“Reserve with Google – appointment booking for Golf“ facilitates tee time booking process

Michael Althoff

Autor: Der Mann hinter dem Bericht

“Reserve with Google - appointment booking for Golf“ facilitates tee time booking process

Since its market entrance in the second half of the 1990s, Google has put itself in one, if not the most important position within the online business. Although an exact URL provides direct access to a website, most people use Google Search to access a website. From its initial start as some kind of an online version of yellow pages, the company has continuously extended its product range. Key driver: enhancing the user experience. Google has launched Reserve With Google – appointment redirect feature in the EMEA region in 2022. Since then, Google has worked on expanding this feature to different industries like beauty services, automotive, healthcare, home services and many more. Now, Google is expanding this feature to the Golf industry to help improve user search journeys in Golf by giving tee time availability and more. “The PGA Show was the first time we introduced our new feature to the golf world”, confirms Adam Jaffe, Partnerships Lead with Google Search in an interview with GOLFMANAGER. In an online session with Jay Karen, CEO of the National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA) and the new President of the PGA of America, Don Rea, Jaffe presented the key functions of the product extension to interested industry leaders within the US. But the product is available globally. Weirong Zheng, Strategic Partner Manager Global Partnerships, takes care of it for the European market. Key philosophy: users shall be able to switch directly from a search result for a golf venue to tee time reservations, without an interim step of accessing the club’s website first and then looking for the reservation section within that website. This becomes visible within the search results: search results for participating golf clubs now include a “Book Online” button (see picture 1 and 2).

“The feature is based on our Reserve with Google product and transfers the appointment booking feature to the golf industry”, says Jaffe. “We recognized that golf is working with static tee times, and users want to take action, no matter whether it’s a member or guest player”, confirms his colleague Zheng to GOLFMANAGER. First golf clubs in the USA are already applying the new feature. To participate, only few actions are required, as it is based on an existing Google product. Most important: golf venues need a tee sheet provider, who is connected to Reserve with Google. “We have a partner portal called Action Center, where partners and companies can reach out to us proactively to request for the integration”, Zheng describes the process. Based on a standard interface provided by for Reserve with Google, tee sheet companies can set up the connectivity between Google and their system. The sequence of integration is simply based on a first come, first served basis. Therefore, some first movers from the US golf software market have already achieved this for their customers worldwide. Second step then is the golf club’s will to extend his search results to the new feature within Google.

“We have learned that the European golf market is very sophisticated and local, other than industries such as the beauty business or the automotive business”, the Partner Manager explains. “We are open to discuss our solution with industry peers, as we are in an early stage of the release and are fully convinced this creates a win-win-situation for golf service providers and for Google”, she continues. Important point for tee sheet providers: Google does not provide a reservation tool itself, the new button connects the user to the tee sheet system selected by the golf venue. This also implies that all pricing and pricing rules including discounts are still up to the club’s system – and furthermore, golf club managers do not have to share their available tee times between different systems, as Google always links the user to the tee sheet reservation system of the venue. In addition, “Reserve with Google – appointment booking for Golf“ also includes booking links to multi-vendors and aggregators such as GolfNow, which is available in Germany via the acquisition of Albatros software. If a golf venue cooperates with one or more booking platforms – either in addition to its own tee sheet system or instead of an own system – these platforms are shown when hitting the booking buttom in the search result as well (with the prerequisite that the platform has an interface to Reserve with Google). Google then highlights the direct link to the club’s own reservation system, but lists all other partners with whom the venue cooperates as well. The selection, via which channel a golfer will continue, is fully up to the individual user by clicking on the respective link (see picture 3).

All reservation links include indicative pricing. “We show the standard general public rate for the day and time searched for – if no time is specified, we provide a price range for the day. Possible discounted prices are part of the reservation process, but not part of the information shown in search results.”, Jaffe explains. Good news for the golf industry: the new feature provided by Google is available free of charge. Software companies planning to connect their tee sheet reservations with „Reserve with Google – appointment booking for Golf“ can also do this without charges for the interface or reservation cost. “We are trying to evolve search and make sure this is the best place for users to start their search journey”, the managers explains the free-of-charge strategy. Nethertheless, software providers, platforms and content aggregators are free to monetize such extended functionality of their software to the golf clubs. “In the US, we see many companies including the feature just as part of their package”, Jaffe confirms.

“Reserve with Google – appointment booking for Golf“ clearly enhances the online customer experience in golf. The reservation button is a shortcut to selling tee times, both for members as well as greenfee golfers. If such reservation starts immediately after connecting the user to the respective booking system per venue is up to the club, if e.g. aggregators or tee sheet systems require a personalized login first, this will still be the next step on the users’ way to booking a tee time. “We recommend the less friction, the better”, states Jaffe based on the company’s huge experience with other industries. Nethertheless, golf clubs are still in the “driver’s seat” regarding reservations: they decide via their tee sheet system, which tee times they offer and at which price point. If a venue does not operate with tee sheets, but sells e.g. greenfees via their system, this can be linked via „Reserve with Google – appointment booking for Golf“ as well: “We do not differentiate whether a reservation is valid for a day without a dedicated time or for a specific time at a day – if golfers can book via the tee sheet system of the club, we can integrate this into Reserve with Google”, Jaffe explains. For users, this will provide a huge advantage: times, where golfers had to look after the online reservation functionality of a club, provided via its website, have gone, selling tee times is now just one click away from a search result – independent of which tee sheet software a venue uses and where it positions reservations within its website. Market entrance barriers are relatively low as the technological integration is done per system and not per venue – and as Google offers their new service free of charge. With this new feature it becomes more attractive and easier to sell tee times online – whether golfers have to pay in advance or not. It is an easy guess that “Reserve with Google – appointment booking for Golf“ can push online bookings from a golf club’s home market, but also from other markets including holiday golfers, significantly. Golf clubs in the D-A-CH region should therefore reach out to their software providers immediately to start action.