Doha Golf Club, venue of the Commercialbank Qatar Masters, is using video screen advertising in its fleet of new golf cars to generate additional revenue and profit.
The European Tour venue has recently invested in 100 new Club Car vehicles, supplied by Hydroturf, distributor of Club Car vehicles in the UAE, featuring the state-of-the-art Visage Mobile Golf Information system.
The GPS system, which uses a 10-inch touch-screen, is also being used to show advertisements which, combined with leasing fees, has increased revenues by $100,000 per annum.
General Manager, Chris Myers, said: “Golfers are a captive audience during their round. By selling advertising space available on the integrated Visage screens the golf cars more than pay for themselves.”
Also grabbing the golfers’ attention on the 10-inch screen is precise shot and distance information, flyover video graphics of each hole, plus a live scoreboard for competitions.
Doha Golf Club now boasts a fleet of 250 Club Cars and the Visage GPS technology, combined with the integrated Guardian system, enables the resort to control and manage its fleet effectively.
Through the high-tech solution, staff can now send messages to golfers to manage the pace of play, while remotely controlling car speed, restricting where the vehicle can drive, and disable the car to prevent misuse.
“Club Car vehicles stand out by the way the cars drive, the way they look and how easily they can be managed,” continued Chris Myers. “Given the desirability of this high quality product, we can further increase income by leasing them to external events and conferences. These have included anything from the Doha Film Festival to the Asian Games, plus weddings.”
At 7,421 yards, Doha Golf Club’s Championship Course is one of the longest on the European Tour and, understandably, most visitors wish to use golf cars during their round.
Chris Myers concluded:DohaGolf Club has a 15-year relationship with Club Car and the decision to extend our existing fleet was assisted by the high specification of the Precedent i2L model. In addition, because Club Car and Hydroturf train our staff, most of the maintenance of the vehicles is very simple.”
Club Car www.clubcar.com
Visage www.visagegolf.com
DohaGolf Club www.dohagolfclub.com