must be met, equipment requirements and so on.

I have to deal with authorities, contractors and others; this makes it interesting and appealing.

Then there is the creative aspect that concerns itself with designing logos, placements of ramps, picket fences, signage, and so on.

As part of IMG, have you ever managed golfers?

For about two years I managed Ernie Els. At that time Ernie wasn't a client of IMG, and he agreed to become a client if I managed him, so I decided to do it.

It was a very different experience. I realised and he realised that it wasn't something I wanted to do all the time.

Personally, I am not servile enough to assume the role of a personal manager. It didn't suit my personality.

In the days leading up to the Abu Dhabi Golf Tournament, UAE was flooded due to rains. How do you manage tournaments affected by adverse climate?

We are prepared for rain. We have contractors that tend to the course in the event of rain. Once during a golf tournament in Cali, Colombia (a city about 350 km south of Bogota) there was an earthquake.

We were all staying at the golf club, and at 2.30am the dogs started barking, and then howling. Soon after there was a cool silence, then the beds started rocking like boats. We ran out to the streets.

The earthquake lasted 30 seconds and we watched it empty a swimming pool. It was a very eerie and extraordinary experience! But in reality there isn't much that we cannot prepare for in advance.