The greening of deal making - playing golf with business associates - includes related information on the types of executives who play golf and on golfing etiquette

Nation's Business, Dec, 1996 by Glen Macnow

Nowhere is the first time recorded that an ambitious corporate tyro used a game of golf as a business tool. Maybe it was a dealmaking 18th-century Scotsman schmoozing a client with an afternoon of smacking feather-filled balls at storied St. Andrews. Whether it began at Scotland's mecca for golfers or at some other course in some other time, golf and business have become as inseparable as many an executive's long-iron shot and the nearest bunker. It Was 70 years ago that legendary sportswriter (and frustrated duffer) Grantland Rice offered this advice: "Eighteen holes of golf will teach you more about your foe or partner than will 18 years of dealing with him across a desk."

The marriage between two of this nation's favorite activities has solidified over the years. Last year, 25 million Americans played 490 million rounds of golf, and while no statistics are kept on how many rounds were business-inspired, it's more than likely that the day of bonding and sizing up included discussion of deals bigger than who would pay for refreshments at the Nineteenth Hole.

Consider the findings of "Golf and the Business Executive," a recent attitudinal study by Hyatt Hotels & Resorts. More than 400 links-loving managers and high-earning salespeople were surveyed. The study found that:

* Ninety-three percent agreed with the proposition that golfing with a business associate "is a good way to establish a closer relationship."

* Eighty percent said they find golfing "a good way to make new business contacts."

* Thirty-five percent agreed with the statement that "some of my biggest business deals were made on the golf course."

None of that should be surprising. An afternoon on the links presents a rare opportunity for uninterrupted (and presumably relaxed) conversation. The milieu stands in sharp contrast to other business-friendly sports, such as tennis and squash, in which opponents spend most of their time moving around frantically.

With so little time actually spent swinging the clubs, golf is, as Rice suggested, a terrific way to ascertain the character of a potential partner. And it is a great equalizer.

"Golf brings the mail-room clerk and the executive vice president to the same level whether while teeing off or looking for a ball in the grass," write Jane Blalock and Dawn-Marie Driscoll in the book Gimmes, Bogeys and Business (MasterMedia Limited, $9.95). "The ball doesn't know or care about your title, bank account, or salary and doesn't even know your handicap."

With that in mind, golf resorts are finding new ways to help business people grease the wheels of commerce. One example is a golf-instruction school geared toward business entertaining. Now, you no longer have to suffer the indignity of revealing a feeble backswing to a class full of strangers. Instead, you get to share it with partners, clients, and suppliers, who are more likely to commiserate.

That's the theory, at least, at the Byron Nelson Golf School at the Four Seasons Resort and Club at Las Colinas, near Dallas. The school, which opened last year, is designed to help you spur business by having a group of 10 to 16 people take classes together, analyze each other's swings, and then hit the course. The shared experience presumably leads to bonding and, hence, partnerships.

"It's another, newer form of corporate entertainment, a new way for the businessman to capture the attention of the person he's trying to impress," says Mike Abbott, golf director at Byron Nelson.

"We've used golf instruction as a vehicle to help companies introduce products, maintain existing customers, go after new ones, or reward their best. It's unlike sending a customer on a trip to Disney World. This is an activity where you're with the other people from start to finish. People remember the relationships they build here."

Typically, a company will reserve the resort's golf-school facilities for a three-night, twoday program. There are two fairly lengthy instruction sessions (in both large and smaller groups) and two rounds of golf--the second one serving as a tournament. Wrapped around the play are meals, an awards banquet, and, if the company wants them, moreformalized work sessions.

Abbott meets with the sponsoring business executive before his or her stay is there a particular client whom the company is trying to impress? If so, arrangements are made to ensure that the sponsor and that client end up in the same foursome all weekend. Are there some weak golfers in the group? If so, the resort makes sure they get special attention--without embarrassment.

The full package at the Byron Nelson Golf School costs $2,500 per guest, including everything from lobster dinners to complimentary golf clothes to daily pastries frosted with the sponsoring company's logo. For smaller or less-affluent companies, there are less-costly options.

Roy Evans, chairman of Dallas-based FirstBank, took advantage of one such option. He entertained eight customers at an overnight, one-day stay at the resort. Several of his executives dropped by but did not stay at the resort. Total cost for the program: about $7,500.