In the late 90’s golf operators were introduced to a new golf technology that was to revolutionize the way golfers booked their reservations. However, online tee time companies came and went along with the unkept promises of increased revenues and ease-of-use. Today clubs are now struggling with the decision whether to jump in again and open up their tee sheets to the Internet. Where did online booking fail? The Internet was solving problems for other businesses so why not for golf? It was many things that lead up to the failure. The original designs were flawed and unproven, the hardware infrastructure was unstable, and communication links failed sporadically. This was all compounded with the tendency of people to resist change. The use of a computer to book tee times was a completely different way of thinking for the club professional.

Move to 2006 and Internet Tee Reservations play a major role in the success of many facilities. The initial frustrations with application design, hardware, and Internet speed have been alleviated and courses are realizing the benefits of online tee time reservation software. If your facility does not have a robust web portal and you don’t have these features available for your clients, you are lagging behind. It is important for all clubs big and small to realize the benefits of having your facility online. What are some of the benefits that can be expected? One club interviewed recently said the first year they started using online booking about 15% of their rounds came from the Internet. Today over 60% of their rounds are booked through the clubs website. Kirk Jensen, President of Jencess Software & Technologies said “We booked over 100,000 rounds last year through our Booking.Net product for our clients. The average revenue for each round was $65 which translates to $6,500,000!”

Today, there are many companies providing Internet applications and delivering benefits to their clients. It is a very in-depth process for the software developers to make sure they are using the latest tools available to provide solutions. Jencess Software, a leading provider of Internet applications has spent the last five years using the latest Microsoft technology to refine this process. During this time they addressed the shortcomings of the early system designs to deliver an Internet application that is robust and customer friendly. Over 1000 different factors were considered and researched in the design of the web environment developed by Jencess. Online transactions were reviewed from different application standpoints. Whether it is a golfer, golf club, call center, or hotel, all the features were put into the system to manage transactions
accurately, securely and efficiently. As one Jencess client who initially resisted online reservations stated, “After installing Internet booking we had immediate success! It has turned out to be extremely valuable to our business.” After the initial resistance by this club and the market place as a whole, a quote like this definitely indicates reserving tee times via the Internet is here to stay and something to strongly consider. As clubs look to the future for more opportunities to integrate the web into their daily operating environment, they need to consider using the web for things such as member functions, live webcams, and additional services to enhance the golfer’s experience. One final thought to consider as you evaluate the opportunities for your facility on the web. For it to be a complete success, you have to commit to promoting the use of your site through incentives to clients, keeping the site up to date, and making the site part of all golf course marketing promotions. After all, how many of us would read our newspaper if it continued to say the same thing day after day. You must keep the content up- to-date and refreshing on an ongoing basis.

Is Online Booking right for your facility? Recent improvements in system design, stability and ease-of-use, now make the choice an easy one. Make internet tee times a success for your facility and start implementing it today!