“WE ARE PROUD TO HAVE ATTRACTED TOP PROFESSIONALS.”
With four editions behind it, the Gecko Pro Tour has become the most important circuit for professionals in Spain. Last season it consisted of sixteen tournaments. Gabriel Cañizares won the Tour’s grand finale at La Reserva de Sotogrande, and Jordi García del Moral was the overall winner of the Gecko Pro Tour.
The general manager of the circuit, Rupert Hubbard, is very satisfied with his ‘creature’, which will start running again next autumn on the Costa del Sol.
-How did the idea of creating the Gecko Pro Tour come about?
-The origins of The Gecko Pro Tour date back to 2011, when the idea of developing a winter golf circuit on the Costa del Sol was conceived. With the combination of good weather, in months when golf is virtually unplayable in Europe, and the magnificent golf courses it was a “justified risk”.
Clearly, if players are fortunate enough to have sponsors or wealthy family there are multiple opportunities available to play competitive winter golf in other countries, such as Florida, South Africa, Asia, Australia or Latin America. But this is not the case for the vast majority of professionals and amateurs who aspire to sporting success. As we all know, southern Spain offers certain unique advantages that few places can compete with, such as a large airport (Malaga-Costa de Sol Airport) that operates with numerous low-cost airlines, fairly affordable accommodation, as well as the numerous golf courses available…, not to mention The Gecko Pro Tour, which offers highly competitive tournaments with multinational players.
-What is your assessment of these four editions of the Circuit?
-Without exaggeration, each year we have seen a marked improvement in both the number of participants and the quality of players we have been able to attract. The 2014/15 season has seen 15% more players compared to the previous year, which had a 25% increase over the 2012/13 season. This year we have also been fortunate to have 12 Challenge Tour and European Tour players who have competed in several tournaments between January and early March, before their first event held in Europe (The Madera Islands Open, in Portugal). Based on player feedback, we are optimistic that this trend will continue, and we are confident that we will attract even more players from Scandinavia, the UK and Germany, which represent the core of our main nationalities after Spain.
Another example of our success is evident from the enormous media coverage we have received. We send press releases to more than 150 journalists in Spain and Northern Europe. Canal+ Golf and Radio Marca cover all our tournaments, as well as the vast majority of the country’s sports media (digital and print). We are also in talks with Sky Sports to expand broadcasting in the UK and Ireland. The fact that one of its member companies, SkyBet, covers our tournaments bodes well for these negotiations.
-At a time when it is increasingly difficult to get sponsors and when the few professional circuits that existed in Spain have disappeared, what are the reasons why the Gecko Pro Tour remains and triumphs?
-It has certainly been a surprise to us the apathy that companies in Spain show towards golf sponsorship. Although there seem to be millions of dollars available for certain sports, such as Formula 1, soccer, regattas, cycling, basketball…, for some reason golf has been forgotten. It saddens me personally to see so many talented young golfers in Spain unable to continue pursuing their dreams due to lack of financial support, what a sad waste. Obviously the Spanish tax regime does not help, but there must be other reasons as well.
As for The Gecko Pro Tour, so far we have been fortunate enough to have private funding to continue but there is a limit to everything. As an eternal optimist, I am confident that we are developing an exciting brand that will eventually attract sponsors that will, in turn, allow us to grow the circuit, but I must admit that it is being extremely complicated, especially due to the heavy tax burden of 21% VAT. Our other financial challenge is the price of green fees. Unlike other similar circuits in Northern Europe, which get the golf courses for free, unfortunately we have to pay. In addition, the fact that European economies are prospering leads to an increase in golf tourism, which is obviously good news for Andalusia, but makes it even more difficult for us to find golf courses at a price we can afford.
-Can you advance any information about the next edition, will there be any novelties with respect to previous editions?
-We will be sending out a press release shortly announcing a number of changes we intend to make for the upcoming season, but I’m excited to share some details. Although our current website has over 50,000 hits per month during our season, we will be launching an entirely new website that will incorporate many of the recommendations and ideas we have received from players, potential sponsors and other supporters of our circuit. In addition, we will be changing our logo, which sadly will mean the disappearance of our animated character. Regarding the tournaments we are planning to host, our intention is to also hold a “Pro-Am Series” during the season, which will benefit our chosen charity, the Ernie Els Autism Foundation.
Finally, the circuit’s calendar promises to be the best in our history, with the news that many of the best courses on the Costa del Sol will once again be part of our circuit. I am convinced that all this, combined with an exciting new Members’ Program, will be the ingredients that will ensure that the 2015/16 season will be full of success.
-Gabriel Cañizares, Carlos Rodiles and Jordi García del Moral are some of the internationally renowned players -all three have played on the European Tour- who have triumphed on the Gecko Tour. Do you expect to continue with that quality of players next season?
-We are proud to have attracted a large number of top professionals. On our website we have a section called “Hall of Fame”, which details an impressive list of golfers who have played our circuit and who have triumphed on the Challenge and/or European Tour. Although it is too long to list, we can cite names such as Pablo Martin Benavides, Alejandro Canizares, Estanislao Goya, Andy Sullivan, Callum Shinkwin, Nicolas Vanhootegem, Tim Sluiter, Eddie Pepperell, Chris Hanson, etc..
So, indeed, we are confident that during the coming season we will be able to continue to attract high quality players from all over Europe. Competitiveness among strong opponents is very positive for the development of Spain’s junior talent and obviously also for the image of The Gecko Pro Tour.
-What difficulties are professional golfers currently facing in Spain?
-In my humble opinion, there are mainly 2 obstacles or difficulties. The first is simply the financial aspect. As I mentioned earlier, the lack of sponsorship in Spain is driving many of the local players to either stop playing or not have the freedom to test their true potential as they simply cannot afford it. Although we have historically tried to keep our prices low (I might add that we are cheaper than other Tours!), we are aware that 250-300€ is too high a price for many of the talented Spanish golfers, who, if it were not for the price, would be happy to play our circuit.
The second is also somewhat related to the financial aspect. A golfer will not develop his potential by playing week after week in his own club, competing against the same other amateur members when there is a club tournament. To develop his own talent, it is essential that the player can experience other courses with different conditions, playing with a card in hand and against the best. Without support, this opportunity is not available to most golfers.
– How do you envision the future of the Gecko Tour in the short and medium term?
-We look to the future with great optimism. We cannot relax and we must maintain and improve our high standards of professionalism and the excellent operation with which we run our tournaments. We have a great team and hopefully our new format will allow us to continue to attract as many players and an increasing number of experienced professionals. Although we are keen to increase the prize money every year, unfortunately this is not possible at the moment due to the current tax regime and the scarcity of sponsors. Hopefully the Junta de Andalucia will succeed and be able to convince the Government to reduce VAT on golf in the not too distant future.
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