WindTag, the industry-first innovation from Tagmarshal, is changing how golfers and operators interact with the wind.

We’ve outlined how WindTag for Courses enhances and impacts on-course operations, so let’s take a closer look at what WindTag for Driving Ranges can do for your facility.

With each bay now able to show players what the wind is doing in real-time via mounted screens, WindTag answers two questions that face a golfer standing over every shot – what is the distance to the target and what is the wind doing?

In solving these questions by providing unrivaled wind intelligence, both the golfer and the operator benefit.

When a golfer looks at weather conditions while on the course or driving range, they’re likely being given information from weather instruments miles away, at the nearest airport or weather station, that could be hours old. 

Conditions, and especially wind, are constantly changing. WindTag allows you to look at a screen displaying real-time conditions for each target to gauge what the wind is doing when practicing on the range, enabling golfers to dial in and understand exactly how each shot is impacted.

Hitting towards a 150-yard marker to sharpen short iron play is useful, but working on specific distances by hitting to different targets is far more beneficial to golfers.

With a WindTag device on each target, the exact distance to each is visible on bay screens, allowing golfers to work through a range of shots and figure out which club works best for them.

Drawing on billions of data points from Tagmarshal’s tracked golf rounds, WindTag offers players AI-powered live shot recommendations in real-time. Visible on the screens in a simple-to-follow display, these account for distance, club, trajectory and target. 

Is the wind helping or hurting, and should the golfer consider reducing the shot trajectory to minimize wind impact? Now they’ll know exactly what to do and can take this deeper understanding with them next time they step onto the course.

Providing an enhanced practice experience by incorporating WindTag will not only keep golfers returning to your facility – it will also bring in new golfers who want to improve their game using technology and wind intelligence not available elsewhere.

Alongside attracting and retaining new golfers, longer and more enjoyable practice sessions result in ranges selling more balls. F&B orders can also be completed using the screens mounted at each bay.

An effective teaching professional uses every tool at their disposal to help golfers get better. Having WindTag data on hand to guide golfers in how to manage different wind conditions and distances enables a deeper level of teaching.

Alongside other tech solutions like launch monitors and on-body or on-club analyzers, teaching professionals can deliver novel, unique insights.

All of these experiential upgrades come without the huge capital investment associated with other popular driving range technologies.

WindTag setup is simple and hassle-free, with each target getting a WindTag device and each bay getting a Tagmarshal screen. No cellular, Bluetooth or WiFi is required to transfer real-time data, and the devices are rugged and waterproof, minimizing maintenance efforts.

Golfers have grown tired of throwing grass into the air to measure the wind. Now, with WindTag, the technology finally exists to make that a thing of the past and rely instead on actual data.

As a driving range tool that sets a facility apart by enhancing the quality of the practice experience, WindTag is “mapping the invisible hazard” and solving questions in a way that benefits golfers and operators.

To find out more about WindTag for Driving Ranges, complete this form and we will get in touch.

Whilst it’s not solely the responsibility of the head golf professional to ensure that revenue targets are met, it is a key aspect of the role and one in which they can have a significant impact.

The effective management of on-course pace and flow is critical to powering a course’s economic engine, underpinning many of the areas where significant revenue gains can be made.

Technology like Tagmarshal’s optimization system has made it possible to proactively manage pace of play, turning this into a key differentiating factor that sets a course apart from the competition.

Below, we’ll look at some of the revenue challenges that head golf pros face and how technology helps to overcome them.

Adding additional tee times is, alongside increasing green fees, 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 pro 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. Tightening gap intervals during quicker periods of the day, such as the early rounds, and reducing the round goal times in these same periods will help minimize the effect added capacity has on the rest of the day’s flow.

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 pros 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.

By effectively managing pace, and adding tee times based on data, Erin Hills now generates an additional $700,000 in green fees per season. According to Jim Lombardo, Erin Hills’ head golf pro, “the return on investment is huge!”

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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 pros must encourage their teams to identify first-time players and log this data. 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 both the on-course and off-course experiences to 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 pro and members.

There are now more golfers in the 18 to 34 age bracket than any other, making it the sport’s largest cohort.

This demographic values their time and places a premium on immediacy (think Uber, DoorDash, and Amazon Prime), which is why NGF research has shown they are willing to pay more for a quicker and more enjoyable round. The same is true for the majority of age ranges.

Dynamic pricing leads to heightened expectations around the quality of the player experience, making effective pace and flow management central to its successful implementation. 

When head golf pros make use of technology like Tagmarshal’s Live Map, which provides full, real-time oversight of on-course operations and highlights problem groups at a glance, they are showing players that they are committed to delivering on those expectations.

The quality of on-course interactions is also improved by reframing marshals as player assistants and using data to inform conversations around pace. This sends a clear message to players that their time is important and helps justify the increased price they paid for their round.

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 pro 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 also 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 pros 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. 

In addition, the 2Way cart screens can be used for advertising F&B specials in your facility’s restaurant or bar, prompting players to stay (and spend) post-round. On-screen advertising can also be sold by Tagmarshal to third parties, creating yet another revenue stream for the facility.

Head golf pros play a vital role in planning and executing the day-to-day running of on-course operations, while also being the most public-facing members of the management team.

The rise of technology in the golf space has opened up many additional revenue opportunities for courses; most prominently, understanding how and where to increase capacity. 

Head golf pros who harness the power of optimization technology effectively will ensure that they get the most out of their teams without compromising on player experience and revenue gains.

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Great news – now you can watch our latest expert webinar, ‘Optimization tech and tee sheets: 3 ways to add capacity and material revenue,’ on-demand in your own time!

Tagmarshal CEO Bodo Sieber, in conversation with COO Craig Kleu and Customer Success Associate Terence Thornton, outlined pace and tee sheet optimization strategies that you can implement today, based on learnings from more than 75 million tracked golf rounds across our 700+ partner courses.

You will learn:

• Revenue opportunities created by proactive pace management
• Increasing tee sheet capacity with smart gap intervals and variable goal times
• Executing the foundation for dynamic pricing

A head golf professional’s job, from the moment they arrive at the course in the early morning until they leave after closing the range and pro shop, is a demanding one, both from an operational and player perspective.

To consistently deliver exceptional on-course experiences, while often operating with stretched labor resources and revenue target pressures, courses are increasingly turning to technology for assistance.

This education series article outlines how optimization technology allows head golf pros to increase operational efficiencies by reducing the labor and resources they require to achieve their goals.

Research by the National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA) shows that labor needs rank 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, is a key component of the head golf pro’s role.

With technology enabling full oversight and visibility of operations, head golf pros are often able to cut down on the number of on-course player assistants required to monitor the field. In some cases, they may even eliminate them.

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 pro 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.

Many clubs are finding it difficult to hire qualified staff for open positions, with wages also rising sharply in recent years. Shrewd use of technology means that smaller teams can get more done, and operators can get greater value out of their existing payroll. This eases the burden on head golf pros, who must balance the hiring and firing of staff with the budget available to them.

When a staff member can fulfil multiple roles at once, it frees up time for the head golf pro to conduct golf lessons and other player-facing tasks, rather than being tucked away out of sight.

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Head golf pros can’t afford to have their days be bogged down with performing menial administrative tasks when there is such a need for them to be forward-facing and visible to players.

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 exits the first tee using GPS data, saving the starter or staff member responsible valuable time.

Once Tagmarshal has been correctly set up, the system automates many time-consuming tasks without staff having to be hands-on. The data gathered is also presented in a way that makes spotting opportunities for optimization far simpler than manually wading through large data sets.

In addition, rather than on-course staff rushing to communicate with players as poor weather approaches, alerts can be 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.

According to USGA studies, course conditioning is 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 pro, embracing technology does empower them to assist maintenance and superintendent teams in a number of ways.

Monitoring where players travel 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 pro can toggle between these at the click of a button 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 recorded and logged via Tagmarshal’s Track Map feature, staff can see exactly where groups went during their round, as well as any geofence breaches and interactions. This helps drive accountability and inform any conversations that may need to take place at a later stage.

Any head golf pro who can achieve their course’s operational goals using fewer resources is sure to be popular with management and owners.

However, increasing efficiency isn’t solely about reducing costs. Freeing up labor hours means more focus can be given to ensuring that every player has a memorable experience, from the moment they arrive at the course through to when they exit the gates.

Technology empowers head golf pros and their teams by giving them the necessary tools to drive improvements day after day, which, across an entire season, will ultimately have a massive impact.

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