David Cederholm on golf’s new digital age 56 Meet Sherwood Forest’s Simon Williams

In conversation with... DAVID CEDERHOLM

The covid pandemic may have forever changed the way we use technology in golf. David Cederholm, Toptracer’s Europe, Middle East and Africa Sales Director, reveals more to Steve Carroll

With Covid restrictions being removed across the UK, the use of technology in golf is now shifting into a different phase.

Pandemic restrictions meant people turned to their phones, or other digital methods, to play the game, record their scores and track their progress and it’s clear the digitisation of the sport took a significant step forward.

In other areas of our lives, whether we are checking our bank balances or paying for products, tech has made things simpler and quicker.

But until coronavirus struck with such vengeance, some areas of the golf industry were slow to get in on the act.

Now, with online tee booking common at even the most traditional of golf clubs and touchscreens the default way to deal with competitions, has golf moved into a new digital age?

As EMEA sales director at Toptracer, David Cederholm is at the forefront of this new revolution. Toptracer products, whether it is the shot tracer that is now an expected requirement of TV viewing, or the driving range experience that is transforming the way we develop our games, are at the heart of the process.

So who better to ask about the future? Have the last 16 months been a flash in the pan or are we now irrevocably down the rabbit hole?

Digitisation has obviously been accelerated by the pandemic. Does that become more prevalent even as restrictions have eased? I think so. Golf has enjoyed a boom because of the pandemic. That’s because golf is a form of entertainment and while other forms of entertainment have been closed, golf is naturally outdoors and socially distanced.

That’s why a lot of people have either played more golf, returned to the game, or taken it up. Golf has, in recent years, had a challenge around participation numbers declining.

We believe the gamification of the range and this technology is key to growing that participation and retaining the boom that is here now.

If we look at where golf is going to be in five years’ time, there are two routes you can take:

If a facility invests now, works on retention and a more immersive experience to keep people coming back, then you could look back in five years and say 2021 was the catalyst for change - because it was the start of bringing people in and it was technology like ours that helped retain them.

Or if we pat ourselves on the back because golf facilities are popular right now, but don’t invest in changing the experience, we’ll

David Cederholm David Cederholm has vast experience in disruptive technologies having spent six years at Just Eat, the last three as UK Sales Director. He has also worked as Group Sales Director for Minto Group, founded Dipstix.co.uk, and has also been Chief Operating Officer at Mobile Technologies International and both a Sales Director and Country Manager UK and Ireland for OrderYOYO. A lifelong golfer with a 4 handicap, he joined Toptracer as Sales Director EMEA in November last year.

look back and only say those couple of years, because of the pandemic, were a boom.

My background has always been in changing consumer behaviour through technology. That’s one thing golf has never had. Because it’s so hard to play, and is a very time-consuming game, people can think ‘is it easier to take the family to ten pin bowling or to the cinema?’

Now however, you can make golf fun, entertaining, and quick, and find that immersive experience, so it’s a great way to bring that market back in and keep golf relevant.

How do you do that? Some clubs have gone headlong into digitisation, others bristle at the sight of a mobile phone. How do you change the perceptions of those who may not like this trend? Although we’re known for technological innovation, respecting the traditions that exist within the game is of critical importance.

Society has moved and shifted, and demands are different. Some places are moving with that adjustment, some aren’t.

It’s case by case, every conversation we have with every facility is about what’s right for them. We work with great historic places like Sunningdale, through to World of Golf in New Malden, which is a three-tier city centre-based driving range. It’s about ensuring the right experience for golfers because, ultimately, the reason these golf facilities exist is because people enjoy playing the game.

The game has already taken steps forward from a digital standpoint, largely due to the advancement of club fitting.

Nowadays, when a consumer interacts with a golf broadcast, there is a wealth of data available.

The ability for the average golfer to have access to that themselves is of critical importance.

Something that you hear often around golf clubs is golfers presuming they are ‘not good enough’ for custom fit clubs. “That stuff’s available for the pros, but it’s not for me”.

That’s where we want to help golf facilities and educate their users. It’s about enabling that narrative, but we’re still very much at the start of that journey.

It’s a little like the law of adoption and innovation, we’re very much at the innovator end but getting that out to the mass market and getting that to where the golfer can realise it is the important, and more difficult, bit.

Our success story is that in every place we’ve installed they’ve seen a great material impact on their business. The challenge we have is getting the word out to everybody quickly.

Once we have that conversation, most golf facilities we partner with ask: ‘why doesn’t everyone have it yet?’ It’s because it’s new. We’re working as fast as we can to get it everywhere.

Why has golf been a bit slower to adopt technology? Digitisation is everywhere now… Golf facilities are big, wide, expansive venues. Digitising every part of what people interact with is very difficult, time consuming, and potentially needs heavy investment. But whether it’s tee booking, or the England Golf app for the World Handicap System, it’s involving everyone and breaking down some barriers. In certain golf clubs, there are elements of their property that are under-invested – one of them being the driving range, because it’s always been that bit on the side where people

go and hit some balls.

Maybe there’s the perception that only good golfers go and do it. However, it is a facility that provides a real opportunity.

I think it’s coming, but I also think golf is something that has traditions and generally looks at how things were 25 years ago rather than where things are going to be in five years’ time. That’s an evolution that’s happened in many different verticals and it’s happening now in golf.

Utilisation of technology can bring rewards in terms of data mining. It does seem bizarre that, whether we like it or not, companies hold all sorts of information about our lives but that can be limited when it comes to some golf clubs… Generally speaking, driving ranges have digital board dispensing. Facilities should start to know and understand how many balls get hit on their range. The issue for them is that they don’t know how many balls get hit in a session or by whom.

We’ve seen an evolution with some of the ranges working with us, who started to use newer, more dynamic pricing models thanks to demand.

At off peak times, people pay by the basket and the ball but, during peak times, they pay for bay time. It’s a flat rate and consumers hit as many balls as they can in that hour. They’re even optimising how their range is spread out, resourced, and staffed. That’s something that simply hasn’t been available before because golf has been steady, fluid, and consistent for many years when realistically it should be more about timings and demand.

Giving facilities the data has really helped to change that and make it more dynamic, but it’s now about how we introduce these changes and engage with clubs.

We make the experience of hitting golf balls more interesting. Our strapline is: ‘more people, hitting more balls, more often’. But what does that mean to them? This is where we’re helping clubs understand. Some of the really innovative facilities we work with are helping us to see the power of the data we give to them and share best practices across the market. These are times of change and digital innovation but we’re still playing catch up with many other industries over this period of time.

Are we too far down the rabbit hole? We are and there’s no going back. The pandemic has brought a lot of people to the game of golf. All those people expect the same quality of service and convenience they receive in every other industry. Our movement has been ongoing since 2012, so the pandemic has just been a small portion of it. All it has really done is put more eyeballs and more pressure on the industry to innovate and change.

Installing the facilities you provide is a commitment for a club. There is an expense and, obviously, clubs will require a return on investment. So, what are the benefits? The amount of hardware and technology that goes into tracing a ball isn’t cheap. I’m not, by any stretch of the imagination, going to say this is a drop in the ocean and not a commitment - it is.

If you look at a golf club’s overheads, and what facilities they have to maintain, there’s an awful lot of spend just on maintaining and keeping the status quo.

Members like that; they want that tradition and that feel to it.

It is possible, however, that there are under-utilised and under-invested elements of every golf facility. Clubhouses aren’t full, driving ranges aren’t full. Tee times have been full during the pandemic, but there’s an opportunity to invest in something that gives people another reason to come to the golf club – to spend and interact with the club who in turn get returns on investment.

So where is the investment? Is it Toptracer Range or re-laying greens? Why isn’t it both?

What if one thing can generate a lot more income for you to facilitate doing the other? That should be an important element to the decision making process.

How does digital golf look to you in 2030? It absolutely adds value, and will become a mainstay of the facility. It will be an expectation, such as having Sky Sports in the clubhouse. It becomes part of the furniture. As people get more data in their lives - for every activity you do, there is a corresponding, data driven app.

That’s where we’re at. Our ambition is to be part of every golfer’s journey - from them picking up a club for the first time to understanding and seeing that improvement over time and being able to compete.

I was talking to a golf partner the other day whose son is really into football. He’s recently found golf because the onus is on him, rather than a team. We generally find with golfers that they care about improvement, improvement, improvement.

We can help them improve with easily accessible data, and they can even use it with PGA professionals for teaching programmes and development.

Ultimately, it doesn’t stop at the driving range. We want to be able track people on the golf course. In an instant, the individual knows how to tackle a hole because of the data on the app. It’s an intrinsic part of where we want to be.

Troptracer Whether it’s through Toptracer Range or Mobile, Toptracer is the most used ball-tracing technology in golf and should be instantly recognisable to anyone who has watched PGA Tour coverage on TV. The company was founded 15 years ago and, in 2012, Toptracer Range was launched – utilising technology to track and analyse golf shots on the driving range. Toptracer Range is now in place at close to 500 golf clubs and golf centres all over the world.