How Golf Cart GPS systems help operators with mid-season optimization

The mid-season point is a great time for operators to take stock of what is and isn’t working at their facility, using golf cart GPS systems data as a valuable metric to engage in process reviews.

Many operators prefer to leave some of the larger operational discussions for the end of the season, but there are still impactful tweaks that can be implemented mid-season to drive optimization.

Tagmarshal’s features have been designed to enhance the player experience through proactive pace management, increase efficiency through automation, and generate material revenue gains.

Here are some areas operators may want to dig into during the mid-season period.

Tagmarshal’s Live Map is constantly in use to help operators with real-time course oversight, and the ability to identify groups that fall out of position based on golf cart GPS systems data has a huge impact on pace and flow management.

As each staff member becomes more familiar with the Live Map, they’ll come to understand which information is most pertinent to their role. Customizable widgets can be added to the Live Map, falling under 3 categories:

• Goals – Widget shows rounds on pace, problem groups addressed, intervention success and tag / cart assignment.
• Timing Schedule – Widget shows group’s tag number(s), hole they’re through, scheduled time to finish the hole and actual time.
• Daily Info – Widget shows course goal time, running daily average round time, number of groups in play and number of groups on pace.

Operators should check in with their team to ensure that they are making use of the readily accessible information to further aid course oversight.

The ‘Goals’ information gives fantastic oversight of how effectively out-of-position groups are being handled, with the tag / cart assignment metric important in building out player or member profiles, which we discuss later.

Checking the ‘Timing Schedule’ data is a very handy tool in understanding course flow, and the ‘Daily Info’ metrics are excellent for communicating real-time pace expectations with players. A starter can use these to communicate the course’s current pace as a group tees off, and player assistants can check in with groups to let them know whether the course is playing slower or quicker than usual.

Mid-season is also the ideal time to review the data and assess exactly where on-course staff should be positioned to have maximum impact. In areas where bottlenecks and pace issues regularly occur – we call these ‘impact zones’ – operators should consider having a player assistant permanently stationed. 

When groups are on pace, staff can have positive interactions, thanking them for their cooperation, which increases positive player sentiment and also makes it easier to have pace-based discussions later in the round, should they be needed.

Finally, maintenance teams need to be reminded that they should be using the Live Map to spot any gaps in the field, which allow them to slot in and carry out their required tasks without impacting players. Operators should also be tracking maintenance vehicles and F&B carts to see whether there are any efficiencies to be unlocked based on half a season’s worth of data.

The effectiveness of geofencing depends on the accuracy of both the golf cart GPS systems and the virtual borders drawn by operators.

Tagmarshal has recently enhanced its GPS accuracy, with the system now powered by advanced multi-constellation GNSS technology. This enables it to work with multiple global satellite networks rather than relying on a single system, with access to up to 20 individual satellites at any time, resulting in more consistent and reliable on-course positioning, even in challenging environments.

Data from the season so far can be studied to see where breaches are occurring most regularly. It may be that there is insufficient signage or that the virtual borders are drawn inaccurately. Either way, taking stock to review this aspect of course management is valuable.

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Research shows that when players meet on-course staff, they generally award the course a higher Net Promoter Score and are more likely to recommend it to others, which is why it’s valuable to ensure that these are measured and tracked within an operation’s golf cart GPS systems.

A mid-season review in this area should include what the starter communicates to players, which sets the tone for the rest of the round. Staff must also be reminded of the importance of logging interactions, in case these need to be revisited later for any reason.

For pace-based interventions, it’s essential to understand how effective these are in getting groups back into position. A low success rate may indicate that interventions are occurring too late, when the issue has become increasingly difficult to resolve, or that the approach used is not firm enough. Whatever the case, there’s an opportunity for mid-season adjustments to be made, with the data reviewed once more at the end of the season to gauge success.

Any player-facing team member, like a Head Golf Professional or Director of Golf, will tell you that conversations with players don’t end once they walk off the course. Even if a round was completed in a decent time, players may feel disgruntled if they had long wait times between shots, because their perception was that pace was slow.

Tagmarshal’s Track Map feature is ideal for post-round conversations, showing a group’s pace progression throughout the round, as well as recording any geofencing breaches, direct messages sent to the players, and on-course interactions via player assistants.

Operators should take an opportunity mid-season to ensure their team is trained in using the Track Map to reframe post-round discussions and handle them more effectively.

Once an operator has a decent data sample size, they can start to identify trends and set their team goals to be tracked and measured within the golf cart GPS systems.

Before looking at individual and team goals, a good starting point is a course’s pace of play. Where a course is playing significantly quicker than the goal time, consider a reduction so that players are held to a higher pace standard. If these pace goals can be met in the latter half of the season, there may be a chance to add tee sheet capacity ahead of the next season starting.

For team performance, the data gathered across key metrics forms a baseline for what has been achieved, and highlights where goals need to be set to drive improvement. 

Tagmarshal allows for goal setting in the following areas:

• Rounds on pace: How many rounds finish within the course’s goal time on a given day.
• Interactions per day: Either a friendly check-in or an intervention with players on the course.
• Intervention Success: When an on-course intervention results in a group getting back on pace and finishing the round within the goal time, the intervention will be considered a success.
• Assignment: The number of tags that have group or caddie names assigned to them, compared to the total number of groups playing that day.

Operators should clearly communicate these goals to their teams and review them regularly, whether as part of team KPI meetings or on an individual basis. If a team member is falling short of the goals set, they may require additional training or guidance. Conversely, when goals have been met or exceeded, recognition serves as an inspiration to continue to improve.

Automated reports can also be set up to track progress against the goals that have been set, ensuring that managers aren’t bogged down and spending too much time on tasks outside of their core role.

Building out extensive player or member profiles without labor-intensive data collection has become possible thanks to advances in golf cart GPS systems.

Ahead of the season starting, operators should ensure that they are automating what was once a time-consuming process. Mid-season presents another opportunity to check that these steps are in place, and Tagmarshal’s intuitive system now makes this easier than ever.

It combines tee sheet data with GPS technology to automatically assign the tracking device in use to the player names in that group, as they enter the trigger zone entry point at their first tee, provided the course uses one of the 25+ leading tee sheet providers that Tagmarshal integrates with. These include the likes of ForeTees, Lightspeed, Club Prophet, Jonas and foreUP. The system will flag the assignments if timing goes off-kilter.

All of the data available to the system is now tied to these players, in real-time and historically, via their profiles.

If this has been set up correctly at the start of the season, operators will be able to identify players or members who consistently play slower. This data can then be used to engage in conversations if necessary, or to let on-course staff know that a particular group may require closer attention as a round progresses.

Operators should also remind their teams that identifying first-time players is vitally important, particularly at public facilities, so that efforts can be made to help the player feel welcome, increasing the likelihood that they will return.

Setting up for a successful season begins long before the first player tees off, with effective pre-season prep and strategies. As the season progresses, and the data gathered can be evaluated, operators should identify which impactful changes can be implemented to drive optimization through to the season’s end.

Once the season wraps up, operators will then have extensive data sets to measure if the changes implemented were successful, paving the way for further planning and progress in the off-season.

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