Golf Course Websites

[Jason McNamara]

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.

Disagree mildly in the US, where lots of foursomes show up 30 seconds before the tee time.

Disagree strongly in GB&I, where practice areas are often an afterthought (if they exist at all).

How about "I want to know where you're located" as the third button for public courses?  (Is travel time a more important consideration than practice area when choosing a venue?  Obviously resort courses could be different.)

Recommended fourth button for GB sites: 
"I want to know the marginal way in which your coffee and bacon bap special differs from the coffee and bacon bap special at every other course."   

[Richard Choi]

At least where I live, most of the best driving ranges are at golf courses. But those courses really don't trumpet their driving ranges that much. At a nearby course, I probably spend more on driving range fees than green fees.

[Mike Benham]

Check out Pasatiempo's website.

Extensive information about the history of the course and the recent changes made to return to the early days.  Before and after photos, historic photos are a very very nice  touch.

And being a semi-private club, they also have information on how to join the club.

[Ian Dalzell]

Thanks to all who have provided input on the website - some of the points are well taken and will assist me in improving the look and feel of the finished product.

Cheers.

Ian

[Ian Dalzell]

George - I am the General Manager & Head Golf Professional at the club.


Quote from: Ian Dalzell on Yesterday at 03:43:42 pm
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

[Ron Waterson]

If a goal is to attract the general public via search engines, the webmaster needs to use appropriate meta files behind the scenes.  Relevant content and word relationship to meta files on the opening page is a must if you want to show up on search engines.  You must have relevant copy that is not a scanned image or within a pdf or flash doc. 

Flash is not condusive to attracting search engine spiders.  For optimal search engine presence you can still use a flash intro, but you have to duplicate the information with standard links and content somewhere on the page. 

Simple is always better in my opinion.  Especially true if the end user is researching...there is so much garbage on the internet that you can easily get thrown out with the trash if you make the user click one to many links to get to the goal.  So I'll cast another vote against splash pages. 

You don't need to hire anyone to place you on search engines. If you can  read and absorb a bit of information almost anyone can optimize their site.  There are numerous sources available on the internet...many offer free tools.   BruceClay.com in it can be very helpful.  I have no affiliation...I simply used his (and others) free tools and information to optimize my site.  Frequently, your host server will have tools within the control panel that can help too.

Ron

[jonathan_becker]

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!

Haha....then you can forget about Stone Eagle's website.  It's pretty good in regards to photos, but yes, they are all taken in the setting sunlight.  The course looked great though when I visited last May.

www.stoneeaglegolf.com

[rchesnut]

I'd love to see some examples of great Facebook pages for golf clubs.  Pasatiempo has one here.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Santa-Cruz-CA/Pasatiempo-Golf-Club/52200192927?ref=ts

[Dave Maberry]

A good website I have found while Googling is www.ccwaterbury.com It provides a history including Donald Ross Genealogy. The Golf Course section includes course map, yardage book diagrams of current course and Ross hole diagrams, notes and green sketches.

[Ed Oden]

While reading the Essex County CC thread, I pulled up their website:

http://www.essexcountycc.com/club/scripts/public/public.asp?GRP=8587&NS=PUBLIC

I like the fact it embraces the technology in an understated way that fits a classic golden age club.  It gives you everything you need to know, including historical info, without overdose.  Welcoming to guests but absent any appearance that they are necessarily needed.

Ed

[Scott Warren]

I love the woodgrain, very classy!

[Sean_A]

I admit to not being too bothered about of photos.  Usually they are coffee table deals anyway.  I am more interested in how the club portrays itself and how interested in the club the sites makes me.  This tells me a load of what I can expect when visiting.  A few very good ones. 

http://www.whgc.co.uk/

http://www.royal-liverpool-golf.com/

http://www.royalcinqueports.com/

Ciao

[John Mayhugh]

I missed this one when originally posted. 

NO FLASH!  Far more annoying than entertaining, plus doesn't work on iphone.

For content, Sean's examples are very good ones. 

Just be sure to test it in multiple browsers.

[Niall Hay]

George - I am the General Manager & Head Golf Professional at the club.


Quote from: Ian Dalzell on Yesterday at 03:43:42 pm
I would welcome any advice or suggestions for improvement on our website, www.hiddencreekclub.com

Thanks everyone.


Ian,
Agreed.

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