Companies such as IZON Technology and Tagmarshal are benefiting both PGA of America Golf Professionals and golfers alike
By Scott Kramer, Contributing Equipment Editor
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ost PGA of America Golf Professionals are plenty familiar with sophisticated golf car screen systems that aim to help golfers navigate the course while simultaneously helping staff control operations. However, there’s always more to learn as technology continues to improve. IZON Technology and Tagmarshal are among the companies helping to enhance the golf experience at facilities for both golfers and PGA of America Professionals.
From a golfer’s perspective, IZON Technology ups the experience with a 10-inch ultra-bright display mounted to the driver’s side of the golf car, providing detailed aerial, fairway and green course graphics with accurate dynamic yardages. There are side games, shareable scorecards, GolfGenius integration for tournaments, communication with the golf shop, and food ordering capabilities. From a course owner and operator’s perspective, it provides much more.
“We include geofencing, automated and on-demand messaging to/from golfers and course staff, and tee time integrations and retail offerings soon,” says Kurt Albertson, Executive Vice President of Golf at IZON, who says there is no cost to the golf course for installation.
“By providing courses with true state-of-the-art hardware and software, the consumer will now have a greater experience. Most data shows that less than 12 percent of all U.S. courses have some type of screen technology on their existing golf car fleets. That means 12,000-plus courses don’t offer their customers technology during their rounds.
“In addition to our disruptive pricing model, we provide course owners and operators two zero-cost ad positions within our digital video player to use at their discretion to promote anything they’d like – such as real estate offerings, event opportunities, golf lessons, food specials, etc. If they want to sell those within their market, they keep 80 percent of the revenue from those sales. This becomes an additional revenue resource for the course with the possibility of an additional $15,000 per year in their pocket just from installing IZON.”
Installing the system will be an easy process that takes place over a period of a few weeks prior to going live. It can be installed on E-Z-GO, Club Car and Yamaha golf cars, and the screen units don’t connect to the golf car battery – meaning it won’t void the golf car manufacturer warranty.
“The going live experience includes IZON staff onsite to install all hardware and assist in any additional training,” says Albertson. “We think the biggest impact for courses will be most importantly in truly understanding pace of play, while at the same time tracking where all golf cars go on property. Because of the data we collect, each course’s agronomic team will have a far better understanding of course driving traffic by date range, time of day, etc. to better prepare the facility for play, and also understand watering and maintenance areas for the near term and future renovation planning.
“Over the next couple of years, there will be a fundamental shift in how golf courses interact with golfers once they arrive on property. With the data we’re able to capture on golfers, we will enable course operators to pinpoint marketing offerings to golfers through the IZON in-cart screen, but also fully engage with them from the time they set foot in the parking lot until they leave the restaurant following their round.”
Grand Canyon University Golf Course in Phoenix is one of the courses trying out IZON. Jesse Mueller, the facility’s PGA of America General Manager, says the system was installed in one day on his Club Car fleet and thus far is working well.
“It’s definitely a value-added, enhanced experience for the golfers who get a GPS system we didn’t previously have here on the golf cars,” says Mueller. “On the back end, there are things that are not fully implemented yet, but they will be up-and-running by the fall.
“Right now, we can see where all the golf cars are, if they’re behind pace, and we can send messages to groups and vice-versa. Geofencing is coming, where we can restrict golf cars to the path only or around certain tees and greens, which we plan to use. They will also have a food & beverage component that will allow us to upload our menu, and customers can pay for that drink or food item and then we can deliver it to them on the course.”
As for pace-of-play improvement, Mueller hopes he can single out slow golfers and send a ranger out to encourage faster play.
On-Course Optimization Technology
A decade-old competitor in the course-tech space, Tagmarshal refers to itself as the market leader in on-course optimization technology. Its system uses GPS-enabled devices to provide courses with full, real-time operational oversight and reporting – tapping data from more than 75 million tracked golf rounds to help effectively manage pace and flow of play. It also aims to boost labor efficiency through automation and generate revenue through tee sheet optimization.
Like IZON, it’s golf car brand-agnostic and a seamless installation. But Tagmarshal also lets walkers clip two-way mobile screens to their golf bags. All collected data feeds directly into the cloud, where machine learning and AI transform it into invaluable insight for facilities. Tagmarshal is in place at 600-plus courses worldwide, including 40 of the top 100 U.S. courses.
Officials say the depth of Tagmarshal’s data and how it’s transformed into actionable insights sets it apart from competitors. A recent software update provides operators with an intuitive, user-friendly platform that makes the system easy to master and customize, based on each staff member’s role and preferences. The system helps generate immediate ROI, say officials, leading to a better golf experience that drives repeat play and club loyalty, laying the foundation for premium pricing – citing examples such as Erin Hills Golf Course in Wisconsin generating an extra $700,000 annually and Willow Springs Golf Course in Arizona generating $500,000 in additional revenue in its first year using Tagmarshal.
“This technology will make you money and we’re a perfect example of that,” says Mike Fosnick, Director of Operations, Premier Golf Division of Troon Golf. “We have the data now and revenue is up.”
Course operators also tap the Analytics Hub that highlights opportunities to drive incremental improvement season after season. These include average pace (segmented by time of day and day of the week), hole-by-hole stats, starter accuracy, pace distribution charts, pace intervention success rates, etc.
“Tagmarshal has been a game changer,” says Matt Barksdale, PGA of America Director of Golf at Pinehurst (North Carolina) Resort. “We have 360-degree coverage of our course and can see the pace of play with a glance at a screen.”
Tagmarshal reports that courses experience immediate pace-of-play improvement, with some courses boosting pace by 25 minutes and getting 30 percent more rounds to finish on pace. Courses also use Tagmarshal for geofencing.
If your facility isn’t currently incorporating services like these, you may well be missing out on revenue opportunities.