Sato ready to get JGTO seen and heard

      (Nobuhito Sato (middle) seen at the Live TV commentary booth at the BMW Japan Tour Championship Mori Building Cup in May.)

Sato ready to get JGTO seen and heard

From a proven winner to a tour administrator, Nobuhito Sato remains loyally attached to JGTO after 28 years.

And the 52-year-old, who is now a JGTO director of communication, has vowed to give back to the Tour. 

He has one vision - to grow its fan base beyond Japan.

"Right now, I don't think we can be satisfied with the fan base we have," said Sato, who is a nine-time JGTO winner.

"There's so much potential to tap from our Tour, considering we're among the biggest Tours in the world with a rich history.

"Even on Official World Golf Ranking, JGTO offers the second-highest points after the PGA Tour and European Tour. 

"With our Tour now seeing an increase in participation of foreign players, we certainly hope to entice more international fans to watch and follow JGTO via our social media platforms.

"We have a lot to do in terms of fans engagement. But for that to happen, we must first create more stars and icons, both locally and internationally, and good storylines."

Under Sato leadership, the JGTO has taken several initiatives which included making the top-class actions by JGTO stars accessible to golf fans worldwide via live streaming on YouTube for selected tournaments.

"We have started broadcasting some of the tournaments live on YouTube, as well as showing practice rounds on ABEMA TV, our title sponsor for Challenge Tour.

"We're unable to do it week in, week out because of TV rights issue, but it's still a good start nonetheless," said Sato.

"Once we get more international viewers to tune in, that’s when we're beginning to make headway."

Domestically, Sato is also stepping up his effort to help the players establish a strong image and presence.

"One of the most important roles of mine is to create a good image of the players to the fans. One thing I realised about JGTO players is that they tend to struggle to communicate well with

the fans and media," said Sato.

"It's my task to bridge the gap."