Free online tee time booking software launched for golf clubs

The golf industry’s lead supplier of IT has said it will offer a range of products, including tee time booking software, at no extra cost to golf clubs to help them quickly get back to normal following the lockdown.

There are positive signs that golf will be allowed soon but only with social distancing restrictions in place, which will probably mean clubhouses will remain largely closed for the time being. In some countries this has also meant that golfers can only book rounds online as cash transactions are not allowed.

Club Systems International (CSI) has said it will therefore make its online tee time booking facility available to all its customers for free until at least the end of 2020.

The company will also be introducing on-course scoring and online ‘honesty box’ payments.

“Golfers are itching to get back out there; golf clubs across the UK will need to gear up to temporarily manage their business in very different ways,” said Richard Peabody, managing director of CSI.

“Because of the nature of the game, we anticipate that golf will be one of the first sports to be made available again, and we want to ensure that clubs have got the capabilities to take bookings and payments, and communicate with their members.”

In addition to the online tee time booking facility, CSI has reminded its premium customers using Club v1 software that they have free use of the Club v1 app to communicate with members via push notifications. In fact all CSI customers, whatever service they use, will have access to a version of the members’ app – an ideal tool to keep the conversation going with club golfers.

“Going forward we are also introducing on-course scoring which will directly connect to clubs’ in-house systems. This will be available when restrictions are lifted and we can play golf again. So essentially we can keep competition golf alive and kicking without the need for clubhouses to be open,” said Peabody.

CSI’s contactless payment system, Howdoipay, is another useful platform to allow clubs to maintain important revenue streams. In the coming weeks it will be available for ‘honesty box’ payments allowing visitors to pay securely for green fees where clubs are not staffed.

The team at CSI are also well aware that clubs are managing the challenge of membership renewals at a time when courses are closed. But they cite numerous examples of innovative measures clubs are going to in order to maintain incomes. Fulford Golf Club in York gifted its members with six free visitor green fees if they renewed before the end of March, while Royal Jersey Golf Club has made a name for itself in the local community by offering takeaway food.

Peabody was upbeat on the industry finding its way through the current crisis, adding: “I am confident that our clients will learn from each other, and shared knowledge of incentive schemes and promotions will ensure the long-term future of the UK’s golf clubs.”

CSI, which owns and administrates Europe’s largest online golfing community, HowDidiDo, has been designing, building and supporting IT systems for golf clubs since 1982. Now, with nearly 2,000 golf clubs in the UK and Ireland – along with customers as far afield as Dubai, Ghana and Sri Lanka – CSI has grown to lead the UK and Ireland golf club market.