NEWS
You can still play golf provided you ‘keep a distance’
By Alistair Dunsmuir, The Golf Business
19 March 2020
Golf course superintendents share steps they’re taking to manage both their teams and their to-do lists in the wake of COVID-19.
The UK’s chief scientific adviser has responded to a health select committee question about playing golf during the coronavirus crisis by effectively saying it is an activity that is allowable.
Sir Patrick Vallance said: “It is OK – if you keep a distance.”
The question was put forward by Dean Russell MP. He asked: “Exercise is going to be key . If someone wants to play golf, can they still do that if they’re not close together?”
Sir Patrick Vallance stated: “We’re not asking everyone to be completely isolated. The specific advice is to avoid close contact. A walk is OK if you keep a distance.”
Sir Patrick Vallance
A number of golf clubs have closed their clubhouses but kept their courses open so that golfers can gain the essential health benefits of moderate exercise at this extraordinary time while minimising the risk of becoming infected.
One golf club in London has issued a directive to all its golfers that they must not touch the flag on any of the holes, in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Epping Golf Course has said it has implemented other measures as well.
“We will attempt to make sure that scorecards’ registration and payment for drink and food are available through window service to avoid people having to come into the clubhouse if they don’t want to,” stated Epping’s owner, Neil Sjoberg.
Numerous golf events ranging from the Scottish Girls’ Open Championship to The Masters have been postponed or cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A number of golf clubs have also reported that the virus has hit at least one member, and in most cases the club has remained open.
In response, to assist the golf industry in the UK, BIGGA, the PGA, the GCMA and the R&A have produced this guideline document for UK golf clubs: https://ocs-sport.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/sg/2020/03/COVID-19-Golf-Industry-Guidelines.pdf
‘Your golf facility needs to have a senior group of managers who are in constant contact and can spring in to action if something happens. This should be your club manager / secretary, course manager / head greenkeeper and PGA professional and any other relevant department heads. During a period of heightened risk, meet on a daily basis and provide an update on staff absence, business pressures such as stock levels or machinery maintenance and other matters. When the crisis subsides, this group should continue to meet on a monthly basis to ensure policies are maintained and updated,’ it states.
‘Engage in a dialogue with the other golf clubs in your immediate area and discuss an action plan. If one of your clubs is forced to close, is there a reciprocal arrangement in place to allow members to play at a different facility?’
One golf club manager welcomed the document.
“That was very, very useful as it allowed us to sit down and work out some kind of battleplan,” Simon Payne, secretary at Cowglen in Scotland told The Herald.
“Up until then, I think people were maybe a bit blasé about this but when you consider the wider ramifications, they are huge.
“There are knock on effects for green fees, subscriptions, bookings, our suppliers, from diesel for machinery to drink in the bar. If bar staff or catering staff are off, then takings are down. It’s everything.
“The worst-case scenario is if the greenkeeping staff have to go into isolation, then the course doesn’t get maintained.
“The course is the number one thing for members. You can tell a volunteer how to lock the clubhouse but you can’t suddenly upskill someone to cut a green.
“We are coupling up with other clubs in the area with a kind of buddy system to help each other out just in case.
“Our course manager has a group of trusted friends at other courses so there will at least be a limited maintenance to keep things going should the worst happen.”
“People are handling pins, they are handling ball washers and rakes in bunkers. We started going through potential risks and they just grow and grow.
“Like a lot of clubs, the over-65s are a relatively large element here. Their health and well-being on our premises is paramount.
“The older golfers may now be considering just staying away and it will be interesting to monitor numbers going forward.
“While everybody has to take responsibility, we’ve just tried to do as much as possible to at least give members the confidence that we can operate as best we can.
“Many clubs are living hand to mouth. The impact of this could be hard to take for some.”
“I’ve been here for 30 years and the weather recently has been the worst I can remember in terms of getting out to play. But the addition of the coronavirus has made it a whole lot worse.
“It’s a minefield. We don’t know how long it will be like this for. The Beast from the East a couple of years ago was the first time we had ever closed the place down entirely. Nobody was on site, it just shut.
“But this virus is a different kettle of fish. It’s the unknown. When the snow melted, you knew we would be back. But who knows with this?”
A Scottish Golf spokesman added: “In these difficult times it is important to highlight the health benefits of golf as a sport that allows players to exercise outdoors in the fresh air where the risk of contracting COVID-19 is low,” in response to the release of this document.
Please share these tips, articles and insights, so that as many people as possible can benefit from #SafeGolf.
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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Rounds at Carnoustie 16 minutes quicker in busiest month last year
By Martin Dempster, The Scotsman
The welcome statistic, which came to light in more than 10 million rounds of golf being tracked worldwide, has earned recognition for the Angus venue in golf’s bid to speed up play.
Carnoustie achieved the highest status, a Diamond Award, in the inaugural Tagmarshal Awards at the PGA Merchandise Show in Florida, as well as being named the “Top International Achiever”.
Tagmarshal track rounds using “real-time” data collected by using small ‘tags’ clipped onto golf bags or handheld carts or installed in buggies. The information is transmitted to on-course staff, allowing identification of groups that are out of position before issues arise.
“The awards are a powerful seal of approval for clubs who prioritise on-course experience and player satisfaction,” said the company’s CEO, Bodo Sieber. “The awards system ranks courses based on achieving outstanding results regarding player experience, pace and flow of play, player communication, and on-course service delivery.”
Whistling Straits, venue for this year’s Ryder Cup, was one of the US courses to pick up an award along with Valhalla, Baltusrol, National Golf Links of America and Cypress Point.
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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How one company is using artificial intelligence to combat slow play
By Tim Reilly, Golf.com
From the PGA Tour to your local municipal course, pace of play is one of golf’s most pressing issues. The European Tour felt strongly enough about it to implement new rules to combat slow play, while the PGA Tour recently updated its pace of play policy.
It’s great that the pro ranks are doing their part to speed up the action, but changes at the top are hardly affecting weekend warriors like myself. Far too often my Saturday round takes up the majority of my day off. Sure, when I’m free from the office, the course is where I want to be. But for five-to-six hours? No thank you. In terms of enjoyment, waiting on every single shot is up there with my boss assigning me something at four o’clock on a Friday.
Days on the course are precious. Free time is precious. Neither is meant to be wasted due to slow play and now, neither has to be thanks to the Tagmarshal golf course intelligence system.
Tagmarshal offers an app that improves pace of play and provides golf course operation teams with real-time oversight and historical data. Its software uses data from more than 10 million rounds to provide tailored information to 250 partner courses. A whos-who logo collection—Carnoustie, Whistling Straits, Baltusrol, Kiawah Island, Bandon Dunes, Pinehurst and Erin Hills—are just a handful of the GOLF Top 100 Courses that currently use Tagmarshal.
Once a course implements Tagmarshal, transmitters which track every golfer are placed on carts or given to caddies. Information is then collected in the cloud and real-time data is available to course management. Should a problem arise, you won’t need to flag down a marshal to alert them, they’ll already know. For example, if a golfer were to fall behind on the third hole, the situation can be handled immediately, rather than waiting for a prolonged backup to reach back to the first tee.
No one likes being yelled at by a ranger, and truth be told, no good really comes from it. Targmarshal’s system isn’t all AI. It also has features that train staff to remain positive and encouraging. It’s all part of improving the overall experience to keep golfers happier and more willing to do their part to help pace of play efforts. If a ranger opts for a conversational approach with data points rather than a confrontational scolding, Tagmarshal feels a course will be better suited for success.
Additionally, once the Tagmarshal system is in place, courses can use data to better understand cause and effect. A course may use this information to recognize trends of specific locations that consistently become problem areas, or find routing or design flaws contributing pace of play issues. If there’s a private club member who’s regularly a slow-play issue, Tagmarshal will give course management factual data to present to the member.
Several private courses using Tagmarshal reward golfers who abide by pace of play rules with ideal tee times, keeping regular offenders from clogging play during busy hours. Baltusrol went as far as to install real-time monitors throughout their facility for staff and members to keep close tabs on the course. The management team, outside services and locker room attendants know what’s happening at any given time. How’s that for transparency?
“There’s nothing better than walking into the office and knowing exactly what’s happening on your golf course,” said Ryan Fountaine, Director of Golf at Baltusrol. “It’s fantastic knowledge and peace of mind.”
If a course can get more groups playing rounds in reasonable times, there’s more leeway for additional groups to get on the course, which opens up revenue potential. Instead of rushing to get home after a long round, your members might be able to spend time in the clubhouse with their golf buddies over food and drinks.
Just like Tagmarshal’s slow play data, it’s hard to argue with results. In only a month, Carnoustie claims that rounds played within their desired timeframe rose from 29 percent to 53 percent. Erin Hills says it brought in an additional $140,000 in revenue from greens fees in a season and credits Tagmarshal’s tee sheet optimization and live management system.
“It paid for itself a hundred times over,” Jim Lombardo, Head Golf Professional at Erin Hills, said.
There’s no way of knowing if Tagmarshal is the silver bullet to the slow-play dilemma, but Tagmarshal has stepped up to the plate to speed up the game. That’s a start, and it appears to be a strong start. Now all I need are my local courses to make similar efforts to keep things moving. It’s good for the game and more importantly, my Saturdays.
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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Webinar: How Quaker Ridge drives member loyalty, by creating exceptional on-course experiences.
In case you missed it, the Tagmarshal Expert Session webinar is now available on-demand. Register now to watch the free video and discover how Quaker Ridge has enhanced loyalty among their members, by providing them with unparalleled on-course experiences.
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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NEWS
Top Tagmarshal Diamond Award Achievers Celebrated at the 2020 PGA Show
Erin Hills, Quaker Ridge, Castle Pines and Carnoustie Among Tagmarshal’s Diamond Award Achievers in Recognition of Their Exceptional On-Course Golf Experience and Flow of Play Performance
Tagmarshal, the golf course optimization and pace of play management platform, honored clubs, courses and resorts who provided golfers with exceptional player experience and levels of on-course service with the 2019 Tagmarshal Awards.
Statistics and insights from over 10 million rounds of golf tracked was used to benchmark and compare partners’ progress on data backed results achieved, empowering top standards and service delivery, as the industry recognizes the opportunity and necessity for improved player satisfaction, to not only ensure the growth and future of the game, but also achieve measurable business success.
“The awards are a powerful seal of approval for clubs who prioritize on-course experience and player satisfaction,” said Bodo Sieber, CEO, Tagmarshal.
“The awards system ranks courses based on achieving outstanding results with regard to player experience, pace and flow of play, player communication, and on-course service delivery and it is exciting to see that these levels of excellence can be achieved by a wide variety of facilities, from major hosts to $50 green fee operations.”
The Awards were presented at the 2020 PGA Merchandise Show at the conclusion of Tagmarshal’s Education Session entitled, “Pace and Flow of Play, the Key Player Experience for the Modern Golfer, featuring expert guests Jim Lombardo from Erin Hills and Ryan Fountaine from Baltusrol Golf Club. Six Diamond Awards, the top Award accolade, were presented to Erin Hills, Quaker Ridge, Castle Pines, Brookside Golf & Country Club, Club de Golf Alcanada and Carnoustie Golf Links.
Pace and flow of play data, improvement and results statistics form the backbone of the grading, with top accolades achieved through continuous improvement and performance over multiple years recognizing well-executed implementation, as well as on-going up-skilling and best practice guidance of management and staff.
In addition, 24 Platinum Awards and 35 Gold Awards were awarded to forward thinking courses, including Whistling Straits, Valhalla, Skokie, Fossil Creek, Baltusrol, National Golf Links of America, Cypress Point and several other courses who had shown excellent performance benchmarks and continuous improvement in their data trends, demonstrating that they’re likely to move up the award rankings in 2020.
“Tagmarshal’s vision is rooted in the positive impact it has on player satisfaction—while driving operational efficiency and generating additional revenue. We are proud to have so many of our partners excel in this effort,” said Bodo Sieber, CEO.
“Each of the Diamond Award winning clubs demonstrated on-going commitment to provide the finest on-course service delivery and player experiences every day throughout 2019,” Sieber added.
Pace and flow of play data, improvement and results statistics form the backbone of the grading, with top accolades achieved through continuous improvement and performance over multiple years recognizing well-executed implementation, as well as on-going up-skilling and best practice guidance of management and staff.
In addition, 24 Platinum Awards and 35 Gold Awards were awarded to forward thinking courses, including Whistling Straits, Valhalla, Skokie, Fossil Creek, Baltusrol, National Golf Links of America, Cypress Point and several other courses who had shown excellent performance benchmarks and continuous improvement in their data trends, demonstrating that they’re likely to move up the award rankings in 2020.
“Tagmarshal’s vision is rooted in the positive impact it has on player satisfaction—while driving operational efficiency and generating additional revenue. We are proud to have so many of our partners excel in this effort,” said Bodo Sieber, CEO.
“Each of the Diamond Award winning clubs demonstrated on-going commitment to provide the finest on-course service delivery and player experiences every day throughout 2019,” Sieber added.
Erin Hills Golf Club demonstrated a consistent improvement over a period of five years of utilizing Tagmarshal, continuously optimizing player experiences and generating over $140,000 per year in additional tee time revenue due to optimization with the system.
At New York’s iconic Quaker Ridge Golf Club, average playing time over the course of two seasons improved to well below four hours. Additionally, the percentage of rounds played within a goal time increased substantially from 70% in 2018 to over 90% in 2019.
Brookside Golf & Country Club over the course of four seasons achieved an average round time well below four hours with exceptional consistency and balance. Furthermore, the monthly percentage of rounds played on pace, within 10 minutes of goal time, increased by over 15% year on year 2018 to 2019.
Colorado’s well-known Country Club at Castle Pines achieved a 93% record in terms of rounds played on time. In accepting his club’s award, Andrew Hedrick, PGA head professional, said, “Our experience with the Tagmarshal system and the integration into our operation has been exceptional. The data provided is an asset in our day-to-day operations.”
Also honored were Pebble Beach Golf Links as “Top Innovator” and Carnoustie Golf Links as “Top International Achiever.”
Famed Carnoustie Golf Links in Scotland recorded an impressive 16-minute improvement in average round time year on year (2018-2019) during The Open host’s busiest month.
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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NEWS
2020 PGA Show Expert Session – USGA Research: Defining the golfer experience
In case you missed it, here are the highlights from the Tagmarshal Expert Session with Prof. Kris Schoonover, Director of Operations, Erin Hills in conversation with Bodo Sieber, CEO, Tagmarshal, which took place at the 2020 PGA Show.
Topic: USGA Research: Defining the golfer experience.
Watch this Expert Session to learn about:
- USGA Research: Measuring the golfer experience – what really matters?
- USGA’s Challenge to the Industry.
- How Erin Hills uses technology to optimize the on-course experience.
Duration: 21.44 minutes
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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