Online tee times attracting more clientele

Technology’s impact on golf is obvious with a never-ending line of equipment upgrades commanding the lion’s share of attention. That’s only natural. The score is what matters to most, and clubs and balls that help achieve better performance receive the hosannas.

A lesser-appreciated, but very important change centers on getting players to the course, and that’s through online services –either a club’s website or an independent service designed to reserve tee times.

“Ten years ago, the idea of online tee times was terrifying to an old pro like me,” said Greg McBride, head professional at the Spur at Northwoods. “We old guys wanted to have our hands on the tee sheet. We felt like we had to have control.”

McBride became a disciple of the process several years ago, but if he needed a reminder of its value, he received a prompt last weekend. The Spur at Northwoods, which McBride’s family sold to Empire Sports Management 17 months ago, experienced its largest number of Saturday-Sunday rounds in more than 10 years.

“We had 332 paid rounds, and that’s a lot for two days,” McBride said. “Of those, 93 tee times were booked through Golfnow.com. That’s 28 percent. Some of those who signed up online might have come anyway, but a lot wouldn’t. That’s too large of a percentage of your clientele to ignore.”

Indeed, getting players to the courses is an owner’s first and foremost goal, and the 24-hour availability that online services offers is significant. McBride pointed to a recent tee-sheet that showed multiple players securing their next-day times between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.

“Who would have believed that 10 years ago?” he asked. “Not me.”

But McBride signed on, and the online services helped Northwoods hang on through the rough economic times.

“Golf is like anything else,” McBride said. “You can book a flight by calling American Airlines or a hotel by calling Marriott, but you can also use Orbitz or Priceline.com for the same purpose. Online gives us multiple ways to attract golfers.”

The course can also control its prices. If play is slow on an afternoon with threatening weather, fees can be lowered with the click of a mouse.

McBride laughed at one recent experience. He showed a visitor how easily prices could be changed, putting a $3.33 fee on a tee time less than one-half hour away. “I knew I wouldn’t sell that one,” he said. But he neglected to change the price back to its original number.

“Before I got back from the restroom, someone had grabbed that price,” he said. “That’s OK; that’s today’s society and the impact of technology. The thing is, we got guys to the course. Do that, and you can get sales in the pro shop or the grill. And they’re going to experience your golf course, and hopefully it’s a good experience.”

To that end, McBride said the golfers have found their way back to the club in northeast Columbia. Play had dwindled to almost nothing prior to the sale with the lack of revenue forcing the McBride family to forego needed maintenance. But Empire, a company owned by Charleston attorney Joe Rice, made the financial commitment to restore the P.B Dye-designed layout and “the course has made a comeback,” McBride said.

Most of the upgrades have been completed, but a big one – long overdue repairing of cart paths – starts next month.

“We’ve been getting players, and satisfied players are our greatest asset,” he said. “They tell other golfers about their experience here, and the word spreads. If I had any doubts about how the course has rebounded, they were eliminated the other morning. I got here at 5:50 a.m., and there were four guys sitting on the tailgate of their truck waiting for me to open.”

Naturally, he said, “they had booked their time online during the night.”

Chip shots

In U.S. Open qualifying at the Secession GC in Beaufort, Adam Hart (Columbia) and abd Raymond Wooten (Clemson) advanced to the Sectional. At River Landing in Wallace, N.C., Dalton Ward (Sumter) moved into the Sectionals. … George Ackerman (Charleston) and Mike Weiner (Kiawah Island) won their second straight SCGA Super Senior Four-Ball title over the Plantation Course at Edisto Island. … The Carolinas Section’s South Carolina Open will be played Tuesday-Thursday at Dataw Island Club’s Cotton Dike Course.