UK and Ireland golf clubs received more than £300,000 a month in green fee bookings from Online TeeTimes Ltd (OTL) in 2011, the company revealed as it unveiled a six-figure advertising campaign for its portfolio of leading websites.
OTL sent more than 240,000 golfers to golf clubs last year and this figure is destined to swell after the company kick-started a major national marketing campaign for 2012 with prime-time TV advertising on Sky Sports during the WGC Cadillac Championships.
In all, the multi-media advertising campaign targets more than 2 million golfers and showcases the company’s TeeTimes.co.uk website, which experienced a 152% increase in new visitors within hours of the first TV ads airing.
Based inLincolnshireand Wicklow, OTL has also expanded its business model to offer a greater choice of ways for golf clubs to generate revenue from online golf bookings – with a new commission-based system sitting alongside its proven barter sales programme.
And by integrating with electronic teesheet providers such as BRS and Intelligent Golf and developing a new self-administration interface, OTL is making it easier than ever for golf clubs to upload and manage their own inventory.
Explains OTL Managing Director, Paul Heeney: “Our business is built on building long-term relationships with golf clubs, so providing a greater choice of options for those interested in selling tee times online was perfectly natural.
“It means we now offer a very flexible approach to tee time sales and distribution for golf club managers and administrators, with the ability to keep inventory and pricing fresh, while the customer base is growing massively and quickly due to the new advertising campaign.
“It’s important that clubs remember this isn’t our customer base – it’s theirs. The campaign will deliver golfers straight to golf club front doors, even if the initial interaction is with TeeTimes.co.uk.”
In the OTL commission model, golfers reserve a tee time online by paying OTL 20% of the published internet green fee price. The remaining 80% is collected directly by the golf club when the golfer turns up to play.
In the barter model, golf clubs collect 100% of the published internet green fee price from the golfer and reward OTL for generating the sale by giving the company tee times to sell via its own weekly email marketing. OTL keeps this revenue.
The dual programme was introduced after OTL canvassed the clubs it currently works with. While the majority wanted to stick with the proven barter model, some clubs preferred the option of a commission-based system.
Online TeeTimes distributes thousands of tee times every year for clubs in the UK, Ireland and South Africa through its own websites and partner sites. Tee times are sold predominantly in the UK via www.teetimes.co.uk, via www.teetimes.ie in Ireland and via www.golfteetimes.co.za in South Africa.