The Covid pandemic has created a great deal of uncertainty and difficulties for clubs but it has already helped create solutions.

Clubs wondering how to manage membership, run competitions remotely without physical cards, and reduce costs through consolidation of systems can now do so with one piece of software. And it’s Irish-made.

Wholly Irish-owned and operated, SmartGolf offers a leading-edge solution that benefits both golf club members and administrators. 

It has a user-centric design that seamlessly integrates all aspects of member booking, competition handling, on-course scoring plus live leader boards, and membership management. 

The system is already proving a great success in large scale clubs and tournaments. Developed with WHS handicaps in mind, SmartGolf is registered with Golf Ireland to process scores and handicap updates and is the only vendor operating across Great Britain and Ireland that resides inside the EU (others are based in the U.K.) 

Future fit and representing a new generation of system design, SmartGolf is headed up by Fergus Bolger, a keen golfer at Portmarnock Golf Club, who brings a unique combination of a lifelong passion for golf and years of experience in IT.  

With constant technical refinement and feedback from players and clubs, it has taken a 3-year development effort to bring a premium experience to golf clubs and their members. 

The full system is delivered as a bullet-fast and high-capacity online service, requiring no extra in-club infrastructure beyond points of presence for interaction. Special attention has been paid to the needs of all stakeholders, including members and club administrators, committee and staff.

An important priority for SmartGolf is member engagement, and user experience is the prime focus for all device forms but particularly mobile phones. From a single log-in, members get: a graphical record of handicap and playing history; a view on upcoming bookings and future competitions; actions to replenish an online competition purse as well as send funds to playing partners (all while holding a booking reservation); competition entry through either their own phone or pro-shop; and score entry.

The on-course score entry is specifically designed with the golfer in mind. One person can score all 3 cards or both fourballs, while others in the group can view the collection of cards during the round. “Pinch-zoom” makes for easy score input and scorecard reading, and the whole card is viewed on the one scrollable page. Based on club decision and set-up, a convenient digital signature process fully replaces the need for physical cards.

The clear benefits for a club are member satisfaction and the reduction in administration time, allowing staff to have more productive time spent with members. The experience in too many clubs at present is of club officials juggling with several disconnected systems, having to make multiple entries to match up records, and being unable to deliver a cohesive member/player experience.

SmartGolf is now breaking into prominent golf clubs on the island. 

Portmarnock Golf Club has deployed the system for the last 12 months, with a great level of member satisfaction. Tournament golf around the country has also benefited from SmartGolf, with this year’s West Coast Challenge at Enniscrone, Strandhill, Bundoran and Donegal being run effortlessly and seamlessly by SmartGolf’s competition system. 

Singles and Team results were available by 8 pm on each day of the tournament, and overall results at the same time on the last day, with all 420 players able to log in on their phone and see their scores and positions in real-time. 

I’m told that next year’s West Coast Challenge is already 85% booked, with 10 months to go before the event.

It is that time of year for membership renewals, club invoices and setting up of direct debits so SmartGolf’s new membership module, fully integrated with its other modules, is gaining traction with clubs and yielding additional integration benefits.

Golf on these shores is ready to step up to a new level of service and embrace the modern sustainable world. For a closer examination of SmartGolf, get in touch with Fergus or his team through the contact details at https://smartgolfsystems.com.