The technology to help you adapt to the new guidelines

Golf is one of the few sports allowed to be played at the moment, but only under strict new rules. Here, online tee time provider BRS GOLF, explains how you can manage and even increase bookings while adhering to the new regulations.

These are unprecedented times. The global Covid-19 pandemic has completely changed the way we live our lives and technology plays a more pivotal role than ever in helping us stay connected to our family, friends and hobbies.

As golfers, we are lucky our sport can still be played while maintaining social distancing, and that technology makes it possible for members to book rounds, pay bills and keep up to date with club news without needing to visit the clubhouse.

As golf clubs across the UK and Ireland begin to reopen to members and visitors, the safety of their staff and golfers must be their first priority. At BRS GOLF by GOLFNOW we have technology solutions which allow clubs to continue to operate safely while minimising the risk to members, visitors and staff.

Tee sheet

The core of BRS GOLF’s technology offering is its unparalleled tee sheet. Number one in the world, used by 3,500 golf clubs across 14 countries, the tee sheet allows your office and pro shop staff to manage all kinds of bookings with ease and gives you the flexibility to run your tee sheet the way you want, ensuring you can maximise course usage without impacting members.

Help maintain social distancing by restricting to one or two balls only, and move or delete time slots to ensure appropriate tee time intervals. You can also restrict your tee sheet for members only or open up certain times to visitors.

All our other products are integrated with this powerful tee sheet, including some exciting new innovations.

Membership management
This feature-rich solution was designed with members and club administrators in mind so you can manage all aspects of membership in one place. It includes the ability to bill members and take payments online, meaning you can limit in-person transactions.

Improve member retention by utilising our custom subscription cycles to extend offers to members and tailored payment schemes to enable golfers to spread the cost of their membership monthly, bi-monthly or at another rate set by the club.

Memberships save you time by easily automating time-consuming tasks, making life simpler for you and your staff. Members can manage their payments entirely online through the members’ website or app and get payment reminders when they log in, so they know when their bills are due.

Membership experience

The golf club member experience is central to our technology and the results speak for themselves. We have over half a million registered golfers in the UK and Ireland using our members’ website and mobile app.

To make the experience even more user-friendly we have rolled-out an enhanced version of our members’ website that is now live in over 800 clubs across the country. New features include its responsive design – improving tee time booking for mobile and tablet users and members’ buggy booking. Clubs can stay in touch with members using our club messages tool – these appear as notifications when members login to the site or as push notifications in the app.

Keep members informed about course restrictions, share good news when competitions are reinstated, and continue to involve them in club life, even if they can’t currently come to the clubhouse.

Membership Finance

Free to golf clubs using our new members’ module, Membership Finance helps clubs retain and acquire golfers by making membership more affordable and accessible than ever. Our pioneering partnership with V12 Retail Finance allows golfers to apply for a loan to cover their membership online, directly through BRS GOLF.

Clubs can significantly improve cash flow from membership subscriptions as funds will be remitted within 48 hours of the golfer’s successful application. And, because the agreement is between V12 and the golfer, clubs won’t suffer clawbacks if a member defaults. Golfers can apply to cover multiple memberships and other club or union fees.

We believe Membership Finance will have particular appeal post-lockdown for golfers who are looking to spread the cost of their membership. This is currently available in the UK and Northern Ireland only.

Payments

Our payments solution has been specifically designed for golf clubs and allows you to manage all your online transactions through BRS GOLF.

Help members and visitors maintain social distancing by allowing them to pay bills and green fees online. Easily email payment links and invoices so customers can pay online, accept over the phone payments against bookings and issue refunds, or even partial refunds, at the click of a button. Integrated with our visitor booking engine so there’s no need for lengthy pro shop queues!

Clubs using our payments solution can also opt-in for our new Flexible Memberships software, completely free of charge. It allows flexible members to pay, book tee times and top-up points online. In recent years the industry has seen demand for this type of membership grow, and – particularly in the current climate – BRS GOLF wants to help golf clubs cater for this audience.

Visitor Experience

The all-new BRS GOLF Visitor Booking Engine is fully mobile-responsive, easy to use and has a smart new design. Our payments solution is fully integrated so you can take pre-payment for green fees, golf packages and open competitions online.

Clubs can even collect golfers’ club, handicap and CDH number at the time of booking to help streamline competitions, and display separate member and visitor competition rates. The booking engine is also customisable, so your club can include its logo and description.

Competitions and handicapping

BRS GOLF has partnered with market-leading competition and handicapping products including Golf Genius, HandicapMaster and Club V1. Last year we released functionality allowing your members to access their HandicapMaster login directly through the BRS GOLF members’ website and app. Now your members can save time and track results, leaderboards and access scores, all in one place.

Interested in our products? Contact the BRS GOLF team and chat to one of our experts directly on sales@golfnow.co.uk or by freephone on 0080078088888.