In the old days, golfers would reach for the telephone to make a tee time or to find out about rates and course conditions at an area golf course.
These days, all that information and more is as close as your computer.
Golf courses, like most other businesses, have discovered the importance of having attractive, informative and easily understandable Web pages on the Internet. Depending on the site, golfers can find out everything they need to know about a particular course, and even book a starting time, all with a few simple clicks of their computer mouse.
It’s one-stop shopping, and often eliminates the need of a phone call altogether.
“Seriously, I can’t imagine being a manager of a golf course and not having a Web site,” said Bill Schickler, owner and president of Premier Golf LLC, which manages 10 municipal golf courses in the Puget Sound area, including Everett’s Legion Memorial and Walter Hall golf courses. “It’s just vital. Anybody who is not taking advantage of it is missing the mark from a management standpoint.”
Perhaps the biggest benefit for golfers and golf courses alike is the on-line tee time feature. Most services are available 24 hours a day, and many allow customers the convenience of paying with a credit card, thus expediting the check-in process.
Schickler draws an analogy to the air-travel industry, which now sells most of its bookings on-line instead of at the counter or over the telephone.
“The same thing is going on in golf,” he said. About one of every four tee times booked by Premier Golf is done on-line, he added, “and it continues to increase as more and more people get accustomed to the Internet.”
“The number of people making tee times on the Internet keeps going up and up and up,” agreed Bruce Christy, the director of golf at Kingston’s White Horse Golf Club. “Our bookings are about 22 percent via the Internet, and that’s amazing. Also, a lot of that is after hours. So if you have a good Web site, it’s working 24 (hours and day) and seven (days a week).”
When people make tee times via the computer, “it keeps the phone from ringing off the hook,” said Dave Castleberry, head pro at Marysville’s Cedarcrest Golf Course. “We’re seeing the more computer-savvy generation is not hesitant at all about booking on-line and it’s actually very convenient for us when they do.”
Golf course Web pages are also great resources for advertising specials and even publishing on-line coupons, which can be printed and redeemed at the pro shop for discounts.
Camaloch Golf Course on Camano Island still advertises in newspapers like The Herald, “but our goal is to try to drive people to the Web site,” head pro Gary Schopf said. “Now 85 percent of the (coupons) coming in are people going to our site and cutting them out, as opposed to cutting them out of the newspaper.”
The Camaloch Web page also has a special section, accessed by a password, to provide information relevant to members of the homeowners’ association, who own the golf course.
The Web page “is becoming more and more important, it really is,” Schopf said. “In general terms, the Web site is a major part of our advertising to get the word out.”
Most golf Web pages have basic course information, including rates, a scorecard with yardages and, for the benefit of first-time visitors, driving directions. Also helpful is information about joining men’s and women’s clubs, ongoing maintenance projects and even some instances of current weather conditions.
At Kingston’s White Horse, the Web page also has information about the courtesy shuttle service to and from the ferry dock, so guests from the east side of Puget Sound don’t have to pay to bring their cars across.
“For us,” Christy said, “the Web page is a great spot for us to showcase coupons, specials, discounts, and other things that might entice golfers.”
In terms of golf course exposure, Christy said, “I don’t know of anything more effective than your Web page.”
“It’s essential, essential, essential,” he said. “I don’t care how good your product is, if you’re losing 22 percent of your bookings because people can’t get to you or they don’t know what your specials are or if they can’t get directions … you won’t be in business very long.”
These days, most golf courses — including 15 of 16 public courses in Snohomish County — have Web pages.
“It’s true in golf business as it’s true in a lot of businesses, that if you’re not moving forward, you’re moving backward,” Castleberry said. “If you’re a golf course and don’t have a Web site, then you’ve missed the boat. You’re about five or 10 years behind.”
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