When I decided to write a piece on POS systems, little did I know that there were so many of them - dozens of them actually.
Tyler MacEachern, Senior Manager for Golf Sales at Lightspeed, who has more than 20 years in the golf business says, “There’s always been what we called the legacy software, server-based products that have been around for a long time. But there is certainly a fairly crowded market with a lot of options for operators today. Lightspeed was one of the first to market with a cloud-based solution and is now one of several that fall into that category.”
With so many POS options, it can be a daunting task to determine which one is best for you. As with most topics that we cover at PGA Magazine and our family of digital publications, PGA of America Golf Professionals have each other as the best resources to narrow down the options. Who has Teesnap and what’s good and bad? What about Clubessential? Is that the right one for your facility?
Having spent almost 20 years as pro shop manager, director of golf and general manager at Greensmere Golf & Country Club in Carp, Ontario, Canada, MacEachern understands the camaraderie that exists in the golf industry, here in the states and north of the border, and the importance of leaning on each other for information.
For instance, Teesnap boasts an all-in-one, easy-to-use platform that will streamline the management of the various departments at your golf facility. From tee sheet management to point of sale to marketing and customer service, Teesnap enables you to oversee all aspects of your facility in one convenient program.
Dave Arehart, the PGA of America General Manager at The College Golf Course at Delhi in New York says, “We like that it is cellular-based, and the email platform is straightforward to use. It’s implemented on iPads, which works well for our younger associates. The reporting component is useful.”
Just 90 minutes downstate, John Durcan Sr. is the PGA owner/operator at Alapaha Golf Center in Kingston, New York. He and his staff tell me that the Teesnap system, with its iPad and credit card reader, is user-friendly. They appreciate the various buckets in which you can separate sales and revenue - greens fees, carts, merchandise, lessons, golf simulator time and F&B.
Some Teesnap users tell me that they wish it was easier to split and label a bill for their indoor simulator users during the winter. The bill for a group of four that’s paying separately can be split but not conveniently labeled so the user can easily keep track of each individual’s tab.
Down in Texas at Rockwall Golf & Athletic Golf, PGA of America General Manager Ignacio Vela feels his Clubessential platform is “great for private clubs.” He says “Billing and charges are plainly visible for the members and the administrative team. Account management is well done. The app is very easy to use and can be implemented for just about anything from ordering food to court reservations and tee times. The calendar is also easy to access. The tee sheet even allows you to invite your buddies to join you for a round of golf.”
Nick Bailey, the PGA of America General Manager at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City, California, also uses Clubessential for their POS and all other functions at the club. He touts a one-stop shop - website, tee sheet, app, mobile ordering for F&B, accounting software, reservations, event planning, and more. “We are married to them,” he declares. “It is reliable and easy to use from a user (member) perspective, and everything integrates fairly well - their event planning software operates directly with it.”
In chatting with MacEachern at Lightspeed, he highlighted the adaptability and flexibility of the Lightspeed POS product. It works well with other software packages allowing for importing and exporting of data for accounting purposes. It even works with applications like Uber Eats. It integrates well with external packages for F&B, golf retail and tee sheet administration.
Though overall pleased with his POS system, one user said he doubts that anyone will tell you they really love their system - they all have their faults here and there.” He feels it’s a little slow to adapt to the needs of one club versus another. He adds that the app design is not great – very blocky with very few design features - and it’s hard to implement pictures into it. This is information you can only, honestly get from one another as PGA of America GMs.
Other comments from PGA users of this particular software include: “The tee sheet is a separate module and not integrated to the POS, and the event module is also not integrated with POS. Event accounts are not integrated with POS and must be rung in separately, which gets messy when dealing with deposits and pre-payments.
In the Southwest PGA Section, Brent Lingel is the PGA of America General Manager at Rolling Hills Golf Course and Dorado Country Club. He uses foreUP, another cloud-based platform, at both locations.
“The tee sheets are integrated for both courses and allow for tee times to be made on any mobile device,” he says. “Their marketing program integrates well with our social media and they manage our webpage on online tee times. It integrates well with Sagacity, and their reports for credit card processing and more are very helpful.”
Lingel mentions that the system has some outages due to maintenance and firmware issues. He adds that inventory reports and inventory history can be more detailed compared to other providers.
Finally, Golf Genius offers its cloud-based Golf Shop product to empower golf shops to streamline special orders, track orders, manage demo clubs that are loaned to members and ensure proper staffing through slow and busy times, maximizing efficiency for the club. Common communications are made easier through automation, and even intricate services like club repair are better organized. With the time savings that your head professional and his or her staff will reap from this product, the opportunities to grow those vital relationships with members become that much easier.
Scott Sedgwick, the PGA of America Director of Golf at Louisville Country Club had this to say about Golf Genius Golf Shop, “We immediately saw value in Golf Genius Golf Shop, particularly the survey feature. We now have an easy and efficient way to determine member preferences, which gives us the insight to serve them better. We also like the communications capability. The automatic text messages and emails look very professional, and our members appreciate the updates and reminders. We have been very impressed with Golf Shop, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.”
The few examples highlighted here barely scratch the surface of Point-of-Sale systems. In fact, the point of this piece was to say “There are a lot of options out there, so do your due diligence.” And like MacEachern at Lightspeed said, rely upon your fellow professionals. Every company will highlight its pros, leaving you to discover the cons only after implementing the software at your facility. Know the facts before you decide.
Check out a case study on how one club solved the POS puzzle: https://www.clubessential.com/blog/how-hillendale-country-club-conquered-the-software-search/