NetCaddy:  Tee time reservations for private clubs.

Design Objectives

When Clubessential began designing its new NetCaddy tee sheet reservations system we had some key objectives in mind:

• The system needed to be tightly integrated with the online roster/marketing database. We didn't want to have an independent database of members and their privileges at the pro-shop that disagreed with either the online roster in the website or the member billing system.
• The system needed to be very fast for rapid check-in of golfers in the pro shop and to impress golfers with the convenience of the process. Clubessential solved the speed problem using two technology innovations: 1) the use of AJAX technology to update small portions of the screen without waiting for full screen refreshes, and 2) creation of a special infrastructure within Clubessential’s hosting environment that allows NetCaddy to run at high priority on dedicated servers without giving up the high level of redundancy all Clubessential applications enjoy.
• The online reservations system needed to look like it was part of the club's website - we wanted to carry the club’s custom branding (including colors, themes and layouts – not just a logo in the corner of a generic looking page) throughout the system. And we certainly wanted to avoid placing any vendor advertising on the reservations page – instead we wanted this valuable space to be used by the club itself.
• To get the most out of cross-marketing opportunities, the online reservations module could not be set up as a separate system, but instead needed to be placed within a normal rich page layout along with other items. No website feature attracts traffic as well as tee time reservations, and we wanted to route that traffic next to editable areas where clubs could advertise their upcoming events and new services using the website tools they already know.
• We wanted to allow clubs to impose whatever privilege rules they wanted. We knew from experience that this meant we needed to handle a huge variety of requirements. So we built a "rules engine" that supports rules of all kinds.
• We knew that at some clubs there is a rush to claim certain tee times and that members can become agitated if they think they lost a tee time unfairly. So we carefully designed a clear, fair and efficient allocation method for members to locate an available tee time and then be informed of their status without delays and constant clicking.
• Finally, we wanted to consolidate communications, taking advantage of all the usual Axis features, such as calendars showing all club events as well as personal tee times, SmartLinks, HotPages, personalized webpages, text messages and emails, buddy lists, statement displays, etc. We did not want separate golf calendars and announcements that had to be maintained independently because these would diminish the value of the main club website. Nor did we want a separate set of tools for sending emails and messages that did not look like they came from the club, with unconsolidated history reports and no way to combine information. We wanted one integrated system that let club staff use familiar tools to manage the tee time web traffic, supporting cross-marketing to further the social goals of the club.
  

Privilege and Lottery Rules Definition

Private club tee time reservations all revolve around rules: rules that give certain players privileges and rules that drive lottery methods.  These rules vary: stop at any three random clubs and you will find unique rules at each club. 

There are two ways to support this variety of rules when designing a reservations system:

• Code a program to handle each rule as it is encountered, and gradually build up a pool of rules.  This is the quickest method to get started, but over time it results in a rat's nest of code that is hard to support, hard to update, and likely to have many bugs.
• A better approach, but one that takes much longer to start up, is to build a "rules engine" like the one that drives NetCaddy.  Such an engine supports a kind of  "language" for defining the rules.  A "word" in this language might be, for example, "RoundsPlayedLast60Days".  By building up the words in the language, Clubessential can define a club's rules very quickly, and since Clubessential has access to the full member profile, which which Clubessential can synchronize to the member billing system, NetCaddy can enforce just about any rule a club might care to implement.

NetCaddy uses the rules to determine which tee times should be offered to a golfer (color coding), before the golfer makes a selection. This reduces golfer frustration because they can see immediately which tee times are available to them. Different rules can be set up for each of multiple courses, and some rules can span activity on multiple courses (for example, at a club with four courses, including two championship courses, the rules might say that tee time availability on one championship course depends on the number of rounds played in the last three weeks on either championship course).

Tee Time Reservations Made Easy

The style of NetCaddy’s reservations design includes a pleasing user interface that looks and works in a modern way, with simple buttons, yet a sophistication that matches other systems members are familiar with, such as Amazon and airline reservations systems. 

From the perspective of player, NetCaddy is simple, convenient, fair and easy to use:

• Only one password to remember because NetCaddy is built into the website. No more confusion and anger when multiple databases get out of synch.
• All-in-one reservation display brings up all the details of a reservation in a simple, easy to understand, combined window (this window is a modern AJAX window, not a “pop up window” – this is important because sometimes pop-up windows can trigger browsers to block the window, creating confusion and frustration). The use of Ajax technology puts everything the golfer needs in one place, so they can make changes to any part of the reservation directly without clicking through a series of steps.
• NetCaddy uses Ajax technology to avoid screen refreshes and applies rules in anticipation of member’s choices, reducing unnecessary clicks and frustrating rejections. The “smart” display only includes options the golfer is eligible for under the rules.
  o Members will also find it easier to use tools which are consistent with other aspects of the website, such as tennis lessons, dining event reservations, golf lessons, etc.
• When click on them, goes right to the tee time.
• A member’s personal tee times are visible in the main website calendars. Clicking on a tee time immediately brings up all the details of that tee time so changes can be made. Likewise, golf events are visible in the website calendars. When a golf event is clicked, the member can read a full graphical description and immediately request a reservation.
• Built-in help tutorials teach golfers the reservations process if they can’t understand at first glance. The tutorials include screen shots and easy to understand directions. These tutorials eliminate many frustrating phone calls to the pro-shop and encourage members to take advantage of online reservations.
• Privilege rules are obvious - only those tee times for which the member is eligible are shown. If any choices are made which do not fit the rules, the rule in question is provided.
• The member can create a "buddy list" to save time looking up friends. Some members will create multiple buddy lists to track different kinds of friends. Buddy lists carry across to other website functions, such as “mail a picture to a friend” or tennis reservations or dining reservations.
• Every time a member adds a guest to a tee time, that guest is added to the member’s guest list for future convenient selection. The guest list not only saves time when making future tee times, but lets the club enforce guest rules and build up a marketing database of guests who have played.
• One click by a member "captures" a tee time for a "hold" period. A clock shows how much hold period time remains. As long as the golfer fills in the rest of the tee time information within the hold period, they will get the held tee time.
• If a golfer "clicks" but was not first, then a list of other available times nearby is displayed, and again one click will capture a tee time.
• The tee sheet itself is color coded (current within five seconds), showing which tee times are taken, which are held pending data entry and which are available. These color codes update automatically every five seconds without the golfer having to click on anything. They can literally sit and watch the tee sheet fill up by watching the colors change.
• Members in the party can be notified by email or by text message of their tee times or changes in tee times.
• Players can see the names of other players in any tee times. Exceptions can be made for certain privacy conscious members, and those exceptions are carried in the website database, applicable to all aspects of the website, including tennis reservations, squash reservations, dining lists, etc. However, hidden members can add friends to their buddy lists, and then their name will be exposed to just those friends.
• An Advanced Search capability allows a member to search multiple days simultaneously for qualifying tee times in certain time ranges.
• Golfers can review a list of all of their upcoming or prior tee times (staff can also see this list for any given player).
  

Pro-Shop Efficiency

The important features of a tee time reservations system are different for the pro-shop. For the people manning the check-in counter the key is displaying the right information and enabling rapid check-ins accurately. NetCaddy’s Pro-Shop Dashboard was designed with the pro-shop in mind:

• The Pro-Shop Dashboard displays all the relevant information for tee times in one easy to manage page. Checking in a golfer or a foursome is as simple as clicking a single check-box.
• As members make tee times over the Internet, or other staff members take reservations from other locations, the tee sheet automatically changes colors, indicating which times remain available, etc. This is accomplished without the delay of page refreshes using AJAX technology.
• Staff can make changes to multiple tee times simultaneously without waiting for any page refreshing. This is accomplished using advanced AJAX technology.
• Automatic rules enforcement - if a member asks for a tee time by telephone or in person, the person at the counter can enter the tee time for the member - subject automatically to the privilege rules that apply to that member (and the other members/guests of the party).
• Overriding the rules is easy for authorized staff members, but a history can be reviewed later.
• Tee times can be “squeezed in” anywhere very easily, and are then tracked and updated exactly as any other tee time.
• The entire tee sheet can be displayed at a glance. Various "views" can be defined to meet the needs of the club. If the club has a special format for the tee sheet that they prefer, this can be introduced as a new "view."
• Messages can be sent by email or text to a group of tee time holders - for example the first two hours of foursomes when there is a frost delay.
• The tee sheet is easy to set up and easy to change (though there are safe-guards to avoid changing the tee sheet when there already are tee times reserved). Once a particular style of play is set up for one day, it can be easily “cloned” for use on a different days by clicking those days in a calendar.
• Role-based security allows clubs to designate which functions may be performed by various staff members.
• Sophisticated backup – NetCaddy’s developers did not want to depend on the availability of email in the event of a failure of the Internet. Instead they designed an automated service that will transport the latest version of any NetCaddy documents desired by the club to a local computer on a scheduled basis (for example, every hour). These documents can be printed and used even if both the Internet and email service have failed.
• NetCaddy’s statistical review displays rounds played broken out by many different variables (over 200 combinations including by course, membership type, hour, day, week, month, etc.). Other special reports cover handicaps, no-shows, etc.
• Additional specialized reports, for example, the starter’s report or the bag room report, can be custom designed to meet the needs of each club using a powerful report generator.

Lotteries To Fit Any Situation

A good lottery system applies the club’s rules uniformly, but allows some flexibility for the pro to correct problems (e.g., the Board President wanted to play but didn't get a tee time, or Joe Smith was to play right after John Doe and they are fighting each other in a lawsuit). NetCaddy's lottery system was set up with these issues in mind:

• The rules for the lottery are based on the "rules engine" and so can take on all sorts of exceptions, penalties, privileges and so forth.  
• Members can click on the tee sheet over the Internet to indicate their preferred time, or, if a card system is used, the staff can enter the preferred times.
• The pro can run the rules and examine the result.  If adjustments are needed, the rules can be re-run, or the pro can "drag and drop" some tee times to reorganize the result.
• After final review, the results can be made "final."
• Notification can be by email or text messaging or by simply posting the results on the website.