The best booking engines in golf

A great tee time booking engine can be a force multiplier for every public golf course

Why should you read this? If you believe demand for tee times will possibly decrease over the next two to four years and your financial livelihood is impacted by that demand, this article is for you. This article details the benefits golf operators can enjoy by using a great tee time booking engine and, in this article, what makes a golf booking engine great is detailed.

For golf operators, failing to plan is planning to fail.

Recently the NGF shared that rounds played are at an all-time high. That's one reason why collecting more golfer data, in 2024, is a top opportunity for operators. This is obvious, when there's more data to collect, the opportunity to collect it is at an all-time high. Why should operators care about data?

There are many benefits for small business owners, including golf course owners and operators, in collecting data about their customers. Here are some key benefits:

1. Improve Your Marketing:

• Targeted campaigns: Analyze customer data to understand demographics, preferences, and purchase history. This allows you to create targeted marketing campaigns that resonate with specific customer segments, increasing ROI and engagement.
• Personalized communication: Leverage data to personalize marketing messages, email content, and product recommendations. This can improve conversion rates and customer satisfaction.
• Effective advertising: Optimize advertising campaigns based on data-driven insights about customer behavior and demographics, reaching the right audience with the right message.

2. Enhance Customer Experience:

• Identify customer needs and preferences: Analyze data to understand customer pain points, preferences, and expectations. This helps you tailor your products, services, and overall experience to better meet their needs.
• Personalization:  Provide personalized recommendations, offers, and support based on individual customer data, fostering loyalty and satisfaction.

3. Boost Sales and Revenue

4. Make Data-Driven Decisions

What's the best way to collect the data? We can all agree there are several ways to collect customer data. You can collect it while speaking with them on the phone. You can collect it while they are standing in line, paying for their round of golf. What's the likelihood either of these will work well? Your best option to collect the data you want is to get it from your tee time booking engine.

Remember: It's crucial to be ethical and transparent when collecting and using customer data. Always obtain informed consent, comply with data privacy regulations, and use data responsibly to build trust and maintain positive customer relationships.

FULL LIST OF RANKED 
TEE TIME BOOKING ENGINES

Collecting more golfer data is not the only benefit the operator enjoys with a great booking engine.

A great booking engine gives the operator the best chance to increase direct bookings. Why does that matter?

• Direct bookings are usually the highest margin rounds of golf an operator can sell. That's another way of saying you don't pay a third-party company (trade, fees or commission) when golfers book tee times directly from the golf course website or mobile app. It's another obvious point - it's better to sell rounds of golf that don't create added fees for the golf course.

Great booking engines reduce phone calls.

If the golf technology companies can build great booking engines AND if the golf course operators properly deploy them, phone calls to the golf shop should be reduced. Why does that matter?

• Reducing labor stress is a primary goal for golf course operators. Why?

Obviously saving money on payroll is always a goal but there's more. Golf operators dread the phone conversations they're forced to have, especially during busy times. When management eliminates employee stress, coming from the phone, the culture and work environment improves. Golf courses with great work cultures enjoy a better pool of candidates when looking for new staff members.

• Reduced communication errors - ever played the game telephone? Every phone call is an opportunity to share bad or incorrect information. Johnny will never be perfect. If the booking engine tech is great, including simple for the operator to share current and accurate notes and information with the booker, the golf course will reduce the number of mistakes they "push" to their golfers.

That's the WHY - Better Data, Better Margins, Less Phone.

Hopefully you agree, it's important for your booking engine to provide your golfers a great experience and be easy for your staff to use. What features matter most when shopping for a booking engine (and when building a booking engine)? Before we settle on features, maybe we should consider your developer? Very few golf operators have in-house developers, so let's substitute "your developer" with your golf management software vendor's booking engine product owner. You should know what the product owner is trying to accomplish. What's their BHAG (big hairy audacious goal); what's their mission? If they're thinking about building or improving a booking engine that facilitates the most direct bookings possible, you're in a good place. Nothing short of that mindset will lead to a great booking engine. That's the goal.

The Most Direct Bookings Possible.

The key features and aspects that make for a great booking engine can make for a long list. If we had to settle for only two aspects it would be SPEED and ACCURACY. You can place nearly every feature in one of those two categories and if there was a third category it would be SHAREABILITY. That may surprise you but when you consider sharing a booking with fellow players as a way to collect their prepayment, as MemberSports offers, you realize shareability will become more important over the next 12-24 months. We would like to think bookers will have the option to share their reservations in a generic manner across social channels as well. If a post round review matters, so too does the decision to book a reservation.

Booking Engine Speed Matters.

• Intuitive and easy to use: Navigating the engine should be effortless, with clear instructions, logical layout, and minimal steps to complete a booking.
• Mobile-friendly: Optimized for smooth booking on smartphones and tablets, reflecting the increasing mobile usage trend.
• Visually appealing: Modern and clean design that instills trust and enhances the overall booking experience.
• Search and filter options: Powerful search functions with relevant filters allow users to quickly find suitable options based on specific criteria.
• Flexible booking options: Accommodate various needs with features like different booking durations, add-ons, and customization options.
• Clear calls to action: Prominent "Book Now" buttons and easy checkout process to facilitate quick conversions.

Booking Engine Accuracy Matters.

• Real-time availability and pricing: Transparency is key, with accurate data on availability and pricing displayed instantly.
• Secure payment processing: Ensure a safe and secure booking experience with reputable payment gateways and data encryption.
• Data analytics and reporting: Provide insights into booking trends and user behavior for informed decision-making.
• Integrations with other systems: Integrate with marketing tools, property management systems, and other relevant software for seamless operations.

Specific List of Important Booking Engine Features.

Understanding the aspects and considerations we're looking for in our quest of finding the best tee time booking engine in golf, let's list the ten features we're looking for and value most. These ten are not in order of importance.

• Multi-functional when it comes to payments. We want the golfer to be able to save a card file and be able to require pre-payment for some (or all) of our tee times. Soon, we'll require the option to share the booking with fellow players so they can click and pay for their portion of the tee time. MemberSports does a good job with this feature.
• After login, we want the golfer to only see what s/he is permitted to reserve. This includes rates, times and rewards. Soon, we'll require Google and Apple OAuth sign-in functionality but not at the expense of collecting data for marketing purposes.
• We have to be able to cancel our reservation, online. The cancelation policy can vary widely (at the course level) but if the golfer cannot cancel online, we're not in the great zone.
• Promo codes have to be available. The operator should be able to create promo codes and have liberal access to using alpha and numerical characters.
• URL formatting is very important. If the goal is the most direct bookings, the url should include the golf course name and not the vendor's name. If this is not possible, the booking engine should perform perfectly while in an iFrame. We like how Golf Geek Software handles this, using booking.(name of golf course).com
• The look of the booking engine has to be modern - it's got to look great. It should be easy to include the golf course brand and the lines, fonts and colors should be internet friendly. Mobile responsiveness is an obvious requirement and we include it here. Many get high marks here including GolfBack and Supreme
• Simulator adaptability must include options like reservations by time spans and/or player counts beyond four. Support beyond sims will be required in the future for pickleball and lessons.
• Traffic and conversion data helps the operator learn if there's a rate problem or awareness problem. This piece of the reporting pie in golf operations is the most undervalued and ignored data point. The vendors must get better here.
• Add-on purchases, as part of the checkout flow, is a perfect example of using technology to improve revenue and overcome staff pushback when it comes to a willingness to be a seller. We like how the Tee It Up booking engine from NBC Sports Next for Golf allows the booker to add long list of items when buying a tee time.
• PCI compliance.

#1 Booking Engine in Golf for 2024 is SAGACITY GOLF

Here's what we like

• The rich revenue features
• The booking speed

Room to improve

• Eye appeal

About the SAGACITY GOLF Booking Engine: The Sagacity Golf booking engine is the best tee time booking engine we've seen in action. It gives the golf operator the best chance to grow revenue in the short term and long term. The Sagacity booking engine is an extension a of dynamic pricing and marketing platform used by hundreds of golf courses.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL 
SAGACITY GOLF 
BOOKING ENGINE REPORT

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#2 Booking Engine in Golf for 2024 is GOLF GEEK SOFTWARE

Here's what we like

• The appearance - great eye appeal
• The booking url - perfect, don't change a thing

Room to improve

• Payment functionality - card on file please

About the GOLF GEEK SOFTWARE Booking Engine: The Golf Geek Booking Engine is considered best in class and gets an A rating from Golf Course Technology Reviews. This tee time booking engine rates extremely high on Brand Sensitivity, Reporting and Appearance. Golf Geek's booking engine is a key component in a suite of products centered on revenue management for golf courses.

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GOLF GEEK SOFTWARE 
BOOKING ENGINE REPORT

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#3 Booking Engine in Golf for 2024 is GOLFBACK

Here's what we like

• Auto-login after initial visit - excellent!
• Golfer 2, 3 & 4 capture

Room to improve

• Golf course branding

About the GOLFBACK Booking Engine: The GolfBack tee time booking engine is a powerful, user friendly compliment to several different tee sheets. The GolfBack booking engine works in tandem with automated marketing and dynamic pricing to help golf course operators grow their revenue.

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GOLFBACK 
BOOKING ENGINE REPORT

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#4 Booking Engine in Golf for 2024 is FOREUP GOLF

Here's what we like

• Full of features - paying w/rainchecks
• Fresh appearance

Room to improve

• url branding

About the FOREUP Booking Engine: In 2023, the foreUP tee time booking engine underwent a significant transformation, yielding outstanding outcomes. The visual appeal has been greatly enhanced, and the functionality is now exceptionally robust. Users benefit from a variety of payment methods, pass card features, rain check management, and additional conveniences. Within the realm of the largest golf management software providers, foreUP has distinguished itself by ascending to the pinnacle, offering the finest booking engine available.

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FOREUP GOLF 
BOOKING ENGINE REPORT

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#5 Booking Engine in Golf for 2024 is TEE IT UP, NBC Sports Next for Golf

Here's what we like

• Works well in an iframe to protect golf course brand
• Adding store purchases like gift cards with custom delivery

Room to improve

• Too much non-golf course brand promotion with notifications and text throughout the booking experience

About the TEE IT UP Booking Engine: The Tee It Up booking engine from NBC Sports Next for Golf is battle tested and holds up well. With the addition of store functionality and historically good performance in an iFrame setting, this booking engine ranks as one of the best available for golf course operators.

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TEE IT UP 
BOOKING ENGINE REPORT

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#6 Booking Engine in Golf for 2024 is PROSHOP TEE TIMES

Here's what we like

• The speed is fantastic
• The custom coding options

Room to improve

• Add promo code functionality

About the PROSHOP TEE TIMES Booking Engine: The Proshop Tee Times Booking Engine received a major facelift over the last two years and the results are positive. This is a fast and easy to use tee time booking engine. Proshop Tee Times uses a combination of rate types in every booking. This has helped the time to book factor.

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PROSHOP TEE TIMES 
BOOKING ENGINE REPORT

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#7 Booking Engine in Golf for 2024 is CLUB CADDIE

Here's what we like

• The future is bright
• The member friendliness

Room to improve

• Improved promo code functionality and time to book

About the CLUB CADDIE Booking Engine: The Club Caddie tee time booking engine works well with any experience a golf club member could encounter. The user has the option to toggle between a cube or linear display and can use a strong set of filters to optimize the experience.

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CLUB CADDIE 
BOOKING ENGINE REPORT

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#8 Booking Engine in Golf for 2024 is EZLINKS GOLF, NBC Sports Next for Golf

Here's what we like

• The multiple login options
• Popular calendar integrations

Room to improve

• Inventory latency and unprotected access

About the EZLINKS GOLF Booking Engine: The EZLinks Golf booking engine from NBC Sports Next for Golf is a good booking engine with several convenient features. The cancellation, especially partial cancellations, are helpful and the familiar cube presentation instills a sense of trust.

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EZLINKS GOLF 
BOOKING ENGINE REPORT

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#9 Booking Engine in Golf for 2024 is EAGLE CLUB SYSTEMS

Here's what we like

• The simplicity creates speed
• Seamless green grass / simulator experience

Room to improve

• Eye appeal

About the SAGACITY GOLF Booking Engine: The Eagle Club Systems booking engine is easy to use and versatile when it comes to offering a combination of options for green grass and simulator reservations. It's simplicity may be seen as limiting by some but it's true to the company's focus: simple and reliable.

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EAGLE CLUB SYSTEMS 
BOOKING ENGINE REPORT

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#10 Booking Engine in Golf for 2024 is SUPREME GOLF

Here's what we like

• Great eye appeal
• Good option for membership upsells

Room to improve

• Improved golf course branding

About the SUPREME GOLF Booking Engine: The Supreme Golf tee time booking engine is easy on the eyes and a good guide for what a modern, sleek booking engine looks like. The booking engine is a great option for golf courses participating in recurring membership sales facilitated by the Supreme Golf software..

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SUPREME GOLF 
BOOKING ENGINE REPORT

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#11 Booking Engine in Golf for 2024 is TEESNAP

Here's what we like

• The strong search engine performance
• The booking speed

Room to improve

• More revenue features like promo codes and add-on purchases

About the TEESNAP Booking Engine: The Teesnap tee time booking engine is unique and has a few hidden gems you won't find with any other booking engine in golf. While the Teesnap brand rides along with search results, this booking engine outperforms all when it comes to findability across search engines. A clear win for the golf course operator.

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TEESNAP 
BOOKING ENGINE REPORT

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#12 Booking Engine in Golf for 2024 is CLUB PROPHET

Here's what we like

• The larger group functionality is a plus

Room to improve

• Improve inventory freshness

About the CLUB PROPHET Booking Engine: Club Prophet has at least two distinct tee time booking engines deployed at various golf courses. The onlineresweb version is a good booking engine with several useful features. The secure.east.prophetservices version is serviceable.

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CLUB PROPHET 
BOOKING ENGINE REPORT

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#13 Booking Engine in Golf for 2024 is TOTAL E INTEGRATED

Here's what we like

• Guest invitations
• Holding a golfer spot

Room to improve

• Eye appeal

About the TOTAL E INTEGRATED Booking Engine: The Total e Integrated tee time booking engine performs well and is a good fit for high-end daily fee and semi-private golf courses. When booking, the guest invitation experience is very good, including the TBA functionality.

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TOTAL E INTEGRATED 
BOOKING ENGINE REPORT

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#14 Booking Engine in Golf for 2024 is MEMBERSPORTS

Here's what we like

• Self-Pay - playing partners pay before day of play
• Fast booking flow

Room to improve

• Shared username and password across full ecosystem presents challenges

About the MEMBERSPORTS Booking Engine: The MemberSports booking engine takes a different approach than most when it comes to golfer accounts and booking tee times at a golf course. MemberSports is built for the golfer to use the same name, phone number and email address for login purposes whenever booking at a golf course that uses MemberSports.

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MEMBERSPORTS 
BOOKING ENGINE REPORT

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#15 Booking Engine in Golf for 2024 is LIGHTSPEED GOLF

Here's what we like

• Familiar experience

Room to improve

• Too many tee time rabbit hole experiences

About the LIGHTSPEED GOLF Booking Engine: The Lightspeed Golf tee time booking engine is one of the more unique booking engines in golf. It is persistently available on the golf course website, as an expanding booking widget.

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LIGHTSPEED GOLF 
BOOKING ENGINE REPORT

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