Imagine standing on the green at your favorite golf course in the Tampa Bay area, or elsewhere in the country, when heavy, dark storm clouds begin to roll in. By the time the clouds clear and the rain stops falling, the course – and clubhouse – is long empty.
What if there was a quick, convenient way for the club to send a message to golfers, enticing them to head back out by, say, lowering cart fees to half off for the rest of the day?
CourseDriver, a mobile application for golfers and clubs, evolved from co-Founder Gabriel Aluisy’s “passion for connecting golfers to golf clubs and creating a better experience for both parties.”
“Golfers are craving more technology to enhance their rounds and interact with the club. Clubs are looking to attract younger members as well as show existing members and guests that they are improving and innovating,” says Aluisy, a golfer himself. “Our app facilitates this.”
Acccording to Aluisy, CourseDriver creates “that immediate connection” between a golf club and its members.
Aluisy, who earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from
American University in Washington, D.C, is also the Founder of Tampa-based advertising agency
Shake Creative. Advertising is an important aspect of the app; in-app instant messaging functionality is what makes it most attractive to clubs, Aluisy says.
“Clubs using our app have the ability to reach back out and communicate to anyone who has ever played a round at their course and downloaded the app,” he explains. “As long as our app is on a player's phone, the club is in the pocket of their target market to initiate a conversation or send a marketing message.”
The app, which is free for the players to download, features the instant messaging function, along with features that golfers might need during a round, such as GPS distance tracking, score tracking, live satellite weather, round history and upcoming tournaments. Players can even order food and drink from the club via the app.
CourseDriver launched in April 2015 at
Isla Del Sol Yacht & Country Club in St. Petersburg, and in August expanded to
Harbour Ridge Yacht & Country Club in Stuart, on Florida’s east coast. After a stint in beta mode, the app will be available nationwide.
Aluisy developed the idea for CourseDriver into an app along with Gary Teaney, a business consultant with
Transformational Consulting for Business.
“We brainstormed a feature set that would remedy the pain points my clients in the private club industry had,” Aluisy says. “They were losing members and had trouble attracting younger folks to the game. This was my solution.”
Aluisy hopes to see the app in 200 clubs by the end of 2016. As the platform expands, he anticipates hiring locally in the Tampa Bay area for a sales team, developers, and designers.
To learn more about CourseDriver or request a demo,
visit the website.
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