ABOUT THE WEBINAR

Watch this educational webinar on-demand to find out how The How Bandon Dunes creates exceptional player experiences, while optimizing efficiency. Expert Guest, Jeff Simonds, Assistant GM & Sr. Director of Operations at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, shares valuable insights into how they’re improving operational efficiency and delivering the optimal player experience.

Established in 1979, North Kent Golf Course has built an excellent reputation for boasting spectacular views, with fast greens providing fun and challenging play for golfers of any skill level.

Since taking over ownership of this highly reputed golf course, Nic Lapienski has been making waves in the Michigan region. North Kent GC has undergone some major upgrades and transformations as of late – through the proactive implementation of golf technology solutions.

On that exciting note, let’s get ready to dive into our latest round of Quick 9 interviews with the President of North Kent GC, Nic Lapienski, to find out more about how he has leveraged Golf Cart GPS Optimization technology to improve efficiency and enhance the player experience at his course.

How would you describe your morning routine to kickstart your day?

Wake up! Shower 1st! Snag a snack 2nd! Starbucks trip 3rd… Then off to whatever operation I’m needed at!

Has golf always been your first love? What other sports/team are you a fan of?

No. Basketball has and always will be my first love for sports, then football. I grew up playing basketball competitively and did so successfully, until the day I ruptured my Achilles tendon.

What is your favorite/greatest round of golf experience?

The greatest golf experience for me is playing a round with my boys on a great Michigan summer’s day. A few cold drinks, some music, a cigar, and laughs. It’s all about making memories that will last a lifetime.

Tell us about your role at North Kent GC? Why is it important?

Owning and being the President of 2 golf courses has been a learning curve. Having a limited background in the golf industry has definitely been challenging. But through proactive learning, I am able to continuously identify effective processes and enhance my understanding of on-course optimization.

I’ve spent the last 3 summers at each of the courses with a very hands-on approach to gain knowledge. I worked side-by-side with all of the employees to show that if staff are expected to perform certain duties, I am more than capable of doing the same.

I believe that you have to be relatable to the people you serve. By serving my employees and customers, I not only gain their respect, but more importantly, I get to hear their feedback first-hand and leverage their knowledge to implement improvements.

Why has your course decided to invest in Tagmarshal?

We wanted to bring technology to a course within a country setting, with a ‘big city’ country club amenity, and give the locals something they are not used to.

We also wanted tools to improve our overall course management and streamline pace of play. Tagmarshal has given us a better understanding of our issues and helped to make a positive change. It has also helped significantly with our rangering and alleviated the negative connotation that rangering has on a golf course. So the more we can do from an office, the better the golf experience is for the golfer. Happy golfer + happy golf course = Great profits.

Since the implementation of the Tagmarshal system, how have your customers responded to the on-course experience?

Players love it. Plain and simple. Bringing a GPS with a great presentation makes for a happy player experience. We are also able to “spotlight” local business owners by offering ads which also attracts people itself.

Describe Tagmarshal in three words. 

Technology, Adoptive, Driven.

What is your dream golf destination? Why?

Augusta National Golf Club – I love history and the history within that course, the clubhouse, etc… just screams to me with attention.

Your best golf moment?

My best golf moment would have to be with my wife at the country club, smiling, laughing, enjoying the sunshine, and being able to spend quality time together playing a sport that we will be playing until the day we rest.

If you could be a caddie on Tour, whose caddie would you like to be and why?

Mr. Tiger Woods – To be standing next to a living legend would just be amazing! To be able to learn from him in every aspect possible – his emotions, his composure – and chat about the past/present/future would be priceless.

It’s all about what you do with the knowledge and information that you learn, and by always striving to be a better version of yourself for the next person that may come your way.

ABOUT THE WEBINAR

Watch this educational webinar on-demand to find out how The Medalist Golf Club is creating exceptional player experiences for their guests. Expert Guest, Lowell Weaver, Owner & Manager of The Medalist GC, shares valuable insights into how they’re improving operational efficiency and using technology to generate revenue.

Watch this exceptional webinar with the world-renowned Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, to find out how they’re creating exceptional player experiences, while optimizing efficiency, at their top 100 courses.

Our Expert Guest, Jeff Simonds, Assistant GM & Sr. Director of Operations at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, will share his insights into what makes player experiences at Bandon’s links style courses truly memorable and how technology is helping the team to increase efficiency by automating pace of play management.

Learn from the best! Sign up today to watch this webinar on-demand.

Live Q&A with the audience at the end of the webinar discussion.

Golf is all about appreciating the time we spend to enjoy what we love. And because we take great pleasure in playing a fast dose of golf, we were thrilled to have the opportunity to play a round of Quick 9’s with newly-announced Tagmarshal 2022 Platinum Award Winners, West Seattle Golf Course.

Let’s jump into the “fast-lane” with Colin Gants, PGA Head Professional and Golf Manager to learn more about his role at this classic Premier Group course, renowned for creating memorable player experiences.

How would you describe your morning routine to kickstart your day?

I start my day off with yoga, then granola, yogurt, and tea.

Has golf always been your first love? What other sports/team are you a fan of?

Yes! Since I was 13.

What is your favorite/greatest round of golf experience?

The experiences of playing golf in Scotland. But not the British Open rota courses, the “out-of-the-way” courses that few Americans play, such as Cruden Bay, Brora, North Berwick, and Stonehaven. These were truly very special experiences for me.

Tell us about your role at Premier Group’s West Seattle GC? Why is it important?

As the General Manager and PGA Head Professional at West Seattle GC, this responsibility means everything (career-wise) to me. I have been a golf professional at the same course for 32 years and love the course, the members, and the community.

Why has your course decided to invest in Tagmarshal?

It is an investment in what our golfer’s #1 concern is – Pace of Play. It gives us a tool that golfers can easily see that we really care about pace-of-play and we are actively doing something to improve their experience. For me, I love the statistical evidence the software is capable of.

Since the implementation of the Tagmarshal system, how have your customers responded to the on-course experience?

We receive far fewer complaints now. With expectations being outlined before golfers tee off, as well as real time statistical results, we can respond to the issue in the moment.

Describe Tagmarshal in three words. 

A Useful Tool

What is your dream golf destination? Why?

Cypress, Augusta, Shinnecock, and Pine Valley – I would like to experience the un-touchables.

Your best golf moment?

There are too many to list. Probably seeing my kids all finding golf later in life and seeing them become totally addicted. Playing golf with my kids in their 20’s and 30’s was always more important to me than playing with them as Junior Golfers.

If you could be a caddie on Tour, whose caddie would you like to be and why?

Tom Watson because he an icon. Sun Jae Im because he is a money making machine and tees it up every week.

Pebble Beach, Fieldstone, Bandon Dunes, Baltusrol, Bradshaw Farms celebrate their Tagmarshal 2022 Diamond Awards!

A select group of courses are celebrating success this week, including Hackensack, Erin Hills, Gulf Harbour, Metropolis, Pebble Beach, Belmont CC, Quaker Ridge, and others, who received 2022 Diamond Awards – the highest level of accolade, at the Tagmarshal Awards!

The Awards recognize exceptional course performance and the highest levels of on-course service, as well as the commitment of their teams to driving continuous improvement, benchmarked and based on data.

This year, a record number of top achievers achieved Diamond Award status, with 30 courses receiving awards. This is testament to the hard work and dedication of the teams at these operations. Congratulations to:

To view the full list of winners, click here.

“Congratulations on your exceptional performance this year. You have achieved excellent results and your teams have continued to deliver player experiences of the highest caliber, dealing with high play volumes and labor challenges. Well done on harnessing the power of optimization technology and automation, to achieve more, with less.”

Bodo Sieber, CEO, Tagmarshal

In addition, several other courses received Special Awards, in recognition of their achievements in key categories. This year’s stand-out partners were:

• Top Innovators: Pebble Beach Golf Links and Pinehurst Resort
• Best Management Group: Bandon Dunes Resort – Kemper Sports
• Biggest Mover: Hackensack Golf Course
• Best Newcomers: The Minikahda Club; The Medalist Golf Club and Lost Dunes Golf Club

For more information and to view the full list of Tagmarshal Awards recipients for 2022, please click here.

All course partners are automatically entered into the Tagmarshal Awards, but only exceptional performance is rewarded. To identify which courses have excelled, performance is evaluated based on benchmarks and proprietary course data for the below criteria over the past year:

• Enhanced Player Experiences
• Improved Field Flow and Pace of Play
• Increased Efficiency
• Optimization Strategies deployed
• On-course Service delivery and Player communication

Achieve success at your operation.

Tagmarshal focuses on building strong relationships and creating long term value for our partners through optimization and automation, with many courses achieving ROI of $100k to +$300k in additional green fees or member gains per season.

Our on-course optimization technology, provides courses with full, real-time operational oversight and reporting, giving golf operators the tools to manage operations effectively, resulting in:

• Enhanced player experiences
• Increased efficiency through automation – saving labor hours
• Additional revenue

“Well done to you, our partners, for your outstanding achievements in 2022.
We celebrate your success and wish you all the best for 2023!”

Bodo Sieber, Tagmarshal CEO

If you would like to find out more about the impact of on-course optimization and automation at your course, please schedule a short meeting or demo with us: contact@tagmarshal.com or visit www.tagmarshal.com/ROI to calculate the return on investment.