England Golf’s WHS plea to managers 64 The remarkable manager of a remarkable club

England Golf chief asks for help with WHS QUERIES

England Golf’s WHS support fielded 47,000 email enquiries between the launch of the new handicap system on November 2 and

Christmas last year - and they’re still coming in at an average of 1,700 a week.

In a GCMA Hot Topics webinar last month,, Gemma Hunter, England

Golf’s head of handicapping and course rating, revealed the scale of the task of bedding in the new global order as golf clubs and players reach out to the governing body with questions.

Hunter told managers it felt like the near three-month shutdown of golf because of coronavirus restrictions had effectively meant the World Handicap System was launched twice - in November and at the end of March - and a team of seven were currently working to resolve enquiries.

She added that the majority of emails came from members and related to basic concerns, such as obtaining membership numbers and passwords, and she appealed to golf club managers to help catch some of those queries, or use county handicap advisors, to try and stem the flow.

“We appreciate it’s not where we would want to be,” Hunter said of the backlog. “But we are working to improve that. We hope that within the next week to 10 days, we will be dealing with things within the last 72 hours. So all I would say is ‘please bear with us’, we will get round to it.

“I think the biggest thing we’ve had is the majority of emails that we are receiving are actually from golf club members. They are asking some of the real basic questions like ‘what’s my CDH number? What’s my password?’ and then some other very basic handicapping questions.”

She added: “I would ask, and it’s a plea from me to you as golf club managers that, wherever possible, you could let your members know what their CDH numbers are, explain to them where the answers to those basic questions can be found, and this would certainly free up a lot of our capacity to deal with the issues or the main problems that people are having – because that does take up a lot of our time.”

Education will be continue to be the key and England Golf will look to engage with clubs over the next 12 to 18 months. Hunter said managers could reach out to county handicap advisors as a first port of call if possible and added the governing body would continue to keep driving WHS forward.

“On a personal note, from everybody at England Golf, thank you to club managers for everything that you do for the game - and not just in the last 12 to 18 months, which have been very difficult for everybody.

“I’m sure it has been a challenge for you guys and, without you, golf clubs wouldn’t be in the position that they’re in. Without you and

In a Hot Topics webinar, Gemma Hunter, England Golf’s head of handicapping and course rating, asked golf club managers for assistance and thanked them for the work they are doing

your committees, we wouldn’t have a game to be playing and trying to maintain, so thank you very much.”

Hunter revealed a total of 1.6 million rounds of golf had been submitted into the WHS platform for handicap purposes by clubs and golfers in England – with 72 per cent of those in competitive rounds and the remainder in general play.

Of that 430,000 general play rounds, 36 per cent had been returned through the My England Golf app.

Hunter also answered a series of questions submitted by golf club managers on topics ranging from how to calculate 4BBB allowances to how the Playing Conditions Calculation was calculated. Some of the key posers are below...

WHEN WILL PLAYERS BE ABLE TO RECORD SCORES IN OTHER COUNTRIES? Hunter revealed scores could be submitted between England, Wales and the whole of Ireland. She said that for Scotland, and the rest of the world, the R&A and USGA were working on an “interoperability group” that would establish a “standard format for transferring data globally”.

“We, as England, Ireland and Wales, are going to be working with Scottish Golf to become a pilot for the scheme they are setting up.

“They have started with some really basic information transfer, like handicap look ups, and we’re currently working with Scottish Golf to get that set up.

“Hopefully, within the next four to six weeks, we will be able to look up handicaps across borders. Initially, that will be Scotland. As soon as we can show that works we can then expand that out. We can look at sending scores. I think the ultimate goal is to be able to transfer records. But I think it’s about taking it in small chunks. Let’s make sure one thing works and then we’ll add to it.

“The R&A and USGA are leading on that and we just offered to be the test case with Scotland.”

HOW THE PLAYING CONDITIONS CALCULATION WORKS Hunter said she probably fielded this question seven or eight times a day and admitted she didn’t actually know – but said it was going to be on the agenda at a meeting with the R&A under the remit of the World Handicap System operations committee in the near future.

“I know the theory behind it, and I know what the modelling is, but in terms of how you actually calculate it, I think you need about seven different maths degrees,” she explained.

“It’s what we call a blackbox calculation, so we don’t even get to see the calculation as the scores go in.”

Of the meeting, she added: “The PCC is going to be on the agenda. We are trying to look at ‘Is it working? Is it working how we expected it to work?’

“And if needs be ‘Let’s see what we need to do to make it better? So, at the moment, the PCC is what it is, it goes into the machine and it comes out. It’s about a player’s actual score versus their expected score. That’s how it’s actually modelled. It’s comparing what somebody actually scores to what their expected score variation is.”

THE MISUNDERSTANDING BETWEEN NOT STARTED AND NO RETURN Some clubs have reported confusion where players have entered scores using Not Started in handicap software – believing it to be the same as No Return. But, as Hunter explains, the two concepts are different and have different results.

“NR is no return, so they have not completed the hole, and NS is not started the hole,” she said. “One of the things I’m planning on doing in the next couple of weeks is to actually reach out to all the ISVs just to see if we can get some consistency on how that’s applied.

“All the ISVs are applying it in the right way. So, if a player marks a score as NS, they are sending that up as a net par, which is correct based on the Rules of Handicapping because that is a no score. We have not played that hole, therefore we don’t have a score to enter, whereas a no return, or a pickup, is a net double bogey.

“What I would suggest is just

double check with your ISV what the two combinations are and what players should be asked to submit. That then will make sure that the correct information gets sent up to WHS”.

HAS WHS INCREASED THE WORKLOAD FOR CLUB MANAGERS? Hunter was asked about the demands on club managers of dealing with WHS, with a specific example being whether all competition scores had to be dealt with on the same day to accurately calculate the Playing Conditions Calculation.

But Hunter said: “You don’t need to close your competition down to be able to process the scores for PCC. The scores simply have to be entered into the system.

“Understandably, [during restrictions] where clubhouses weren’t open and terminals weren’t available, it was difficult for players to enter their own score.

“But now we are getting back to a little bit of normality, simply by asking the players to ensure that they’ve submitted their score on the conclusion of their round, it means that those scores will still go into the system, but you as a golf club manager don’t actually need to close the competition down until you come back in on Monday as long as those scores have gone in.

“If there’s a situation where no scores can be entered and the scores can’t go in, there is a fallback. “If any scores are entered on a day, and a PCC is triggered, we can’t recalculate the PCC.

“So, if you play on a Saturday, and eight people put their score in, whether that be general play or competition, that triggers the PCC calculation. If [over 100] scores aren’t entered till Monday, they will use the calculation that has been triggered by those eight.

“But if no scores at all are entered on the Saturday, and all the scores are entered on the Monday, because there’s been no PCC calculated it will do a bulk calculation of those scores based on the fact that they should have been entered on the Saturday.

“It covers the fact that if you’ve had an outage and you’ve no way of entering the scores on a particular day, they can be entered in bulk at a future date. But as soon as that PCC calculation has been triggered, we can’t recalculate it.”

‘From the first rental, you’re EARNING MONEY’

We sat down with Gordon Pullen, managing director at EGSS Technologies Ltd, to find out how their electric golf boards could change the game

Tell us about your company? EGSS is a team of individuals that have come together to develop an exciting way of getting into golf.

Sounds interesting, what is it? It’s an electric golf board share scheme that increases golf course revenue without costing clubs a penny. The board itself is four wheeled and similar to an electric scooter. It navigates a course easily and, on average, rounds take 30% less time with a golf board.

You describe the board in your promotional material as a ‘gamechanger for golfers’. Can you explain why you think that? It’s something different and exciting. It’s a game changer because it speeds up the pace of play for the golfer, allowing them to each go to their own ball and the flexibility that goes with this. Golfers are able to see, reserve, unlock and pay for golf boards - that are available at the course once they arrive - using the smart app on their phone. The IoT device allows us to know every vehicle’s status like battery, speed, and so on and is tracked via GPS – essentially giving us full control. Using the latest geo-fencing technologies means we’re able to track riders and make sure they don’t go into any sensitive areas of the golf course – such as greens, tees, bunkers. They can’t go outside of the confines of the course.

You also say that onboarding with EGSS won’t cost golf clubs a penny. How does that work? Clubs won’t rent the boards from us, their members and visitors will, and the golf club will get a revenue share of that rental.

We established that model because, when I wanted to ride golf boards in the UK, there was only one course I could find that had them. I also tried to buy them, and prices were astronomical.

We said ‘how can we fix this? How do we get these vehicles out into the market without asking clubs to fork out a large sum of money upfront, or have to secure a lease deal and then not have the maintenance or support for the vehicles?’

We are confident enough our vehicles will be used to say ‘there’s no upfront cost. Get the vehicles on your course and, from the first rental, you’re earning money’.

So you give the boards to the clubs, golfers deal directly with you, and the golf club gets a share of the rental. How does it work from the golfer’s point of view?

We have a smart app, which is connected to the vehicle. The golfer walks up, takes out their phone, and downloads the application. They put their details in, scan the QR code, and unlock the vehicle.

They directly interact with us – paying us for the trip – and we then revenue share from that transaction straight to the golf club.

The golf club doesn’t own the vehicles, they don’t have to buy the vehicles, they don’t have to undertake any maintenance. We install charging points and pay for those. All a golf club has to do is make sure the vehicles are charged and cleaned and, although we will pick up the vast majority of any issues from our side, inform us if there’s a problem we need to come and resolve.

That’s quite unique, isn’t it? You partner with a club, deliver the units, and then everything else is a transaction between EGSS and the user… A golf course’s core business is golf. Their business isn’t running a fleet of electric vehicles. When you look at the asset they’re managing, and the value of that asset, that’s enough to keep them busy.

They shouldn’t have to worry about the peripherals. We will only do as well as our partner clubs, so let’s build a relationship around the vehicle rentals.

On top of that, the data we are able to collect from the vehicles and trips means we can go to the golf club and say ‘this is the most utilised area of the course. This is the pace of play. This is when people book the vehicles’.

We’re able to manage the data of their players and let them know in real time what’s going on at the course.

Are you excited about the possibilities? There is a lot of excitement for our partner clubs and our users are delighted. Our partnership with the GCMA is also crucial because clubs want to know they can trust EGSS as a provider. We’re seeing a lot of interest.

To find out more about EGSS, and how you can use their electric golf boards at your club, visit egss.golf.

Building membership numbers to ensure your golf club’s sustainable future...

Roger Brown, Chief Commercial Officer, Fairway Credit

So, the summer months are on their way and the nation’s golf courses will be fully open. Golfers can look forward to limitless, uninterrupted time on the fairway if all goes to plan, thanks to the vaccine roll out and the final restrictions being lifted. The sound of a ball being sweetly struck from the first tee; tills ringing in the pro shop; the clink of glasses in the clubhouse and high demand for tee times are all becoming a reality. We’ve missed this!

Every club manager I speak with has a spring in their step as normality returns but what are the wider implications for UK golf clubs as we enter a post pandemic era?

Building a brighter ‘financial’ future Despite the optimism created by a return to the full golfing experience there is an inevitable, underlying oncern amongst golf club owners and managers with regard to maintaining the financial viability of their courses. With golf clubs closed, or partially closed, over a number of months since March 2020, the reduction in income has negatively impacted golf club finances.

As we navigate through what is reported to be the worst recession in 300 years, it’s never been more important for golf club managers to maximise income and retain a strong cash flow. A membership base, high in number, and the income created from this source remains by far the strongest income driver for most clubs.

Growing membership, therefore, has to remain a priority. How do you turn those twice a month or once a week players that pay as they play into members? Do you look to offer them an annual membership

Building membership numbers to ensure your

that undercuts what they would have paid to play? What other opportunities are there to do this?

Using a credit option to pay for membership Recent economic uncertainty has made the financing of golf club memberships attractive allowing players to spread the cost of their club memberships over convenient monthly repayments.

It is also beneficial for clubs, providing them with a smooth, reliable and regulatory compliant cash flow. With memberships paid to the club in full at the start of each membership year, the club can manage their own financial planning.

Fairway Credit, is the market leading brand providing this service to the golf market for over 25 years, providing our services to nearly 40,000 golfers across 7000 clubs. As well as allowing golfers to spread the cost of membership, there is

the opportunity for the club to earn finance commission for every member that uses our service.

Fairway Credit is the popular option, with 1 in 4 fee paying golf clubs working with us, and almost 20% of members at these clubs choosing Fairway Credit.

Our Fairway Credit facility helps golfers enjoy the benefits of membership, and clubs the satisfaction of knowing their subscription administration is expertly managed and that income generation is being sustained.

If we can offer assistance in this area, help you build your membership base and grow revenue opportunities for your club, please don’t hesitate to contact one of the Fairway Credit team on 0344 736 9818.