The Carnoustie Golf Links Management Committee celebrated a major milestone last month when its ground-breaking Online Tee Time Booking System clocked up its first £1 million in sales.
That milestone was reached almost four years to the day since Carnoustie became the first Open Championship venue to launch its own fully automated online tee time booking system and it comes at a time when its online bookings now account for nearly 20% of all visitor bookings.
“We launched our online booking service back in March, 2004, but, for the first year or so, the vast majority of visitors continued to book tee times using the traditional methods, said Colin McLeod, golf services manager at the CGLMC.
“However, last year, online bookings shot up to almost £375,000 and all the signs are that over the next few years they will continue to rise at a significant rate.”
The CGLMC launched its online Tee Time Booking System in order to provide visitors with an easily-accessible, round-the-clock booking service.
“Currently, somewhere around 60% of our overseas visitors come from the USA and so are faced with a time difference of anywhere between 5-10 hours when they want to book a tee time,” said McLeod.
“Our online system enables us to be open 24 hours a day for all our customers. It simplifies the booking process, which has increased our green fee revenue and also benefited the local and national economies as well.”
The success of Carnoustie’s Online Tee Booking Systems has been one of the key factors in the CGLMC winning Golf Tourism Scotland’s prestigious Golf Secretariat Award twice in the last three years. There are also plans ahead for an upgrade of the whole website and visitors will soon be able to book a tee time in several different languages.
“Carnoustie identified an early opportunity to bring a competitive advantage to the Links and approached Business Gateway for assistance”, explains Business Gateway advisor, Lynn McCabe who initially gave technical and professional advice on the project.
The system can be accessed by logging onto www.carnoustiegolflinks.co.uk Tee times on all three of Carnoustie’s 18-hole courses can be booked online. No booking fees or credit card fees apply.