USGA to Hold 5th Golf Innovation Symposium in Tokyo

March 2019 gathering will advance the Association's strategy to help facilities and golfers around the world

(LIBERTY CORNER, N.J.) - Furthering the organization’s commitment to invest in innovative research, invite broad discussion about the game and deliver impactful technological advances and solutions to help golf facilities globally, the United States Golf Association will hold the 5th Golf Innovation Symposium in Tokyo on March 12-13, 2019.

The gathering will discuss and demonstrate golf’s progress against the challenge statement issued by the USGA during the 2017 Symposium: Reduce critical resource consumption by 25 percent while improving golfer satisfaction by 20 percent by 2025.

“The USGA has set a path forward to demonstrate our commitment to advancing the game toward a stronger, healthier and more sustainable future,” said Mike Davis, CEO of the USGA. “We can only achieve this goal by fostering truly meaningful conversation and impactful innovation among golf facilities, which form the backbone of the industry and provide the product that golfers around the world enjoy every day.”

Presented by the USGA in conjunction with the Japan Golf Association (JGA), the 5th Golf Innovation Symposium will present voices from around the world aligned toward the singular goal of strengthening the long-term health of the game.

Over the next several months, the USGA will work closely with the JGA on a comprehensive study of facilities and golfers in Japan, the second-largest golf nation in the world. The findings, which will be presented at the symposium, will provide insights into the topics that are most important to Japanese golfers and courses, and the research will be a key component of the symposium, which is expected to attract an audience composed of facility managers and key industry representatives from Japan and other Asian countries.

“We attended the 2017 Golf Innovation Symposium in Vancouver, and we were very impressed by the way the USGA is thinking about the future of golf through research, science and innovation,” said Andy Yamanaka, the executive director of the JGA. “We look forward to partnering with the USGA not only to help Japanese facility managers operate more efficiently and provide a better experience for our golfers, but also to share our outcomes with the golf world.”

In addition to studying the Japanese golf landscape, the USGA and the JGA are planning to build a strong connection to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which has a vision that includes relevant concepts such as innovation, technology and sustainability.

“The eyes of the world will be on the 2020 Olympics golf competition at Kasumigaseki Country Club,” said JGA Chairman Tsunetada Takeda. “By working together with the USGA, we are excited about demonstrating that a sport with so much history and tradition is at the forefront of employing cutting-edge solutions in order to advance the game for future generations to enjoy.”

As in past symposiums, the USGA will canvass academia, the private sector and worldwide golf associations to select the most compelling, most relevant and most impactful content to help the industry achieve the challenge statement’s goals. In addition, the USGA has put forth a call for presentations to identify potential speakers at the symposium. Guidelines and instructions for submitting proposals can be found at usga.org/symposium.