He spoke to the Head Green Keeper at one high-profile links who mentioned that their green staff had “swelled” to four people to cope with the surge of post-COVID travellers. The staff maintain 27 world-class holes but “all we have to do is mow the whole thing two times a week!”, he complained, only half joking.
The course is beautifully presented in mottled browns and shades of green with hardpan fairways and dry, wispy fescue roughs that deliver a supreme test of strategic golf. A far cry from the hyper-green, water-hungry monoculture of manicured grasses, ornate gardens and decorative water features seen at many metropolitan Australian courses.
This is not a criticism of the incredible hard work and pride that Australian green keepers put into presenting an amazing golf experience, but more a comment on the tastes of the typical travelling golfer who sees how simple and unadorned a great golf course can be; but demands a more expensive (but not always better) form of golf upon returning home.
As you might have guessed, this story is not to start a debate about agronomy and maintenance practices, but to draw attention to a trend towards simplicity that we strive to apply to all aspects of club operations – including software.
With SimpleGolf, we understand the intricacies of managing timesheets, competitions and scoring systems but we also know that it’s possible to deliver a simple user experience that belies the complexity of the underlying rules and calculations that power a modern golf operation.
If we learn anything from the uncluttered straightforwardness of golf in Scotland, it’s that simple doesn’t mean “lesser”, in fact, it usually means “better”.