BRS Golf by GolfNow, a division of NBC Sports, is delighted to announce that it has won the award for Best Sports Participation Technology at the 2021 Sports Technology Awards. The Belfast-based software company was recognised for its role in safely fuelling participation in golf throughout the pandemic.
The winners were announced at a virtual event on 6 May, celebrating technology-led innovations in sport from over 50 different sports in 30 countries around the world.
BRS Golf fended off competition from Federation of Sport at Altitude, Inrange Golf, PlayerData, World Academy of Sport and International Tennis Federation and WWE, to take the Best Sports Participation Technology title.
Judges were impressed by the ongoing work of BRS Golf in connecting the world to golf, facilitating tee time booking for thousands of golf club partners and millions of golfers worldwide. Its member and visitor booking software was an essential tool in keeping golfers connected to, and participating in, the sport they love throughout a challenging year in 2020.
Stars in attendance at the 2021 Sports Technology Awards included racing driver, Mark Webber, Double Olympic Champion Triathlete, Alistair Brownlee, South African International and Rugby World Cup Winner, Bryan Habana, former International Footballer turned tech entrepreneur, Louis Saha and multi-Olympic champion sailor, Sir Ben Ainslie.
Rebecca Hopkins, CEO of The STA Group, said “We’ve experienced unprecedented times but Covid has made sport use technology to solve new problems in innovative ways. As a result, the calibre of entries has been truly staggering in vision and creativity. Our judges love seeing the cutting edge of sport but this year has been like no other; the was the industry has responded is a source of great pride to all concerned. Indisputably, technology has put sport in a great place to do exciting things both now and when the world eventually returns to normal.”
Founded in 1995 by Northern Irish golf fanatics and IT experts Brian and Rory Smith, BRS Golf was acquired by GolfNow in June 2013. GolfNow, part of the NBC Sports Group with offices in Orlando, Florida and Belfast, Northern Ireland, also provides technology, support, and marketing services to more than 9,000 golf courses in 24 countries around the world.