Bucks, United Kingdom, January 16, 2022 / TRAVELINDEX / Technology is helping golf clubs connect and recover. It wasn’t too long ago when the words “our members won’t/don’t use apps” came from the lips of many a club manager. But now it is a different story. With the advent of COVID-19 and social distancing being the norm, at least for the time being, many managers are turning to technology to help them do more with their precious resources.
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With limited time and staff, general managers need to be able to quickly reconnect to their members, efficiently communicate and start the process of recovery. And they need to be able to all three quickly.
This where the technology we all have in our pockets becomes a very valuable resource to clubs:
Communications
In this rapidly changing environment where rules are being adjust almost daily, traditional methods – email, club notice board (defunct atm), letter – is either too slow, out of reach or they just plain don’t read them.
Even the new option of social media has its limits as it still requires your members to actively go and check.
As the general manager, this makes you and your team’s lives harder as your members don’t all know the new rules, what’s happening and how to behaviour (distancing, where to park, etc) and have to spend time painstakingly explaining this to them – from a safe distance of course!
This is where mobile app technology can remove this burden by allowing managers, even from the comfort of their own homes, to quickly and easily communicate directly to their members giving them instant updates, pointing them in right direction and keeping their members abreast of the club’s news and new rules.
Online Bookings
It is essential that you have your players turn up appropriately and not be queued in the pro shop/reception!
Via a club app, like CourseMate, allowing members to access your online bookings allow you to organise the number of available slots in any given day, reduce bottlenecks and minimise “misunderstandings” without having members popping into your office.
Have a last minute slot available? Then sending out a push notification will soon get that place filled!
It also makes it very easy and convenient for your members & visitors, especially if you have more than one booking system (or a member system plus a booking system) because you can centralise these in one place and not get your golfers to download half a dozen different apps or scour your website to find the correct page.
This applies to booking in matches or checking out their personal golfing accounts with systems like Handicapmaster, Master Scorecard, HDID, Golf Genius, etc.
Technology is now the new norm, isn’t it time you made your life (and your member’s life’s) easier to book, set up games and to check out your playing history?
Keeping Golfers Safe Out On The Course
Paper scorecards are the traditional method of keeping your scores but now with social distancing and transference of the virus digital scorecards are now the way forward.
By using digital scorecards along with online booking, it promotes car park golf in the short term, where players turn up, change their shoes, get on the course and play.
Organisers can run events and competitions remotely via the cloud and players can enter their scores via apps, taking the whole process away from physical scorecards and points of contact. There are a number of established companies that will help you do just this.
Again you don’t have to get your members to download a dozen different apps either, with a good club app like CourseMate, you can centralise them making convenient and easy for all.
Food & Beverage
With digital F&B menus it is easy to create temporary menus to suit the current situation and to update them as the season continues (not to mention the cost saving and time required on the printed versions)
Like scorecards, removing the paper element from the equation ensures that members are kept safe from any transference, no matter how small the risk is, and maintains social distancing keeping both staff and golfers safe.
It is not just the ease of creating a reduced menu and updating it, but using the technology that comes as standard with mobile phones, members can call for their food in advance ensuring it is ready for their arrival; reducing waiting times, unnecessary contact and providing another source of revenue. If your POS system allows online ordering, again this can be used for the same purpose.
For clubs that have a halfway house players can call in advance for “grab and go”. Allowing staff to put out drinks/quick food options in advance.
Offer take home meals – Members can place order prior to finishing their round so everything is ready by the time they finish their golf allowing them to take home a delicious meal for the entire family.
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About CourseMate Golf Club App
CourseMate keeps your members happy with clear club communications, centralisation of current systems and allows you to stay easily connected to them whilst still allowing you to market to visitors, grow your data base and increase revenues across the venue.