Framed by natural grasses and trees and ragged handmade bunkers, FireRock Golf Club flows effortlessly over pastureland and across Savannah grasses and the Oxbow River valley.

Playing 7,183 yards from the tips, the Tom McBroom-designed Par 72 championship course is renowned for its immaculate conditioning, making it one of the most exciting and enjoyable golf courses in Southwestern Ontario.

We spoke with Amanda Cookson, FireRock’s Director of Golf, about her love for the sport and how the course has embraced technology to help enhance the player experience.

How would you describe your morning routine to kickstart your day?

Enjoy a coffee with the morning crew 20 minutes before their shift starts and plan the day based on what groups we are hosting, and catch up on last night’s game.

Has golf always been your first love?

No, I was a varsity basketball player for Laurentian & Western University. However, the golf season merged perfectly with my basketball training schedule during school, so it was a natural career progression into the golf world.

Tell us about your role at your golf course. Why is it important?

As Director of Golf, you handle a little bit of everything – HR, event planning, merchandizing, business operations, planning and forecasting. I personally find it extremely motivating to work with Golf Canada & Golf Ontario when we host high-level championships to deliver to and exceed their high expectations. It is also very rewarding working with not-for-profit organizations to host incredible tournaments to help fundraise for their great causes!

Why has your course decided to invest in Tagmarshal?

Keeping with the times to be at the forefront of the technical side of golf course management.

Since implementing Tagmarshal, how have your golfers responded to the on-course experience?

They appreciate the fact they can have a streamlined approach to golf logistics while having the opportunity to order meals to enhance their experience without slowing down their round.

Describe Tagmarshal in three words.

Efficient, Smooth and Engaging

What is your dream golf destination? Why?

Augusta National – the incredible history!

Your best golf moment?

Hosting Brooke Henderson for the LPGA Qualifier in 2014 while her dad was her caddie. We all knew what a star she was becoming and it was incredible to see her shoot our course record as a very young amateur golfer.

If you could be a caddie on Tour, whose caddie would you like to be and why?

Lexi Thompson – I would love to see her approach to the game and how she can stay so level-headed. But then again, she did turn pro at the age of 15 so by this time in her career she is a seasoned vet! 

For the first time, according to National Golf Foundation (NGF) research, growth in off-course golf is now higher than in on-course golf. 

Off-course golf – real club, real ball, full-swing driving range or simulator-related – has illustrated the openness of that audience to technology as part of their experience, and their expectation that this extends into the on-course environment.

An estimated 2.5 million (10%) of today’s 25.6 million on-course players “credit their off-course experience(s) for getting them to the golf course,” with around half of on-course golfers agreeing that off-course “reengaged them” with the sport, according to a follow-up NGF study.

It’s clear that an opportunity exists for the industry to capitalize on this, appealing to an engaged and tech-savvy market segment to get them onto the course.

Here are 5 ways you can use technology to attract off-course golfers to your facility and turn them into repeat players.

Time is a barrier to entry for many off-course golfers who are interested in playing on-course golf.

With optimization technology like Tagmarshal, you can proactively manage pace and flow of play, steadily reducing average round times and addressing potential bottleneck issues before they affect the entire field. 

Knowing they will play their round in a clearly communicated time makes golf more accessible to time-stressed people, like parents or working professionals.

PRO TIP: Encourage ‘ready golf’ and have visible signage that outlines the rules and etiquette around doing so for new players.

Off-course golf is largely centered around the use of technology and reveals a market segment that is comfortable on this front. Showing that on-course golf is embracing the myriad ways technology benefits players and courses helps with this transition.

When new players see GPS tracking devices in use, or screens around the clubhouse showing real-time pace-tracking measures like Tagmarshal’s Live Map, it reinforces that the golf space is rapidly modernizing.

PRO TIP: On courses using Tagmarshal’s 2Way 8inch screens, players can see to-the-pin yardage, pace of play and other real-time stats, mirroring some of what they’re used to off-course.

Courses need to balance the desire to attract off-course golfers with the importance of pace of play, given that 74% of players list pace as a top 3 factor impacting their experience.

To mitigate this, offer new players the opportunity to tee off later in the day when their pace won’t impact the rest of the field as much.

You can also offer shorter formats, like 9-hole rounds late in the afternoon, to encourage new players who may not want to (or are unable to) commit to a full round.

PRO TIP: Advise new players on which tees they should play from, to speed up pace and increase their enjoyment.

USGA research shows that negative interactions with player assistants have the potential to derail a player’s enjoyment of their round.

Off-course players are used to having data and statistics readily available as part of their experience. If you can give your player assistants access to objective data, such as real-time pace updates on where each group is relative to your round goal time, new golfers are likely to respond well to their feedback, rather than the exchange adversely affecting their round.

PRO TIP: Train your player assistants to offer encouragement and advice wherever possible, creating a less intimidating environment for new golfers.

Embrace technology to elicit feedback from first-time on-course players, finding out which areas they enjoy and where they feel you could improve.

Companies like Players 1st, a customer experience management platform, will help you get rapid, quantifiable insight from those transferring to on-course golf.

If you listen to player feedback and adapt services to their needs, they will reward you with loyalty.

PRO TIP: Tagmarshal acts as a central hub for integrations, combining multiple data sets that all drive improvement, with player feedback as one such example.

Golf courses have been gifted an opportunity to attract an already engaged audience, with interest in taking up the sport five times higher among those with off-course experience than those without.

The conversion rate is steadily growing and the NGF estimates that two-thirds of those who have just taken up on-course golf have prior off-course experience 

By embracing the use of technology at your course, you can help attract first-time players and turn them into repeat players who remain loyal to your facility.