Golf Course Websites

[Nick Pozaric]

I was looking at different golf course websites.  I see a wide variety of them out there.  What are some of the best ones you have seen and the worst?  Also what information would you like to see while looking at a course website?

[Kyle Christensen]

I think it varies a great deal between public and private clubs. For public I like to see a solid course tour with pictures and up to date conditions. I can't stand when you go to a public course site and the pictures look like they were taken with an original digital camera. Why in Gods name would you put garbage like that on a site when it could potentially lose revenue for your course???  For private it is nice to see a solid course overview with pictures of the club, membership classifications, and different amenities at the club. Looking over private clubs in the Detroit area, seems like Detroit golf club has a solid website. As for the public side I think the Bandon Dunes resort does a great job of laying everything out for you. For me personally a website says a great deal about a club.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

One of the great disappointments is to find that a historic old club or course has no website at all. How lovely it would be if Crystal Downs or Maidstone, say, could share some of their photos and history with the rest of us - and just to rub salt in the wound only a small portion of the Crystal Downs course appears in hi-res on Google Earth. It is often frustrating when historic information (and details of the design history) is incomplete or in some cases misleading. I also find out-of-date websites frustrating (quoting 2007 green fees, for instance).

Please, I'm not trying to blow my own trumpet, but the admirable Stockport Golf Club have put their entire centenary book in PDF form on their website: http://www.stockportgolf.co.uk/ So if you want to find out anything about the club's history or the course architecture you can find it - easily. They've made some alterations to one of the holes, and I'll go back to the club soon, to update the course description.

One of the interesting observations I can make about many British club websites in the present financial climate is that many are seriously looking for members.

Here are a few tasters:

http://www.sillothgolfclub.co.uk/index.htm
http://www.bbgc.co.uk/
http://www.brancepeth-castle-golf.co.uk/
http://www.crudenbaygolfclub.co.uk/
http://www.royalcromergolfclub.com/idx0.htm
http://www.whgc.co.uk/
http://www.royalnorthdevongolfclub.co.uk/
http://www.aberdoveygolf.co.uk/
http://www.tandridgegolfclub.com/

[PCCraig]

I was looking at different golf course websites.  I see a wide variety of them out there.  What are some of the best ones you have seen and the worst?  Also what information would you like to see while looking at a course website?

Most Private clubs I have seen only have an area for members that is protected by a password, and an area for guests to post dress and direction info type stuff.

In terms of publics I think Cog Hill has a great website. Tons of info stuffed into a pretty compact page with some nice photos of the course.

[Kalen Braley]

Mark,

Crystal downs can be viewed pretty well with Maps Live.

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=44.700172~-86.234865&style=h&lvl=17&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1

[Cory Lewis]

Kingsley club by far has the best website I'm seen for how they present the golf course, more clubs should do it like that.

[Jason McNamara]

In case any web designers stumble across this page...

1.  Strokesaver diagrams are OK in a pinch, but pictures are much better.  And if you must do a pop-up window for hole descriptions, please link all the holes to the following hole (to avoid 1st hole, new pop-up, close pop-up, 2nd hole, new pop-up, etc.).

1A.  Special photo gallery requests for British clubs:  At least as many pics of the course as of the awards banquet following last month's medal.  Oh, and please consider a summer:winter picture ratio of at least 6:1. 

2.  No flash intro page.  Or at least remember the two best words on the Internet:  "Skip Intro."

3.  Don't employ any particular technology solely because you know how to use it.  (See #2 & #4.)  Cut Flash and JS use by 50%.

4.  No sound upon launching a home page.  Many of us are at work, and don't need the multimedia extravaganza right off the bat.  If you've got the ol' sweeping Ken Burns panorama, great, but let me click "play" when I'm ready, and give me a mute button.

4A.  That stupid thwack noise for each mouse click on a golf website?  Utterly cryit down and nocht usit.
(Less of an issue now vs. five years ago, but there are still holdouts.)

5.  Don't require cookies, unless I am logging in to something... a member's page, tee-time signup, etc.

ADDED:  6.  For the love of all that is holy, the plural of Fee is -not- Fee's. 
Fee's describes something that belongs to Mr. and/or Mrs. Fee.

7.  If you have the means/ability to update your site fairly regularly, post a notice when you punch your greens.

[Scott Warren]

What Jason said.

And don't make the pictures artistic. They should give you a good idea of the hole. I don't need to see what the 3rd looks like at sunset!

[Richard Choi]

Cool! Here is a topic where I have some ACTUAL expertise...

I have yet to find a golf course website that has been satisfactory, to me at least (I guess Bandon Dunes website comes the closest).

I believe the golf course website has to accomplish following objectives (in order of importance);

1. Present the course to the visitor (especially for people who have never been to your site).

2. Convey information about how much it costs and when.

3. Allow visitors to make a tee time reservation.

4. Contact information

5. Information about latest condition and events

6. Any other miscellaneous information about the facility

Most golf courses do not do a good enough job with the task #1 - presenting the course.

You should have oodles and oodles of pictures. Professional photography is great, but it would be fine just to have regular digital shots. There is no reason why you cannot have at least 5 to 10 shots of every hole.

Ideally, the you have the top-down course diagram so that people can view the hole orientation and click on any particular hole to get a detailed descriptions. (kinda like how they do it on http://www.masters.com/en_US/course/index.html - but with more pictures!!!)

You should also describe every hole, especially any strategy involved. The course descriptions here on GolfClubAtlas.com would be a GREAT thing to copy.

Case in point; we have a fantastic web page about the creation of the 13th hole at Rustic Canyon by Geoff Shackelford. Why would you NOT want to have that at the Rustic Canyon site itself?

The second thing that most sites do not do well is conveying current status. You should have a clear calendar of events so that people can either sign up for an event or know when to avoid the course (reseeding, punching the green, tournaments, etc.). You should also let the people know what the current course conditions are like. Chambers Bay has a great series of posts by the Super Intendent on what is happening at the course. Every course should have one. And it really should be an RSS feed so that people can subscribe to the updates.

That's just a start. If I was going all hi-tech, I would add support for Forums and photo albums so that people can talk about their rounds/holes and upload pictures that they took. Grow the community!!!

[Adrian_Stiff]

Great thread. I would love to know the good and bad bits of our web site, some think its great some think its not so great. www.theplayersgolfclub.com

[Richard Choi]

Adrian, quick feedback...

Your landing page does not convey enough info. You have to remember that most people visiting your site are coming from a search site. The visitor maybe going through 4 or 5 different courses. Don't make it difficult for them to gather enough information about your place to make a spot decision on whether or not to click on additional links.

Pictures are nice, but you need to tell them who you are (in one or two paragraphs).

I would advise against using frames. It is hard to print and hard to bookmark and it is very 1990's which really dates your site and your course.

Your course tours are great and kudos for the flyover. However, it is BURIED underneath 24(!!!) links available on your navigation list. You should NEVER have more than 6 on any list (most people usually don't read more than first 3 or 4 so you are just wasting time).

What you have to remember is that 90% of your visitors are trying to find out what your course is like. Things like membership packages, golf lesson, etc are secondary. Those need to be de-emphasized and grouped.

There are about three or four activities you are presenting on your site (course review, price, news, additional info). Rate them in priority and make it easier for people to find and accomplish the highest priority tasks.

Presenting everything in a single page is not always a good way to go.

BTW your links to the flyovers are broken. I am getting 11004 error.

[Ian Dalzell]

I would welcome any advice or suggestions for improvement on our website, www.hiddencreekclub.com

Thanks everyone.

[Adrian_Stiff]

Thanks Richard, great points I will relay them.
Hidden Creek - I thought this was very good.

[Scott Warren]

Website copy should also be proof read and corrected by someone who knows how to spell and construct/punctuate a sentence. Bad spelling and rogue/missing punctuation are annoying and avoidable.

[D_Malley]

i just re did my clubs website
check it out at:
www.PaxonHollowGolf.com
tell me what you think good or bad
i have to thank joe bausch for the excellent photo gallery
all photo gallery pictures are hosted by
http://golfarchitecturepictures.com

[David Lott]

Re Paxon

As a web site, it has a lot to recommend. Simple and unpretentious, like the course seems to be. The essential information is only one click away from the home page. You sound a little apologetic for the course based on its length. I wouldn't be. You have an artifact on your hands and I'd feature that concept.

I didn't much care for the eliptical photo framing on the home page. A bit jarring in its own right and not in keeping with the old timey vibe of your golf course.

The photo gallery has a lot of nice photos--honest photos not tricked up. But photos of what? Get some captions! And improve the navigation of the photo gallery.

Your history is interesting, though tantalizingly bare bones. Did the Depression affect the club in 1926? I think not. Plus $1 million for a golf course in that day was a pretty good price.

A lot of mid range golf courses built in the 1920's did not survive. Yours did. That makes it interesting in itself.

Always nice (and rare) to find something unpretentious in the golf world.

[Jason McNamara]

I would welcome any advice or suggestions for improvement on our website, www.hiddencreekclub.com

Thanks everyone.

Hi Ian -

The other sites got some specific feedback, so just a few tweaks for an already very good site. 

1.  Could the section on the Lodge be folded into the Clubhouse header?  I realize that may not be possible.  (And an aside: I'd guess the Lodge is more of a complement than a compliment.)

2.  How about an additional drop-down from "Golf Course" that skips the scorecard and goes directly to the first hole display?  Also, this is a minor personal preference thing, but I like each hole to have a picture from a tee box.

3.  If much of your clientele is on the grey side of 45 (I am guessing that's the case), you really should consider a larger type size, esp. if you keep that serif font.

4.  Lots of white space on the contacts page  - maybe make that two columns?

5.  Your looping flash movie at the upper right of the home page only has 1 golf pic and 4 non-golf.  Maybe swap out the first pic, since we already see a big static clubhouse pic on the front page.  Add in another golf pic in the 4th slot of the loop.

6.  On the directions page, the Mapquest page didn't take me to your site.  You might also add here a .pdf of the immediate area.

Other items:  thanks for putting the residential stuff at the end, and also for the weather conditions (but twice?) and a site map - always welcome.

Again, most of this is really minor.  In fact, the only semi-important item is # 3 - tell those 25-year-old web guys that people twice their age need to be able to read the text.   

Jason  (not 50, but farsighted)

[D_Malley]

i find it interesting that very few golf courses public or private list their outing prices on their website.

[George Freeman]

I would welcome any advice or suggestions for improvement on our website, www.hiddencreekclub.com

Thanks everyone.

Ian,

The loop of pictures on the opening page are AMAZING; they make the course look absolutely fantastic.  However, some of the hole by hole pictures leave a little to be desired (plus the resolution isn't the greatest either).  Are there photos from the intro set available for each hole?  If yes, I would suggest putting these as the initial picture for the hole by hole (in the same quality and size as the intro).

Other than that, I really like the site!  Looks like you've got a fantastic course and facility.  What is your role at Hidden Creek if you don't mind me asking?

Cheers,

George

[George Freeman]

two website I think are well done are:

www.bayonnegolfclub.com/

www.eaglesnestgolf.com


Funny how both of these courses were built from scratch from my understanding...Obviously I'm a fan of great-lighted high resolution pics.  I could watch those Bayonne flyovers all day

[Kevin Pallier]

I've always like Royal Melbourne's = simple yet full of information


http://www.royalmelbourne.com.au/home/home.aspx

[D_Malley]

david,
thanks for the critique it is helpful.  i agree that the pics in the photo gallery need to be labeled, but i would need to redo the whole thing.  sounds like another winter project.  i am glad you described it as "simple and unpretentious" because that is the feel that the club has.

[Richard Choi]

I would have to agree, the Royal Melbourne site is about as good as I've seen.

Nice clean layout, minimum scrolling, a good grouping of topics and a simple menu.

Something I am noticing on every one of these sites, however, is the lack of information on practice facilities. I would think that would be information that many visitors would want.

If I was designing a site, the landing page will have pictures and a short description of the course and 3 simple directions- "I want to find out more about the course", "I want to reserve a tee time", and "I want to practice". Everything else would be placed less prominently.

Task based website design is all the rage...

[Richard Choi]

One more thing.

A lot of these sites have a landing page with a slide show.

Most of them are done with flash or other embedded controls. This is a problem as it takes several seconds (or more) to load the control before the slide show begins. That may be long enough for you to lose your visitor.

If I was programming the site, I would do an Ajax control so that the first picture comes up right away and you load the next picture automatically without refreshing the page.

I would stay away from Flash unless you are showing a video.

[Adam Russell]

Funny I was just looking at Rivermont C.C.'s website and thought it to be nice and informative. No big intro, and I like the fact it lets you choose the information you want to see. Really good pictures in the open gallery.

http://www.rivermontcountryclub.com/