Tagmarshal, the global leader in golf course optimization systems, was voted an Outstanding Achievement Award at the 2020 ING Industry Honors Awards ceremony on February 25, 2021.

The awards presentation was conducted before members of the International Network of Golf (ING), the media and golf industry representatives. Tagmarshal was recognized for its industry performance in the Products Ingenuity-Technology category, one of eight categories decided by a vote of ING membership.

In making the announcement, Holly Geoghegan, chairman of the Industry Honors awards committee noted that Tagmarshal’s technology enables course operators to improve operational efficiency, saving costs and generating additional revenues – all while delivering exceptional player experiences. Tagmarshal has collected over 1 billion data-points by tracking and improving over15 million rounds of golf globally, at more than 300 courses ranging from $30 daily fee clubs, through to resort and private facilities, including 30 of the Top 100 U.S..courses.

“We thank the members of ING for this significant recognition. It is testament that technology is playing such an important role in golf and that one of the most influential elements to ensuring golfers have an exceptional playing experience is that pace of play and field flow meet their expectations and is managed in a positive and fact-based way,” said Bodo Sieber, CEO, Tagmarshal.

“In 2021, we shall be focused on continuing our partnerships with course owners and operators, PGA professionals, and club managers to continuously improve the quality of optimization which our software platform delivers.  We look forward to another year of growth and progress not only for Tagmarshal but for the entire golf industry,” he said.

Company Contacts:

Bodo Sieber – CEO  b.sieber@tagmarshal.com

Natalie Davidsson – Marketing Manager  natalie.davidsson@tagmarshal.com

Media Contact: Les Schupak  laschupak45@gmail.com  914-774-6060

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Through the implementation of Tagmarshal’s proprietary GPS tracking system, golf clubs are improving their operational efficiency and delivering an experience that flows from the first tee shot to the final putt.

In an attempt to better understand the key factors that define a positive golfing experience for players, the U.S. Golf Association commissioned professors Kris Schoonover and Eric Grey from the University of Wisconsin Stout to diligently research and conduct a survey on the topic.

The results, which were presented at the USGA’s 5th Golf Innovation Symposium in Tokyo in 2019, revealed that as many as 1,000 touchpoints exist that can influence a golfer’s experience at a club or resort.

Discovered was that above all other factors, positive ranger etiquette — and by extension, the openness of tee boxes and greens at each hole during a round — was the most influential element in determining a golfer’s level of on-course enjoyment. In other words, the pace at which those golfers played a course outweighed all other aspects of the layout, the club and the amenities that those golfers enjoyed before, after, or even during their rounds.

More than a half decade earlier, a trio of South African entrepreneurs recognized the importance of golf’s pace of play and thus founded Tagmarshal with the intent of developing a technology that allowed course operators to better track and manage all of the golfers out on their course and the flow of their rounds.

They created a system that utilizes GPS trackers that are carried by caddies, placed in golf carts, or attached to players’ bags or push carts if they’re walking without a caddie. The data collected is transmitted to cloud-based servers, where processing algorithms convert it into digestible analytics that are delivered to course managers through Tagmarshal’s proprietary software.

Since its inception, the Tagmarshal system has tracked more than 15 million rounds of golf and collected more than 1 billion data points. Today it’s an integral part of the operation at more than 300 courses (located in nine countries and on four continents), including resort destinations such as Pebble Beach Golf Links and Bandon Dunes Resort, as well as private clubs such as East Lake Golf Club, Oakmont Country Club, and Winged Foot Country Club. At present, Tagmarshal is projected to service as many as 386 clients by the beginning of spring.

“If pace and flow of play improves, capacity can be added,” said Bodo Sieber, Tagmarshal’s CEO and one of the company’s co-founders. As Sieber acknowledges, when he and his team introduce the Tagmarshal system to prospective clients, their sales pitch highlights the system’s ability to not only enhance a golfer’s experience on the course, but to improve a club’s bottom line. “Our goal is to bring data and systems into this space and help people work smarter and improve the way they operate.”

The implementation costs of the Tagmarshal system can range from $500 to $1,500 per month, depending on the specific tier of software that a club selects, as well as how many optimization bells and whistles are chosen. “The goal is for the system to pay for itself immediately and generate savings and considerable revenue over time,” said Sieber.

According to Sieber, there are no other companies on the market that provide all of the services that Tagmarshal specializes in. Some, like Club Car Visage and Textron Fleet Management (affiliated with E-Z-GO), offer GPS systems that allow clubs to better manage and track their fleet of golf carts; but tracking golf carts is only one piece of the puzzle when it comes to optimizing pace of play on the golf course.

THE GUINEA PIG

Erin Hills, located about 29 miles northwest of Milwaukee, was the first golf course to buy into the benefits of Tagmarshal’s system.

“We’re always interested in technology and data,” said Jim Lombardo, Erin Hills’ head golf professional. “That’s the way the industry is heading with stats and more stats. You have to know your business.”

When Erin Hills became Tagmarshal’s first client, the golf course’s staff only partially knew its business. The course had been open only a few years, so Lombardo, the small collective of course rangers, and the dozens of caddies didn’t have much experience upon which to make decisions that would impact the course’s set up.

“Frankly, we really didn’t know where our frustration bottleneck points were on the golf course,” he said. “We really didn’t know.”

The data provided by the Tagmarshal system led to some surprising revelations. For starters, the Erin Hills team discovered that not only did some of their pace-of-play slowdowns occur within the first four holes of the course, but the very first hole — a swooping par 5 that doglegs to the left and skirts wetlands along its inner boundaries — was delaying groups immediately and preventing them from getting into their rounds with the proper pace.

To mitigate the problem, the course’s superintendent trimmed back the fescue by 10 or 15 yards along the right side of the fairway, making it easier for those amateurs who had sliced their tee shots off line to not only find their balls but to have a playable lie by which they could advance their second shot and continue moving forward.

As Lombardo acknowledges, the system also allows course rangers to quickly pinpoint the cause of a backup, if and when one starts to develop.

“We don’t waste time driving around trying to find those people, trying to find the bottleneck,” he said. “Now we can look at the computer screen and know exactly what group is falling out of position. The enjoyment of the players has increased because we’ve been able to ranger the appropriate groups at the appropriate time. We talk to them early and get them going.”

At Pinehurst Resort, the Tagmarshal system is utilized on the No. 2 course and the No. 4 course — the two most frequently played and most popular courses of the nine layouts available to resort guests. Not unlike at Erin Hills, the Tagmarshal system has empowered the Pinehurst golf operations team to make sure that comfortable and free-flowing rounds of golf are played, starting from the very first tee box.

“It can tell you if your starter is starting individuals on time,” Pinehurst’s head golf pro Matt Barksdale said of the system, “and that’s paramount on making sure your golf course flow is correct.

“If you have a group starting at 10 minutes, and then a group starting at 8 minutes, and then a group starting at 7 minutes, and then a group starting at 10 minutes, your flow is all over the place,” he continues. “You’ll end up creating logjams because it’s not steady.”

Although some clubs might only look at the average length of time that it takes golfers to complete 18 holes at their facility, Barksdale recognizes that it can’t be assumed that a four-hour round was an enjoyable four hours spent out on the course.

“If an individual is out on the golf course and plays in four hours but waits every time that they’re about to hit, it’s going to seem like they played very slow,” he said. “But if a group is out there for five hours and didn’t wait once, they’re going to seem like they played fast. So a lot of that is the on-course experience and how that’s all achieved.”

The data that Tagmarshal delivers can assist course operators and their staff in that regard, too. On Pinehurst’s No. 2 course, for example, the fourth and fifth holes run parallel and they represent two of the course’s more difficult holes. Because of that, it’s not uncommon for groups to need 40 minutes from the time they hit their tee shots on the 4th to the time they sink their putts on the 5th. A long par 3 awaits those players as they walk off the fifth green, so it’s easy to see how this stretch of holes can quickly produce backups on the course.

Yet, the Tagmarshal system allows course operators to see where groups are waiting on the course, so in areas like the aforementioned three-hole stretch on the No. 2 course, Barksdale and his team can move tees up or choose more challenging (or easier) hole locations to control where players might have to wait if backups do occur.

“On a par 5, which hole five is, we might make it reachable in two so that those individuals are waiting in the fairway instead of waiting on the sixth tee box,” he said. “That gets into some of the flow or you might even say the psychology of on-course experience. If you’re waiting in a fairway to try to hit on a green in two on a par 5, you’re probably less likely to get frustrated with your wait because you’re going for a green in two.”

DATA DOES NOT LIE

Four years ago, Destination Kohler aligned with Tagmarshal, incorporating the system into the daily operations at its two distinct golf destinations — Blackwolf Run and Whistling Straits. In that time, Mike O’Reilly, the director of golf operations, has seen the number of on-pace rounds increase from 58 percent in 2016 to 82 percent in 2020. He’s also observed the average round time decrease by 15 minutes.

That efficiency and the improved flow of rounds on the course has allowed Destination Kohler to add one or sometimes two additional tee times per day on each of its four courses during the season. And while O’Reilly prefers to focus on the ways that a golfer’s experience on those courses is elevated, he does acknowledge the profitability that can come from making additional tee times available, especially on The Straits course.

“If you want to book a tee time on the Straits course you have to stay at the resort one or two nights,” he explains, “so by opening four players up on the Straits course, we’ve now gained those four players for possibly multiple nights at the hotel. And if they’re staying multiple nights at the hotel, they’re probably playing other rounds of golf and dining with us. Those four or eight players that we’ve added on the golf course equate to helping the entirety of our business at the resort.”

O’Reilly is quick to point out that because Destination Kohler is a bucket-list golf destination, the resort’s success doesn’t hinge on tightly packing a tee sheet with the maximum number of foursomes in a day the way a daily-fee public course might.

“The addition of those four or eight players on a daily basis with all the sunk costs in the golf course maintenance and maintaining your facility, it’s dropping straight to the bottom line, whether it’s $200, $400, or $800 dollars, whatever the case may be,” he says. “You do that 150 times throughout the year, it’s significant.”

Tagmarshal’s first client discovered that for themselves. According to Lombardo, Erin Hills’ top priority for partnering with Tagmarshal was to better understand where and how the pace of play on its course could be improved. “The revenue that came in was unexpected,” he said.

That revenue also wasn’t insignificant. Depending on the year, Lombardo acknowledges that the additional tee times that the course has been able to add has amounted to $140,000.

“That’s some pretty good revenue that was left on the table before,” he said. “It pays for itself ten times over.”

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In this insightful Webinar on Demand, Chandler Withington, Head Golf Professional at Hazeltine National, the 2024 U.S. Amateur Championship and the 2029 Ryder Cup hosts, is in conversation with Bodo Sieber, CEO, Tagmarshal.

Chandler will be discussing pace of play and how to create excellent player experiences, while also increasing operational efficiency.

Tagmarshal, the leader in golf course optimization systems, will be presenting a series of educational webinars for PGA professionals and other industry executives including a feature expert session at the 2021 Virtual PGA Merchandise Show.

“How Whistling Straits Uses Technology as a Player Experience and Efficiency Game Changer” will be the feature educational session on Wednesday, January 27 at 10AM EST. Hosting the webinar will be Mike O’Reilly, PGA, Director of Golf Operations at Whistling Straits and Destination Kohler, the site of the 2021 Ryder Cup.

O’Reilly will share his insights on how technology has been a game changer at Whistling Straits, delivering exceptional player experiences and giving the course the tools to operate more efficiently.

Attendees will earn 1 MSR point for attending the webinar and will learn about the following:

• What the key Player Experience factors are.
• How technology enhances the Player Experience at Whistling Straits.
• Learn why technology is a game changer when it comes to increasing operational efficiency.
• What the impact is on cost savings and revenue.

Complementing Tagmarshal’s Virtual PGA Show activity, is a stellar line-up of other webinars and activities planned, taking place via its website www.tagmarshal.com/pgashow/ during the week of the Show.

“We’ve always found great value in attending the PGA Show – it gives us an opportunity to meet new customers and enjoy catching up with our existing partners and friends. This year, with the Show going virtual for the first time, we wanted to build on these personal connections – and look for opportunities to continue to add value and a sense of fun in the virtual space. We’ve been fortunate that several of our partners were on board to join us in a series of outstanding educational webinars,” said Bodo Sieber, Tagmarshal CEO.

The first of these valuable Tagmarshal Expert webinars is presented by Jim Lombardo, Head Golf Professional at Erin Hills and a Tagmarshal pioneer. “How Erin Hills and Others Achieve Success by Optimizing the Player Experience, Efficiency and Revenue” takes place at 12 PM EST on Wednesday, January 27. Industry professionals who wish to view this 45-minute session must pre-register on www.tagmarshal.com/webinars.

Other webinars include “Pace of Play: How Valhalla and Keystone Manage Field Flow to Deliver Exceptional Course Experiences.” Co-hosts are Kyle Cramer, PGA, of Valhalla, and Keystone’s Philip Tobias, PGA. The 45-minute session takes place on Thursday, January 28 at 10 AM EST.

On Friday, January 29 at 10AM EST, Bodo Sieber will discuss “How Pace of Play Makes or Breaks the Player Experience.” This 45-minute session is based on actual data compiled by Tagmarshal and is available to pre-registered industry professionals on the Tagmarshal website.

Preceding the PGA-featured educational webinar, Tagmarshal in collaboration with Golf Business Network (GBN), presented an exclusive webinar, “Pace of Play: How Do You Create Premium On-Course Experiences While Maximizing Efficiency.” The 45-minute session was hosted by Chandler Withington, PGA, Head Golf Professional, Hazeltine National. The webinar took place on Wednesday, January 13 and is available to GBN members on demand.

In addition, Bodo Sieber, CEO, Tagmarshal, has been invited to present at the  National Golf Course Owners Association’s exclusive Golf Business Conference on Wednesday, January 27 at 1:55 PM EST where he, together with Steven Borror, PGA, Director of Golf at Bandon Dunes, will lead “The Modern Math: Dynamic Goal Times + Smart Intervals + Pace of Play = Revenue.”

To pre-register for the Tagmarshal educational sessions, visit https://tagmarshal.com/webinars/, or to watch a demo, go to:  https://tagmarshal.com/demo/ or email contact@tagmarshal.com to book a live demo.

“Since introducing Tagmarshal’s golf course intelligence software at the 2015 PGA Show, its technology has given golf operators the tools to continuously optimize and improve performance where they are able to set goals, track, manage and maximize their on-course operations, traffic and player flow for optimal efficiency, player experiences and revenue. Today more than 300 private, daily fee and resort facilities around the globe including 30 of the Top 100 US courses are Tagmarshal partners. We look forward to continuing this growth, improving our platform of services and building our partnerships during 2021,” Sieber said.

Company Contacts:

Bodo Sieber – CEO  b.sieber@tagmarshal.com

Natalie Davidsson – Marketing Manager  natalie.davidsson@tagmarshal.com

Media Contact: Les Schupak  laschupak45@gmail.com  914-774-6060

In this Webinar on Demand, Mike O’Reilly, Director of Golf Operations at 2021 Ryder Cup hosts, Whistling Straits is in conversation with Bodo Sieber, CEO, Tagmarshal, in this insightful webinar.

O’Reilly discusses how technology has been a game changer at Whistling Straits, delivering exceptional player experiences and giving the course the tools to operate more efficiently.

Webinar on Demand: How Whistling Straits uses technology as a Player Experience and Efficiency game changer.

In case you missed it, the Tagmarshal expert webinar, “How Erin Hills and others achieve success by optimizing the player experience, efficiency and revenue,” is now available to watch on-demand. .

Expert Guest, Jim Lombardo, Head Golf Professional at Erin Hills, hosts of the 2017 US Open Championships, will be sharing his insights into how optimization both improves the player experience and creates operational efficiency – generating significant additional revenue for Erin Hills.

Jim is in conversation with Bodo Sieber, CEO, Tagmarshal.