On course monitoring system

[pendodave]

Our committee has decided that an on course monitoring system is required. Maximise revenue, speed up play.... yada yada yada
The one that they are proposing is here :
https://www.rgmgolf.co.uk/

So a couple of questions.
1. Has anyone any experience of being a member at a club where this (or something similar) is in place?
2. If you haven't, what would you think if this suddenly appeared at yours?

I'm sceptical to be honest. But I'm still happy to be convinced. Also happy to hear why I should remain sceptical!

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

We had two clocks, one after 6 other after 12, that were set to reflect the expected pace of play. So for a 4hr round the first clock would be set 1hr20mins slow, the second 2hrs40min. After 6 holes we would check the time on the clock. If we were ahead of our start time we were good, if behind it then bad and we could see how much time we had to catch up. And same after 12.

The clocks are currently broken, but we are asked to record our round start and end times on our card (physical card required in addition to submitting on system when submitting a score)

I have no issues, but do not want the club to be filling the course with visitors. The booking system tells the club when the course will be quieter and able to accommodate visitors without impacting members significantly.

 

[Bdill93]

Seems like a fairly expensive solution but a good one...

If they did this at my place (not a hope in hell) I think the members would be all for it - it really doesnt tend to be members that slow down the pace other than on competition days.

Non members not calling faster groups through etc is the largest issue we face, not sure how this system would tackle that!

 

[Imurg]

Video doesn't mention how but the blurb mentions not having to hand out or collect "X" ..so how do they do it..? And how accurate is it.?
And, as always with this type of question, they need to use the data properly
Just because group B took 25 minutes longer than group A doesn't automatically equal slow play or slow pace of play unless you can get to the reasons..
25 minutes is 8 lost ball scenarios. A lot but not out of the question
And there's plenty of other holdups other than the group in front.
Having to wait for a greenkeeper to finish a cut, a player from another hole playing on your fairway.......the other week we had to wait 5 minutes for a group of greenies to rescue a broken down buggy that was right in front of the green...
I'm pretty quick around a course so I'd be unlikely to get pulled for anything..
Not a bad idea but, as said, probably pretty costly.

 

[pendodave]

Video doesn't mention how but the blurb mentions not having to hand out or collect "X" ..so how do they do it..? And how accurate is it.?
And, as always with this type of question, they need to use the data properly
Just because group B took 25 minutes longer than group A doesn't automatically equal slow play or slow pace of play unless you can get to the reasons..
25 minutes is 8 lost ball scenarios. A lot but not out of the question
And there's plenty of other holdups other than the group in front.
Having to wait for a greenkeeper to finish a cut, a player from another hole playing on your fairway.......the other week we had to wait 5 minutes for a group of greenies to rescue a broken down buggy that was right in front of the green...
I'm pretty quick around a course so I'd be unlikely to get pulled for anything..
Not a bad idea but, as said, probably pretty costly.

I think we all have to have a bagtag (including green fees, societies etc).
One of my concerns is that I dont really want to be tracked around my course. It all seems pretty distopian.

As far all the other issues you highlighted - I concur. There are no proposals that address any of these. It's just blurb.
Which is why I was interested in anywhere that's actually done something like this and how it helps in practice rather than theory.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I think we all have to have a bagtag (including green fees, societies etc).
One of my concerns is that I dont really want to be tracked around my course. It all seems pretty distopian.

As far all the other issues you highlighted - I concur. There are no proposals that address any of these. It's just blurb.
Which is why I was interested in anywhere that's actually done something like this and how it helps in practice rather than theory.

I wouldn't entertain this for one moment...having clocks as I have described tells any and every group of players whether they are playing o the required pace of not. Not always possible to increase your pace - but it makes you aware and able to act on it if circumstances ahead permit.

 

[Slab]

As alluded to its what the club will do with the data. If they’re just looking for ‘facts’ to ‘beat the members over the head with’ then it’s probably a waste of money/time. Buy in from the membership will be important so correct communication about the scheme from the club needs to be top notch
Of course there must also be a problem of some sort in the first place that needs this kind of tech, so what is it specifically that they are trying to achieve

If the intention is to make meaningful beneficial (agreed) changes both from members and by the club itself then the money spent could be an investment that should pay dividends. i.e no point castigating the members for slow play if the ‘rough’ is the height of a golf trolley or correct spacing off the 1st is not enforced etc & the club don’t do anything to change their areas of responsibilities (jeez even sticking a tee marker out in a silly location for the wind/weather of the day can add a choke point to a course)

I use buggy’s a lot and they all have GPS linked to the clubhouse, so the club can monitor lots of the things listed on that website but I’ve never asked what they do with the data, I'd like to think its put to good use (more than just sending a marshal out to gee-up a slow group)

 

[sunshine]

I think we all have to have a bagtag (including green fees, societies etc).
One of my concerns is that I dont really want to be tracked around my course. It all seems pretty distopian.

As far all the other issues you highlighted - I concur. There are no proposals that address any of these. It's just blurb.
Which is why I was interested in anywhere that's actually done something like this and how it helps in practice rather than theory.

My course used to use gps bag tags for competitions and societies. One gps tracker per group. Round time data was displayed on a notice board in the clubhouse. Don't know if anything was done with the data.

I did notice that some playing partners became more conscious on pace of play because they had the tag attached to their bag. So from that perspective it may have worked. Don't know if overall it resulted in any improvements. We haven't used them since covid so maybe there is the answer.

 

[sunshine]

Also, I noticed the website claims that the system helps track and identify unauthorised players. Don't understand how it could do that if you don't have a tag

 

[pendodave]

Also, I noticed the website claims that the system helps track and identify unauthorised players. Don't understand how it could do that if you don't have a tag

Interesting. Maybe there is some sort of motion capture...
Re. "We haven't used them since". This doesn't surprise me. I'm willing to bet ours will be used for birdscarers by this time next year.

 

[patricks148]

A couple of years ago before CV19 we trialed a tracking system where each tee time where given a tag and that monitored its pace of play. Showed who were the culprits.. no question. Trouble was the club was unwilling to do anything about that. Great having the info but not much use if you don't do anything with it.

 

[sjw]

We had two clocks, one after 6 other after 12, that were set to reflect the expected pace of play. So for a 4hr round the first clock would be set 1hr20mins slow, the second 2hrs40min. After 6 holes we would check the time on the clock. If we were ahead of our start time we were good, if behind it then bad and we could see how much time we had to catch up. And same after 12.

What an impressively low tech and simple idea!

 

[pendodave]

A couple of years ago before CV19 we trialed a tracking system where each tee timeless given a tag and that monitored its pace of play. Showed who were the culprits.. no question. Trouble was the club was unwilling to do anything about that. Great having the info but not much use if you don't do anything with it.

Yep. There was an extremely slow and incompetent group ahead of us recently. I called the pro shop and suggested someone had a quiet word. They just told me they couldn't do anything about it. Not entirely sure that having an app for that is likely to help.

 

[sjw]

So the system linked in the OP is RFID. It's going to require a tag and scanning said tag as you move around (RFID is for relatively short distances). It might be able to detect people within, I don't know, a metre of a tee box or something?

They presumably don't care if it scans every time, they'll be able to work out averages etc.

 

[Bdill93]

Yep. There was an extremely slow and incompetent group ahead of us recently. I called the pro shop and suggested someone had a quiet word. They just told me they couldn't do anything about it. Not entirely sure that having an app for that is likely to help.

Well youve summed it up there - if the pro shop cba already, they wont after you spend loads on this system....

I wouldnt mind the tag, it wouldnt be me slowing down the pace of play individually.

 

[Imurg]

Bag tags....visitors and societies too.....
So there goes the " no collection" thing....
You're going to lose most of them within a month or 2....and what happens if someone forgets theirs..
Seems an expensive way to deal with it...

 

[jim8flog]

We have used a fairly simple but effective monitoring system in medals

We compare tee time with time of entry of score card on to the PSI.

It generally can worked out who was slow as it compares the same for the groups preceeding and following the players who were considered to be slow.

 

[Jigger]

Great. They saved 15mins on a 4hr round.

Not a got at this thread but I just don’t get the obsession with shaving off minutes on such a long event. Of all my years playing golf as a 4 ball I’ve completed and round between 3hrs and 4hrs30 mainly depending on the length of the course, with the far end of that spectrum where it has been slightly slow. On less than 10 occasions have I experienced seriously slow rounds And called the ranger out about 4 times to sort that.

The clear issue is that there is not enough 9 hole course or 9 hole comps to suit those who don’t have the time to play 18. In any case, all those whinging about it being 15mins slower are all doing so over a post round beer in the clubhouse so its not as if they’re off anywhere afterwards either.

 

[Backache]

Summary execution if a round is over 3 hours would sort things out more quickly.

 

[Oddsocks]

How does it work if you’re generally a fast player but have a stinker? Or even get paired up in a group of other slower players. Is the sole purpose to pressure people into playing quicker without actually having to police it?

I’m always aware of my pace of play and have written off many a round where I had a steady score going only to start rushing to make up the pace for slower players in my group.

I’m of the opinion that this system would be on interest to clubs with part membership and part visitors where they simply want / need to sell every tee time every day.

I’m sorry but if my club implemented this I’d be off!