Keep up the pace

John Shortt looks at a new system available for golf clubs to monitor & correct pace of play

We all know that pace of play is an issue and the GUI have done, and continue to do their part to try and help clubs combat the issue. However, for any real change to have a lasting impact all golfers need to adhere to the time restrictions and correct themselves where necessary. Easier said than done! A revolutionary new system called Tagmarshal has been introduced to monitor pace of play and identify problem groups on course, looking to turn Pace of Play into an opportunity for a better member and guest experience as well as improving operational efficiencies and revenue.

The system is very successfully in operation at a number of clubs around the world notably Erin Hills (venue for the recent US Open), Whistling Straits, Valhalla and Kiawah Island. It has now made its way to Ireland and is in use at Ballybunion and Trump Doonbeg and it will be announced at a number of other clubs around the country shortly and it certainly seems like a reliable and unintrusive way to combat pace of play.

So what is it? Well, essentially Tagmarshal is a small tag which is affixed to a golf buggy, a golf bag or a caddy and it monitors the pace of a group of golfers around the course in real time. The technology is relayed through the system and is displayed on a laptop in the clubhouse for the management team or in the proshop and can also be displayed on iPads or tablets for the course ranger or starter etc. They can then see live feedback of where the problem is and they can go straight to the problem group and assist them.

BENEFITS:

1) The club can reduce the amount of hours and manpower required for ranging and can manage the system from the first tee or pro shop

2) The club can improve playing experiences for members and visitors without having any negative affect on their customers

3) Trouble group(s) identified by the system’s algorithms can be pinpointed and dealt with quickly and easily

4) Trouble group(s) can be approached with the iPad showing all data which is indisputable so the awkward ‘please speed up’ conversation is averted

5) The club can provide an accurate ‘round time’ at any time of the day for prospective green fee visitors or member wishing to play

6) Any slow players will know that they are being monitored in advance which will encourage them to play a little faster and not be the source of a hold-up

7) The tags are small and can be affixed to a golf bag or placed in a pocket so have no impact on players. They can be located via GPS and geofences alert if one is taken off course by accident, so they can be located easily

8) The system is relatively inexpensive to implement and once in place it can provide a wide variety of additional benefits to the club

9) It is easy to use with problem groups highlighted in red with other slow groups (where it isn’t their fault) highlighted in yellow and all others showing in green.

10) For busy courses the system can add much needed tee times at key points in the day where traditionally things slow down. It can also reduce overall round times, keep players happier, enhance the player experience and ultimately help the club be more profitable.

All in all it seems like a wonderful system and having had the chance to use it on a number of occasions both at home and abroad IGM are delighted to say that Tagmarshal ticks all the boxes. The feedback from golfers, club managers and other club staff has been overwhelmingly positive and once you’re on time you forget it’s there, but if you start falling behind it definitely encourages you to get back on track.

For more information on the system visit www.tagmarshal.com or contact Stephen Knoop on stephen.knoop@tagmarshal.com

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Tagmarshal Pace-of-Play System Launches at Ireland’s Ballybunion

(BALLYBUNION, IRELAND) – Tagmarshal – the pace of play and field-optimizing system used globally by golf courses, country clubs and resorts – is operational at the historic Ballybunion Golf Club, former host of the Irish Open and coveted destination for golfers worldwide.
 
A GOLF Magazine top-20 course in the world, Ballybunion clubhouse staff and player assistants deploy Tagmarshal technology at its famous Old Course to further enhance golfer enjoyment.
 
“As links courses, it is especially vital for us to accurately manage round times,” says Vari McGreevy, General Manager of Ballybunion. “Tagmarshal’s innovative technology enables informed decisions, ultimately accelerating field flow for even better on-course experiences.”
 
Utilized at the likes of Erin Hills (2017 U.S. Open), Whistling Straits (2020 Ryder Cup), Valhalla (2014 PGA Championship), Carnoustie (2018 The Open Championship) and Kiawah Island (2012 PGA Championship), Tagmarshal’s discreet data-transmitting tags track walking and cart rounds. With a wealth of intuitive, dynamic information available, courses provide positive, non-confrontational player assistance and routinely improve their per-hole and overall goal times, and streamline field management accuracies and processes.

“Ballybunion is one of the world’s marquee golf destinations,” says Bodo Sieber, CEO of Tagmarshal. “Its team, including the superintendent, quickly started extracting value from the solution’s algorithms and predictive models to improve operational outcomes.”
 
According to a recent USGA survey, 74% of golfers believe pace of play is “critical” to the enjoyment of their round. Tagmarshal utilizes real-time data and industry leading algorithms to improve average round times for a well-managed and consistent pace while enriching golfer experiences. Course managers use Tagmarshal data to unlock significant revenue opportunities, better manage pin placements, wear patterns, hole setups and operational efficiencies.

About Ballybunion Golf Club
Meandering through fescue-covered dunes along County Kerry’s rugged Atlantic coastline, Ballybunion presents the quintessential Irish golf experience. One of the game’s most riveting layouts, the par-71, 6,802-yard Old Course radiates majesty and charm. Beautifully contoured fairways fuse with a blanket of grassy dunes to fashion a classic test of links golf. The Old Course has mesmerized guests for decades, a tribute to its embodiment of the game’s greatest traits. The 402-yard No. 11 hole is widely heralded as one of the finest par 4s in the world, while the long par-3 15th is both remarkably scenic and treacherous.

More information:  ballybuniongolfclub.com.
 
About Tagmarshal

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Tagmarshal to complete the Player Experience at Carnoustie Golf Links

Tagmarshal – the pace-of-play and field-optimising system used globally by golf courses, country clubs and resorts – is being piloted at the historic Carnoustie Golf Links’ Championship Course, a marquee destination for golfers worldwide.

One of the game’s most celebrated courses, Carnoustie will augment fast golfer pace through Tagmarshal’s sophisticated geo-tagging and pace algorithms that enhance round times by 15-17 minutes and enable courses to provide a consistent pace.

“At Carnoustie, we are continuously looking for ways to enhance our on-course experience,” says Colin Sinclair, Head Golf Professional at Carnoustie. “Tagmarshal’s technology will be a valuable tool in exploring improvement opportunities.”

Proven at Ireland’s Ballybunion Golf Club (Irish Open), as well as Erin Hills (2017 U.S. Open), Whistling Straits (2020 Ryder Cup), Valhalla (2014 PGA Championship), East Lake (Tour Championship hosts), Kiawah Island (2012 PGA Championship) and many other facilities, Tagmarshal’s discreet data-transmitting tags track walking and cart rounds. With a wealth of intuitive, dynamic information at their fingertips, courses provide positive, non-confrontational player assistance and routinely improve their per-hole goal times while streamlining field management accuracies and processes.

“Carnoustie is one of the most sought-after golf destinations in the world,” says Bodo Sieber, CEO of Tagmarshal. “We are excited to be partnering with their team and look to empower them to deliver efficient, accurate and data-driven support to members and guests, further adding to a world-class experience.”

A recent USGA survey shows 74% of golfers believe pace of play is “critical” to the enjoyment of their round. Fittingly, the Tagmarshal solution utilizes real time data and industry leading algorithms to improve average round times for a well-managed and consistent pace, enriched golfer experiences, and significant revenue opportunities. Superintendents use Tagmarshal data to better manage pin placements, wear patterns, hole setups as well as operational efficiencies.

Carnoustie Golf Links carnoustie.com

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Tagmarshal Module Upgrade Alert: Geofencing V2.0

Golf Cart GPS: The new generation Tagmarshal Geofencing Module has been developed in line with feedback and best practice input from some of the World’s top golfing facilities and we’re excited to have it Beta testing at a number of partner sites at present with system-wide roll out scheduled in the coming weeks.

Who’s it for?
Course Management

What’s new?
The original Geofence module was covering the basics well, but as always we have requested active feedback from our partner courses to actively look for improvements and additional high-value functionalities.

Time / Day control set-up:
Some of the feedback we received by courses was that it would be a major benefit to have geofences automatically activate at certain times of day or on certain days of the week. This functionality has now been added.

Geofence Groups: 
This is a major improvement to the user interface and allows Course Managers to set up groups of geofences such as Heavy Rain, Cart Paths or fences to police ’round theft’. In practise a geofence group now has a number of geofences assigned that can be controlled in bulk – switched on and off as a group, have bulk colours assigned (ie. all red), time / day parameters or alert types added (ie. all fences in a group to be active on weekends).
For instance a course manager can set up a ‘Rain Day Cart Paths’ geofence group and then when the weather conditions require it, switched it one with a simple toggle.

Low / med / high alerts:
Not all geofencing breaches are of equal importance – some just need to be noted and logged – other require urgent attention. Tagmarshal’s Geofence 2.0 offers course managers to select between low / medium / high priority alerts. High priority alerts generate an automated voice call to designated numbers ie. security, pro shop or course manager. Low priority alerts log fence breaches with a small pop up window, while medium alerts generate a large pop up window on the Tagmarshal system a screen providing information such as: Cart / Walking tag responsible, area / geofence breached, time of breach and players assigned to the playing group.

Tagmarshal featured in August issue of PGA Magazine

Club de Golf Alcanada, which is viewed as being one of Spain’s finest golf courses despite its youthful status, has enhanced the experience of playing there further by introducing the innovative TagMarshal, which is set to speed up play.

The 7,108-yard, Robert Trent Jones Jr-designed layout in north Mallorca, the only one on the island by the sea, also installed a defibrillator to ensure the safety of its players, as well as giving its staff eight hours of training on how to use the potentially life-saving Powerheart G5.

Club de Golf Alcanada signed a three-year contract with TagMarshal, a course management system, which on average should speed up play by 14 minutes thanks to its tracking tag that clips to golf bags and provides real-time data, allowing up-to-the-second information on every group of players.

Kristoff Both, director of Golf at Alcanada, said: “We are always trying to improve the experience for golfers here at Alcanada and using TagMarshal is just another example of how we are doing that.

“We don’t have a big problem with slow play but slow play is one of the biggest annoyances to golfers, so we are now well equipped to deal with it and speed up play should we need to.”

TagMarshal was first introduced into the golf world at the PGA show in Orlando, Florida in 2015 and is in operation around the world at more than 50 courses, including the likes of the prestigious Erin Hills, in Wisconsin – host of the 2017 US Open, Kiawah Island – Ocean course, Whistling Straits and Valhalla.

TagMarshal co-founder Bodo Sieber said: “Take-up is growing rapidly, as the system provides measurable and quick improvement of the pace of play and on top of a better on-course experience for guests and member players as well as measurable return on investment.

“We regard the pace of play as an opportunity rather than a problem.  It is our goal to help courses to turn the pace into an asset.

“Most of our partner courses don’t have a pace of play problem, but want to stay ahead of the game and use smart technology to better control course flow and create an excellent on-course experience.

“Our partner courses are generally looking two achieve two prime business objectives – enhance the player experience while maximising revenue potential.”

In June the safety-conscious Club de Golf Alcanada also installed a defibrillator near the caddy master. According to the American Heart Association, golf courses are one of the most common places to suffer a heart attack and there is a concerted effort to encourage clubs to introduce them.

Former European Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher also championed their use after he suffered a heart attack and survived after being treated by a defibrillator.

Alcanada has won an array of awards since opening 14 years ago, including being named best golf course in Europe by visitors to 1golf.eu for seven years in a row.

Opened in October 2003, the course sits in a breathtaking location overlooking the Bay of Alcudia and takes its name from an island with a lighthouse, situated just offshore, which can be seen from most of the holes.

www.golf-alcanada.com.

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Tagmarshal featured in August issue of PGA Magazine

Tagmarshal was recently featured in the August issue of PGA Magazine regarding its Pace of Play technology implementation at Erin Hills, site of this year’s U.S. Open. PGA Head Professional, Jim Lombardo, discusses the Tagmarshal system and the value it has added at Erin Hills.

Improving Pace of Play
With Technology

Jim Lombardo,
PGA Head Professional,
Erin Hills,
Hartford, Wisconsin

Pace of play has long been a topic of discussion for golf course operators, and it has become increasingly important in recent years as modern golfers demand faster and more efficient golf experiences to fit life’s time constraints.

Erin Hills, site of this year’s U.S. Open, is walking only and boasts an extremely challenging golf course with rolling terrain and fescue-lined fairways. So facility operators, and golfers who venture to the Wisconsin destination (pictured), expect the round to be longer than the four-hour standard. However, pace of play is still vitally important to the facility – both in terms of delivering value to golfers and operational efficiency.

“Because we have caddies with roughly 95 percent of our groups, we were looking for a way to track the caddies and keep them on pace,” says Jim Lombardo, Erin Hills’ PGA Head Professional. “We researched full GPS systems and came across a company called Tagmarshal.”

Tagmarshal’s technology centers on small GPS locators, or “tags,” that can be carried by a caddie or attached to a golf car. The tag not only monitors a group’s whereabouts on the course, but also meticulously tracks pace of play relative to the rest of the on course groups and calculates average round times.

The captured data is output onto the screen of an iPhone, iPad or computer. Because caddies at Erin Hills are not permitted to take their phones on course, marshals are armed with iPads and are continuously monitoring the flow of play. Tagmarshal’s platform indicates when a group starts falling behind by highlighting them in yellow – they will turn red when they’re way behind pace. This allows marshals to precisely target the group that’s causing the slow play and go directly to the source of the problem.

“The marshals will pull aside the caddies in a slow group and ask them why they’re out of position. Once they know the problem, they can communicate and come up with a solution,” says Lombardo. “If you have a few slow groups out there, the system will identify exactly who those slow players are and we can go directly out to them. And the players behind them will see that we’re working on it.”

Before implementing the system in 2015, the average round at Erin Hills was 5:02. It’s now down to 4:52 – it was as low as 4:45 before U.S. Open conditions set in.

“We decreased our pace of play by 10 full minutes, which allowed us to gain one full tee time. Adding that one extra tee time – at a $280 green fee – for a foursome that’s over $1,000 in green fee revenue,” says Lombardo. “We’re open 170–175 days at 75–80 percent occupancy, so if you do that math you can see where there’s a significant financial impact over the season.”

The system also tracks each caddie by name, so Erin Hills knows which caddies average the fastest loop times. For daily-fee facilities, the system integrates with most tee time software and can track individual golfers, so facilities know who their fastest players are. More bells and whistles: Operators can monitor average times for each hole, revealing how certain hole placements or a new renovation impacts pace of play.

“It’s a great value to us,” says Lombardo. “For me to walk into the office and peer at my computer screen and in a matter of seconds know exactly how my course is playing, that’s value.”

This article was published in the PGA Magazine:

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