CARLSBAD, CA, December 19, 2017- eGull, Inc., developer of the eGull Pay App, introduced Play and Pay by the Hole™ as a complement, and in some cases alternative, to Dynamic Pricing to offer golf course operators more ways to maximize revenue and golfers the flexibility to play golf when their time allows.
“The American modern lifestyle places a significant premium on time, and golf, the only sport one can’t practice for 60 minutes, significantly suffers from it – most of us don’t have 4 – 6 hours to devote to a round of golf,” said Pascal Stolz, CEO, eGull, Inc. “In order to grow participation in the game of golf, we need to address the issue of time and offer alternatives to make golf more convenient and fun. Play and Pay by the Hole offers golf courses the tools to make this happen.”
For many years some golf course operators have turned to Dynamic Pricing to help alleviate perishable tee-times and fill off-peak inventory. The premise of Dynamic Pricing is that the “value” of a round of golf should vary in real-time, based on a series of parameters such as demand, availability and other changing factors like competition, website visits, weather, day of the week and more. For the golf consumer, Dynamic Pricing should have brought more affordable and accessible golf outside of the most sought-after day parts.
The results are in and while some golf courses report increases in revenues per available tee-times, the vacancy rate at most courses continues to be high and off-peak inventory utilization continues to be low. Golfers are not necessarily playing more golf, and according to an article published on July 15, 2015 in www.boardroommagazine.com1, the idea that “time” might be a factor started to surface.
“The law of supply and demand for a golf course is a function of two primary factors: time and cost,” continued Stolz. “While Dynamic Pricing attempts to address the issue of cost, Play and Pay by the Hole addresses the issue of time regardless of price. With eGull Pay, a golfer can play as many holes as their time allows, while a golf operator can optimize not only the total number of holes played but also total revenue on any given day.”
eGull Pay is about creating flexibility and ingenuity allowing golf to fit into the American lifestyle. As a free software download for golf courses and a free app for golfers (iOS and Android), eGull has developed a very sophisticated algorithm to precisely track the number of holes played, even if the golfer skips around. It’s very easy to use… a golfer downloads the app and checks in at the pro-shop to be cleared to Play and Pay by the Hole by receiving an authorization code that activates GPS tracking. Upon ending a round the player is automatically billed within the App for the actual number of holes played and the course is automatically paid directly to their bank account.
With eGull’s innovative and super easy to use eGull Pay service, golf course operators maintain complete control over the inventory that is available to the golfer. They set the hours, define the per-hole fee, issue validation codes, decide start holes, know where players are on the course, know which holes they play, don’t have to worry about billing, and are able to see real time incremental revenue tracking.
“The bottom line is that while Dynamic Pricing has its benefits, it can be confusing for golfers to determine when to book a tee time because of all the different prices for different times of the day,” added Stolz. “With Play and Pay by the Hole, courses are able to protect the integrity of the true value of a hole played rather than discount it and cause discontent to the golfers who want to find the best value for their time. Golfers using the eGull Pay app have more control over the time they commit to golf and as a result, are more likely to play more golf when it’s convenient for them. In essence Time trumps Price.”
eGull recently released its new website, www.egull.golf, and will officially launch at the 2018 PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, FL January 24, 2018 (booth #579).
Golf clubs interested in offering eGull Pay at their courses can visit www.egull.golf or contact Bob Visotcky, eGull Chief Revenue Officer, at Bob@egull.golf.
About eGull, Inc.
eGull was founded to help grow participation in the game of golf. For golfers pressed by time and challenged to commit to a full 9 or 18 holes (women, seniors, kids, beginners, after work, etc.), eGull brings golf to parity with most sports that can be played for a set amount of time. For golf course operators, eGull is a GPS technology-based yield management program and mobile application to monetize play by billing for the number of holes played via Play and Pay by the Hole™ and grow incremental revenues through better utilization of off-peak inventory. For more information, visit www.egull.golf.
1Read the full article here: http://bit.ly/boardroommag
Contact:
Tracy Nackel, TEN Marketing & PR, 760-420-1602 or tnackel@cox.net
