How Golf Cart GPS Systems Help Head Golf Professionals Deliver Excellence
The job of a head golf professional, especially without the help of golf cart GPS systems, is demanding.
From the moment they arrive at the course – often as early as 6AM – until they leave after closing the range and pro shop, there are demands on their time from a business and golfer perspective.
To get the most out of the resources available to them, and ensure that their course delivers an enjoyable player experience, head golf professionals are increasingly turning to technology.
Let’s take a closer look at how the use of golf cart GPS systems will help optimize on-course operations.
Enhancing the Player Experience with golf cart GPS systems
The most fundamental part of every golf operation, which underpins whether it’s a success or failure, is ensuring an enjoyable player experience.
More than 75% of golfers strongly agree that pace of play is critical in contributing to one’s enjoyment of a round of golf. A head golf professional must always be available to address pace and flow of play issues as they arise throughout the day, but endlessly patrolling the course looking for issues isn’t an option.
Managing pace and flow of play proactively
Technology like Tagmarshal’s Live Map provides teams with real-time, full line of sight of their entire operation, showing them exactly where each group is on the course.
This means player assistants can go directly to problem groups to address them before they adversely impact the rest of the field. They also have data on hand to ensure conversations are neutral and fact-based, removing emotion from the equation.
Alerts can also be set up to send pace messages directly to groups without a player assistant needing to intervene in person.
Tagmarshal’s golf cart GPS technology goes one step further, identifying which groups are delayers – holding up other groups and causing bottlenecks – and which groups are being delayed. These groups are out of position, but through no fault of their own.
The distinction is visible with a single glance at the Live Map screen – delayer groups are purple and delayed groups are orange – so a head golf professional can stay on top of pace issues without having to constantly monitor what’s happening on the course.
The technology gives us awesome data points to see who is being delayed and who is a delayer, and we will use that information to manage course flow.
One of the most brilliant parts of Tagmarshal is that it distinguishes between delayed and delayer groups, so we can focus our efforts and interactions on the correct groups.
Improving on-course service
Providing a high level of on-course service can be a course’s key differentiator when it comes to attracting and retaining new players or members.
Head golf professionals are expected to be available and visible to players, members and guests to answer questions and address issues, but on the course, it’s the job of player assistants (or sometimes assistant golf professionals) to ensure service levels are of a high calibre.
With the time freed up by no longer having to patrol the field looking for and reacting to problem groups, player assistants can focus on increasing touchpoints with players that add to the experience. Whether that’s delivering food and drinks timeously, checking in to offer helpful tips on trickier holes, or letting them know what specials are running at the pro shop or clubhouse, ensuring that there is always a visible presence from the course at all times will leave a lasting impression on players.
Knowing exactly who is in each playing group also opens up opportunities for personalized service, based on that individual’s preferences.
One of our goals is to manage our on-course staff, and Tagmarshal has equipped our staff to proactively manage the field, freeing up their time to spend on player satisfaction and service.
The pace of play numbers and data is incredible, but the proactive service we can provide is really invaluable to us. I had a member who was blown away at how we know exactly where she is so that we can offer tailored service on the course, without them even asking.
Implementing a fair pace of play policy
Pace of play is always a hot topic at any course, be it public or private. The head golf professional is ultimately accountable when things go awry, but getting a handle on pace starts with setting, implementing, communicating and enforcing a fair and realistic pace of play policy.
Without data gathered by golf cart GPS systems, courses manually measure pace and often end on a figure that is inaccurate and unachievable. In addition, certain times of the day play quicker and slower, and having one goal time for the entire day fails to take this into account.
Head golf professionals are usually the first port of call when players are unhappy with pace and flow of play, and having data to rely on and communicate with players increases the chance of compliance. They can also keep pace conversations front of mind by giving regular data-driven updates via email and social media.
Tagmarshal has enabled us to effectively implement our pace of play policy, assisting us in reducing playtime, which allowed us to add additional tee times for extra capacity.
I love the hole-by-hole data, which we use to adjust and tweak expectations to make sure that we are setting realistic pace targets for each hole.
Using golf cart GPS systems to increase efficiency
According to research by the National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA), labor needs are among the top concerns for course owners. Finding ways to maximize the value of the payroll, as well as giving their teams the tools they need to succeed with golf cart GPS systems, is a key component of the head golf professional’s role.
Saving labor hours and reducing payroll costs
With full oversight and visibility of operations, head golf professionals who make effective use of technology are usually able to cut down on the number of on-course player assistants required to monitor the field. In some cases, they may even eliminate the role.
Tagmarshal’s system allows for alerts to be set up and sent to staff so they are kept abreast of what is happening without having to actively monitor the system. If a group falls a certain number of minutes out of position, for example, staff are instantly alerted to ensure a timely response.
This means the head golf professional and their teams can monitor the course’s pace of play from the clubhouse or pro shop while carrying out other tasks, or on the move via mobile phone, only stepping in to assist when a potential problem arises.
Clubs are often finding it difficult to hire qualified staff for open positions and wages have soared. Shrewd use of technology means that smaller teams can get more done and get greater value out of their existing payroll. This eases the burden on head golf professionals, who must balance the hiring and firing of staff with the budget they have available to them.
Lastly, if a staff member can fulfil multiple roles at once, it frees up time for the head golf professional to conduct golf lessons and other player-facing tasks, rather than being tucked away out of sight.
Being able to see the entire course and problem groups has allowed us to use our on-course staff a lot more efficiently. But it’s not only a tool for running the golf course – it’s also a tool for us to manage our payroll and use it more efficiently than we ever have in the past.
We used to have 4 or 5 rangers a day. Now we just have opening and closing player assistants which is huge from a labor and efficiency standpoint. Tagmarshal has been a great partner. The devices are reliable, the service has been great and we’re really happy with everything.
Integrations and automations
Head golf professionals can’t afford to have their days be bogged down by performing menial administrative tasks when there is such a need for them to be forward-facing and visible to players.
Golf cart GPS systems are now advanced enough that many labor-intensive, day-to-day tasks can be automated with the right technology and integrations in play.
Aside from gathering data like starter accuracy or each group’s time to schedule, which was once an arduous pen-and-paper task, Tagmarshal integrates with more than 30 leading tee sheet providers and tech solutions to combine powerful data insights from multiple sources.
The Tee Sheet Auto-Assignment feature pulls in all tee sheet data and automatically assigns the tracking device in use to the player names in that group. This is triggered as the playing group enters the first tee using GPS data, saving the starter or staff member responsible valuable time.
Whereas approaching inclement weather may have once required a mad dash from on-course staff to communicate with players, alerts can now be set up and sent to all groups at the click of a button. The same is true for getting carts in at the end of the day, with an alert triggered at a certain time requesting that all carts return.
We have the Live Map on our tablets and phones, so that our on-course staff can go straight to any issues. The integration with Jonas pulls the names into Tagmarshal’s system, making it easy and efficient for us to deliver personalized service to our members.
To be able to have a partner like Tagmarshal, that is willing and able to interface and connect with other platforms, helps us to understand our operation better. We can see what’s happening on the course at any given time. To have that efficiency has greatly impacted the guest experience, as well as our day-to-day operations.
Increased turf protection and accountability with geofencing
Course conditioning is often cited as the most critical factor in a player’s enjoyment of their round. While ensuring that a course is in good nick isn’t strictly the job of a head golf professional, golf cart GPS systems do empower them to assist maintenance and superintendent teams in a number of ways.
Monitoring where players go on the course is labor-intensive and difficult to police, both in real-time and after the fact, as is adjusting geofence signage on the go. By setting up preset geofences that deal with specific weather conditions or tournament play, a head golf professional can toggle between these instantly to react to changing needs.
The Live Map feature also allows maintenance teams to identify gaps in the field where work can be carried out without impacting the player experience, reducing the need for after-hours work.
With a complete record of each round via Tagmarshal’s Track Map, staff can see exactly where groups went during their round, with any geofence breaches and interactions logged. This helps drive accountability and inform any conversations that may need to take place at a later stage.
The geofencing helps our superintendent protect areas that are overseeded, or have water accumulation. Those are moving targets and putting signs up wouldn’t work nearly as well. Using Tagmarshal’s data, we can refine our processes and those small, incremental changes create large impacts.
The geofencing is really outstanding and very user-friendly. Once the alert pops up and the beeping starts, our guests understand and can get back into a designated area. We can be more effective with the staff we have, and be more proactive and intentional.
Maximizing revenue using golf cart GPS systems
Golf cart GPS systems play a crucial role in equipping head golf professionals with the tools they need to ensure that revenue targets are met.
Whilst not solely the responsibility of the head golf professional, ensuring a consistent pace and flow of play is critical to powering a course’s economic engine. When managed correctly, pace of play can be a key differentiating factor that sets a course apart from the competition.
Watch our short demo to see how Tagmarshal optimizes on-course operations, enhancing the player experience through automated pace of play management, increasing efficiency and generating additional revenue.
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Increasing tee sheet capacity
Adding additional tee times is, alongside increasing green fees, perhaps the most effective way of generating additional revenue.
However, this comes at the risk of jeopardizing the player experience, with more golfers on the course often leading to increased bottlenecks, wait times and frustration. When pace and flow grind to a halt, staff members out on the course are the first to hear about it, but it’s the head golf professional who is ultimately responsible.
Using technology to proactively manage pace, and using the data gathered to identify periods of the day where adding capacity may be possible, is the first step. Once a decision has been made to add tee times, close attention must be paid to effectively monitoring these periods to ensure pace is not impacted.
Tagmarshal’s data breaks average pace down into times of day and days of the week, giving head golf professionals a granular view of the impact that adding tee times has on pace. This can be benchmarked against data from before the tee times were added.
We had to focus on pace and that’s where Tagmarshal is so crucial, hitting the nail on the head from a revenue perspective. The data has allowed us to optimize tee sheet capacity and improve flow – increasing golf revenue by 85% within 3 years.
When people are playing 4-hour rounds, that is not by chance. It’s because their time is important to us and we have invested in Tagmarshal’s technology. When our pace of play is good, we can charge more for a round and we can sell more rounds. Tagmarshal helps us do both.
Drive repeat play and member loyalty
Research by the National Golf Foundation (NGF) shows that more than 50% of new golfers stop playing within the first two years. By the end of 2025, half of the 3.4 million people who played on a golf course for the first time in 2023 will have given up playing.
Head golf professionals must encourage their teams to identify first-time players and log this data, which is made easy with Tagmarshal’s golf cart GPS systems. On-course staff can then track these players on the course and offer a level of service that encourages first-time players to choose this facility as their ‘home course.
The same rings true for regular golfers who may be playing a course for the first time. With technology enabling a more consistent, enjoyable round, players will see value in the fee they pay and will be happy to return, filling the tee sheet and driving revenue gains.
At private clubs, members can often be demanding and expect that both the on-course and off-course experience meet a high standard. The enhanced level of service that Tagmarshal enables, coupled with pace and flow of play gains, encourages loyalty and improves the relationship between the head golf professional and members.
Customer Retention for us is huge and improving the player experience through pace of play management plays a big part in what we do on the golf course – Tagmarshal plays a huge part in us achieving this.
The system plays such a vital role in the culture we are building here, and it’s invaluable to us every day. The member response has been overwhelmingly positive. They often tell us they want this tech at the other courses they regularly play.
Additional F&B spend
Research by Players 1st, the foremost player experience and post-round survey platform in the golf industry, shows that there is a direct correlation between a course’s Net Promoter Score (a marker of whether they enjoyed their round) and the likelihood that they will head to the clubhouse for a meal and/or drinks.
When a head golf professional and their team ensure a steady on-course pace and flow, a critical component of a player’s enjoyment of a round, there will be an uptick in the number of people who spend money after their round. It’s alos logical that quicker rounds equate to more time that can be spent at the pro shop or clubhouse.
At courses where 2Way cart screens are in use, head golf professionals can set up automated, GPS-triggered alerts that prompt players to place their food orders. This is usually done on the 8th hole, so that staff can prepare the meal for collection as the players pass through the halfway house. Along with reducing turn time, this is also a revenue driver.
Having messages pop up at strategic locations, like F&B orders on the 8th hole and information about temporary tee box adjustments, is invaluable to us, as well as our guests.
Our F&B menu pops up on the 2Way screens on our 8th hole and it speeds up the turn time, preventing any backup. This improves course flow and boosts our revenue. We couldn’t be happier with our decision. The system is great and the people at Tagmarshal are great.
Conclusion
Head golf professionals are faced with two important, but often competing demands. They play a vital role in planning and executing the day-to-day running of on-course operations, while also being the most public-facing member of the management team.
Players and members want the head golf professional to be visible and available, and course owners and directors want to know that administrative tasks are being taken care of.
In order to juggle both dimensions of the role, the effective use of golf cart GPS systems is becoming increasingly common, ensuring head golf professionals get the most out of their teams without compromising on player experience and revenue gains.
ABOUT TAGMARSHAL
Tagmarshal, the market leader in on-course optimization technology, provides courses with full, real-time operational oversight and reporting, giving golf operators the tools to manage pace and flow of play effectively, resulting in enhanced player experiences, increased efficiency through automation, and additional revenue generation.
Tagmarshal’s technology has collected over 10 billion data points from more than 75 million rounds of golf and has relationships with in excess of 700 partners, including Hazeltine, Whistling Straits, Baltusrol, Fieldstone, Bandon Dunes, Serenoa and Erin Hills.
Tagmarshal partners with several golf management groups, private, daily fee, public and resort courses, including 40 of the Top 100 US courses, as well as many $40-$60 green fee courses, which are seeing excellent results using the system.
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