Abu Dhabi Golf Club embraces technology

Abu Dhabi Golf Club is striving to embrace technology in its operations and be an industry leader in this field.

As you approach the starter at either the first tee of either the National Course or the Garden Course you will not see tee-time papers flapping in the wind. You will see the starter with his iPAD and no physical paper.

Abu Dhabi Golf Club is one of the first golf clubs in the UAE and region to introduce seamless technology for bag drop, reception, staging and on-course marshals to coordinate their operations through a cloud-based system.

The ADGC website and app are the preferred choice of communicating with the club operations.

In addition, membership renewals and all account payments can be made through gateways online as well as golf bookings and entering competitions.

Andrea Faldella, Club Operations Manager at ADGC, said; “Abu Dhabi Golf Club is committed to go the tech route for all its operations. We now have an integrated system back of house as well as front of house that saves both paper and time, important for the future of managing golf clubs and being eco-friendly. Information can be shared so much quicker and accurately by technology and, as a result, provide an enhanced experience for our members and guests.

“This cloud system can track the location of all golf carts by GPS, slow play on course, no-shows and walk-ins and amendments to the tee sheet and be live, to be shared among all the key individuals involved in the customer experience and their journey.”

F&B now provide QR codes for all the menus in the outlets and very soon all F&B front of house staff with take orders by iPads and follow the golf operations model. In addition the on-course F&B golf cart will soon be enhanced with full connectivity aligned with the overall F&B club operation.

Reports, financial and otherwise, especially back of house, can easily be compiled and accessed immediately as well as shared remotely from off or on property.

Golf Genius provides live scoring for golf tournaments, especially corporate events to recreate that professional tournament experience.

However, back to the golf course, there is still the R&A requirement to have physically signed scorecards for the more traditional tournaments. It will be interesting to watch if and when this will ultimately change, mindful that the game of golf is based upon trust, but it is not expected that golfers can sign their own scorecards just yet.

Not so long ago, it seemed technology at a golf club was limited to just automatic irrigation of the golf course, but the game of golf is perhaps catching up with other hospitality industries and Abu Dhabi Golf Club is one of the UAE golf clubs leading this drive.