Golfers get frustrated when they can’t book the tee times they want, when they want them at courses they want to play.
Golf courses incur the brunt of the frustration when golfers instead play courses down the street.
But everyone wins when golfers are alerted on their devices that the tee-times they desire are now open due to cancellations.
A shining example is Davis Livers who, like most golfers, favors a particular course and only has a specific time to play due to a bevy of personal and professional commitments.
“I classify a golf course a hero when it gets me on a waitlist, then alerts pop up on my smartphone that the tee time I covet is now available,” he says. “It saves me tediously searching the web or calling around town for a tee time elsewhere.”
Another shining example is Sam Crader, General Manager of the 18-hole Redwood Canyon Golf Course in Castro Valley, operated by Touchstone Golf.
“We launched Noteefy as an automated solution to the problem of tee time cancellations perishing and the lost revenue that goes along with it,” says Crader. The minute I heard about the Noteefy tee time waitlist notification system, we knew it would be a fit.”
What is Noteefy? How effectively has it transformed Redwood Canyon golfers from unsatisfied to happy?
Here goes: Golfers in the course’s database complete a simple online profile indicating their preferred tee times and number of golfers in their group. They are then alerted in real time by text and e-mail when that tee time opens due to cancellation, and subsequently book through the normal process.
There you have it. Easy as 1-2-3 for Joe and Jane Golfer. Noteefy is to golf what Open Table and Resy are for restaurants.
Crader is now smiling. Akin to most golf courses across America, Redwood Canyon faces up to 20% of all tee times succumbing to cancellations, the majority within 24 to 48 hours. With greens and cart fees reaching $61 per 18-hole round totaling $244 per foursome, that’s money lost unless that tee time is re-booked.
Yucky math is an understatement yet there’s more.
The pro shop would painstakingly do its best to write down names and contact information of golfers who want tee times already taken. But the staff doesn’t have time to inform golfers of the suddenly open tee times.
The punchline: It’s likely more Bay Area courses will very soon automate their tee sheets through Notify. Instant, effortless gratification for everyone in today’s experience economy is a good thing. A very good thing.
By Sam Donald