Golf club members’ app soared in 2020

The HowDidiDo app used by members of British and Irish golf clubs saw a 61 percent increase in users in 2020, in another example of how much the game has boomed during the pandemic.

HowDidiDo was already Europe’s largest online golf community going into 2020, and the app saw 231,000 downloads in the 12 months leading up to this November – by far the highest figure in one year since the app launched.

The free-to-download app has now had nearly 612,000 downloads in total on iOS and Android devices, and more than 300,000 active users.

It provides visibility and control to members of golf clubs over their handicaps, modernising the way golfers can input their scores and keep track of their performance, and allows members to analyse their game and compare performances with other golfers.

This year it launched the Mobile Score Input (MSi) function, allowing users in Great Britain and Ireland to enter competition scores safely and quickly through their own mobile device, and it displays course rating, slope rating, course and playing handicaps, ensuring it works with the new World Handicap System (WHS). In England it now displays the new Handicap Index and playing record, and the company is working towards a solution to have the same data available for Scotland, Wales and Ireland shortly.

Barry Dyett, chairman of HowDidiDo Media, said: “The growth in the take-up of the HowDidiDo app has been phenomenal. The team at HowDidiDo Media is very grateful for the trust shown in us by the club golfing community in Great Britain and Ireland. We have been struck by the feedback from golfers and clubs alike, highlighting the ease of use of the app and the evolution of the product functionality. We genuinely believe that constant development and investment in the product is the key to its success.

“As development continues, we at HowDidiDo Media expect to maintain our position as the industry leader in this vital area for the UK golfing community. We thank the clubs that we represent, as well as the golfers who have signed up to the app and the website, for their continued support.”

The HowDidiDo system, part of the solution offered to golf clubs by Club Systems International software, holds data from more than 122 million rounds of golf, along with handicaps, results and scores from nearly a million golf club members. It has more than 750,000 club golfers from 1,500-plus registered clubs using the website or mobile app regularly across the UK and Ireland.