Carnoustie Golf Links is lauded as one of the best golf courses in Scotland. Its Championship Course has hosted the Open Championship for an impressive eight times. It is one of three courses used for the annual Dunhill Links, the others being Kingsbarns and the Old Course in St Andrews. In 2019, Carnoustie became a recipient of ‘Scotland’s Best Golf Experience’, at the 2019 Scottish Golf Tourism Awards.

In this edition of our Quick 9 series, we chat with one of the key members of the team behind the success at Carnoustie, Kevin Stott, Course Manager Championship & Deputy Links Superintendent.

1. How did you get involved in the golf industry?

I started at Drumoig GC in Fife, where I was a summer worker for a civil engineering company who were doing the survey work on the course. I picked up a rake now and again to help the green staff in between the engineering, and fortunately, at the end of my placement, I was offered a job as a Greenkeeper and never looked back.

2. Other than golf, what other sports/team are you a fan of?

I enjoy cricket and football, and go down every second Saturday to watch my local team Arbroath FC.

3. Who is your favourite golfer?

Tommy Fleetwood

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

Tommy Fleetwood, he’s a brilliant Links golfer, and can play all the shots in the game. Also plays the game with respect. 

5. What are your top 3 golfer experience factors?

• The golfer to feel and play in true Links conditions.
• All abilities to enjoy the round
• The golfer to have the opportunity to replicate famous shots that have been played during past Open Championships throughout the years at Carnoustie, ie Ben Hogan’s drive down 6.

6. Why did Carnoustie upgrade from Tagmarshal Classic to Tagmarshal 2Way?

We wanted our team to be able to monitor pace of play on and off the course, but we also wanted golfers and caddies to have direct real-time results at the tips of their fingers. 

7. What has the impact been at Carnoustie?

We have seen major changes in pace of play with improved and well-balanced player flow leading to an average of almost 15 minutes being shaved off the time taken for an 18-hole round.

By doing so,  we achieved our target time in 2019 and made the experience more enjoyable for all golfers which would have also been a contributing factor where we were awarded ‘Scotland’s Best Golf Experience’, at the recent 2019 Scottish Golf Tourism Awards.

8. How would you describe Tagmarshal in three words?

Innovative, effective and proactive.

9. Which other golf courses are on your bucket list (besides the beautiful Carnoustie!)?

Royal County Down and Turnberry

With four decades of experience in the golf business and multiple successes in transforming Daily Fee golf courses into successful and profitable businesses, Larry Galloway, Owner and Operator for Advance Golf Partners, shares his insights into the key factors that drive success at his courses – and how doing the right things, allow for price elasticity, by providing the experience players value most.

Join Larry Galloway, Owner and Operator, Advance Golf Partners, in discussion with Bodo Sieber, CEO, Tagmarshal, in this insightful webinar.

“Quite an exceptional webinar. One of the best. Larry (Galloway) is a superb executive, knowledgeable and highly experienced.”

“That was an outstanding webinar and so impressed with Larry Galloway and Bodo (Sieber).”

GGGolf has reaffirmed its commitment to deliver golf courses across Canada the most advanced golf software on the market with its partnership with Tagmarshal.

Tagmarshal, the leader in golf course intelligence software, has built a stellar reputation in the golf industry, working with 30 of the Top 100 golf courses in North America, as well as over 250 other public, private, and resort courses. These include many leading Canadian courses such as Pinegrove, St Charles Country Club, Clovelly, Summit, Wooden Sticks Golf Courses, and more. 

Remi Bouchard, Head Golf Professional, Pinegrove, shared his experience:

“With a view to managing the workforce efficiently, Tagmarshal is very helpful to us. Staff dedicated to the management of field flow can now focus on other important tasks, making it a better use of labor.”

Tagmarshal helps courses to optimize their on-course operations, by providing full operational line of sight, as well as reporting, and proactive, real-time management of field flow.

Tagmarshal’s tracking system can be clipped onto golf bags and on golf carts. Data from golfers’ tee sheets is then submitted to the Tagmarshal cloud servers, which is accessible to course management. Equally, the golfers listed on GGGolf tee sheets are automatically updated in Tagmarshal.

The system helps reduce average round times, enhances the player experience, optimizes efficiencies, and reduces costs. By reducing round times, courses can get more players on the course on any given day, which of course, will maximize revenue. 

Not only does this partnership with Tagmarshal ensure a better golf player experience, but it also creates a safer environment for golfers and club employees alike. Tagmarshal’s social distance monitoring feature allows golf courses to efficiently and proactively manage group social distancing and flow of play, by maintaining gap intervals between groups of players.

While the 2020 golf season got off to a later start than usual, the demand to play is as high as ever. With that, comes an opportunity for courses to look for new ways to deliver golfers with the best possible playing experience. Golf courses have the opportunity to take their course management system to the next level, thanks to GGGolf’s partnership with Tagmarshal.

View GGGolf article

Tagmarshal, the leader in golf course intelligence, is pleased to announce their strategic partnership with Golf Manager, the innovative golf course management software. Tagmarshal software will now integrate with Golf Manager in Spain, Portugal and South America, allowing golf course operators to access and benefit from using Tagmarshal, directly from their Golf Manager dashboard.

Tagmarshal helps courses to optimize their on-course operations, by providing oversight of all playing groups, as well as reporting, and proactive, real-time management of field flow, making it a natural fit with Golf Manager.

Tagmarshal course partners benefit from on-course optimization, resulting in:

• Improved efficiency, allowing smaller teams to do more, with less resources.
• Enhanced, safer golfer experiences
• Data-driven management, that drives operational cost savings

Tagmarshal recently launched the innovative new Social Distancing and Gap time monitor, which assists courses in proactively and efficiently managing field flow, while maintaining optimal gap intervals. Through this, helping players to maintain required social distances, while allowing courses to optimize their capacity – even on their busiest days.

Tagmarshal has tracked and improved over 10 million rounds of golf and is trusted by 30 of the Top 100 USA courses and over 300 other courses globally, including West Cliffs, Praia D’el Rey, Sotogrande, Carnoustie, Bernadus, Alcanada, Le Golf Nationale, The Dutch, Waterville, Neguri, The Grove and many other courses in the UK and Europe.

Over the past 5 years, Tagmarshal has significantly grown its presence in Europe and the UK, including a partnership with the EuroPro Tour. Spain and Portugal form a key part of this growth, which led to the partnership with Golf Manager, based on the synergies between the two software products. Instrumental to this, was a shared client, Francisco Cadete, Director of Golf at West Cliffs and Praia D’El Rey in Portugal.

Francisco Cadete, Director of Golf, shares his experience of working with Tagmarshal: 

“Tagmarshal has given us the ability to have oversight of all playing groups and full control on the course. It allows us to know where the players are, when they finish etc. We can now provide an exceptional on-course experience to our members and guests.”

Tagmarshal is proud to partner with Golf Manager, and looks forward to working together in these key markets. 

“It was clear from the start that there were synergies between Tagmarshal and Golf Manager, both in terms of technology and the needs of several shared clients. This made Golf Manager our natural choice to partner within Spain and Portugal – the focus of our expansion into the European market over the next 12 months.”

For information regarding Tagmarshal, please contact Stephen Knoop, Managing Director, Tagmarshal International stephen.knoop@tagmarshal.com or visit tagmarshal.com

ind out how Erin Hills use technology to optimize on-course traffic and flow of play management, helping them to achieve success – using less resources and yielding material revenue benefits in excess of $140, 000 in green fees per season – excluding additional resort revenue, in this exciting PGA Connects webinar on-demand.

Join Jim Lombardo, Head Golf Professional from 2017 US Open Hosts, Erin Hills, in conversation with Bodo Sieber, CEO, Tagmarshal.

PLUS! Earn MSR Points by watching the webinar and completing the questions afterwards.