The Golf Genius Mobile Application Makes Live Scoring Simple even during the most complex tournaments.
A few months ago I had the opportunity to do an interview with Golf Genius CEO Mike Zisman. At the time of the interview, I didn’t know much about Golf Genius but following the interview my curiosity was peaked. The interview came at a good time, my home course Heathrow Country Club had just bought a Golf Genius license and we were beginning to use the software during tournaments at the club. In interviewing Mike, he explained how Golf Genius has two primary markets; business to business and business to consumer. Chances are if you’re a member of a public golf league or golf course you’ve been exposed to Golf Genius in some form or fashion.
A look at the live leaderboard provided by the Golf Genius Software
The B2B side of the business is the bread and butter for Golf Genius. Golf courses around the world are quickly signing up to use Golf Genius software to manage tournaments and golf leagues. Golf Genius software excels in making even the most complex golf tournaments simple to setup, this simplicity equates to less time spent by the staff setting up or managing a tournament. Courses are able to bring Golf Genius onboard for a relatively small investment. In most cases, after two events the Golf Genius software will pay for itself. The return on investment is delivered in increased revenue, Golf Genius helps generate extra revenue by providing golfers with technology they’ve never had before. What golfer isn’t willing to pay a few extra dollars per event for premium benefits such as live scoring and TV leaderboards.
Since Heathrow Country Club decided to take the plunge and bring Golf Genius onboard I’ve had the chance to play in two major tournaments at the club, these were multiple day events. Before playing in these events I was used to traditional club tournaments and the agony of having to wait until the round was over to know where I stood. I can’t tell you how many times during a tournament I would be out on the course wondering where I stood on the leaderboard, and what I needed to shoot in order to claim the trophy. With Golf Genius, I know exactly where I stand from the first tee to the eighteenth.
The best comparison I can make is my first experience with fantasy football, back 20 years ago when I started playing fantasy football our league was all managed on paper and the concept of live scoring didn’t exist. After a few years of managing the league on paper we moved to Yahoo’s fantasy football offering and life changed forever, with Golf Genius it’s déjà vu.
For us at Golf Aficionado, it’s pretty simple to see why a golf course NEEDS to have Golf Genius. In fact, if you’re a member or regular at a golf course that doesn’t have Golf Genius then you need to be beating down the door of the director of golf and demanding they get it! However, at this point you might be asking yourself, what’s the consumer market for Golf Genius? The consumer side is a bit trickery for Golf Genius and not something suited for every consumer. The play on the consumer side comes from the organization and management of golf trips. Golf Genius makes the full power of their software available to consumers allowing you to manage every aspect of a golf trip. The ideal fit, is a trip of at least 16 golfers, any smaller than that and Golf Genius isn’t going to make a lot of sense.
So let’s say you’re organizing a large golf trip with 16 golfers or more. I’ll use the example of a golf trip to Kohler, it’s a 5-day trip and you’ll be playing 6 rounds of golf. It only makes sense that you’ll want to organize some type of competition, in fact, you’ll probably want to play an individual competition for each round of golf and an overall trip tournament. Sounds difficult to manage already, but what about if Joe and Harry always want to play together, and Tim and Larry don’t get along so you want to make sure they never play in the same foursome, with Golf Genius that’s all easy as pie. In addition, Golf Genius also integrates with GHIN so they’ll download and manage all player handicaps, all you’ll need to do is score the rounds appropriately using the Golf Genius mobile application.
So let’s talk turkey, what’s all the Golf Genius technology and functionality going to cost you as a consumer? $249 gets you 6 months of full access to Golf Genius in order to organize and mange your golf trip. To put that in perspective, let’s go back to that golf trip to Kohler, you’ve got 16 guys going on a 5-day trip. In total, a trip like that including golf, lodging, and airfare would easily cost each golfer $3000, multiply that by 16 golfers and you’re talking about a trip that’s going to cost the group $48,000. Looking at the big picture the $249 cost of Golf Genius now seems like a no brainer. While we’re talking about finances, I forgot to mention that Golf Genius is capable of managing all trip expenses including dinners, wagers, and any other miscellaneous expenses like splitting the cost of Golf Genius.
Golf Genius is by far the leading tournament management system on the market, nobody else even comes close
So while Golf Genius isn’t the mobile golf application you would want to use on the weekends with your buddies it is a must have for any golf course, public or private. In terms of the consumer market, Golf Genius makes perfect sense for anyone organizing a large scale golf trip. Live scoring is the next evolution in golf and it’s already arrived. Golf Genius is by far the leading tournament management system on the market, nobody else even comes close. Here’s to hoping your next tournament is managed by Golf Genius, and you make that last putt that wins it all.