The Pellucid Perspective - December 2019 - 6

ONLINE RESERVATIONS SYSTEMS

2001

2002
2004
2005

2006

2007
2008

2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014

2015

2016
2017

2019

Cypress Golf Solutions launches later becoming GolfNow. Others jumping into the tee time business included Tee Time King, Tee Time Watch, and Golf Gopher. Teemaster gets it's company back from Book4golf. Book4Golf becomes the "official tee time company of Michigan."

Foretees for private clubs launches. Click4teetimes launches. And, all directors of Book4golf but one resign,
and the company, along with Yorkton Securities in Canada, are sued for conflict of interest.
GolfHero launches and promptly signs Marriott Golf. Coursetrends launches Golf18 Network as a fulfillment site for its bartered tee time inventory.
TeeConnect launches. Tee Time King acquires Fairway Systems and is subsequently acquired by Active
Network. This is the first evidence of an online tee time company purchasing a Golf Management System
(GMS).

Cypress Golf Solutions rebrands to GolfNow; GolfSwitch receives its patent and promptly sues GolfNow,
TeeConnect, Heritage Golf Group, and OpenCourse Solutions for patent infringement in Arizona federal
court. Also, the first debate about barter is published, between Jim Koppenhaver and GolfNow.
BirdieBug by W5 launches.

A big year. Comcast, which owned the Golf Channel, acquires GolfNow (which booked 2.4 million rounds
of golf that year). It also acquires Last Minute Tee Times and settles its patent lawsuit with GolfSwitch. TLinks in Myrtle Beach uses $1.5 million in earnest money forfeited by failed buyers to upgrade its system.

Golf Pipeline is founded attempting to leverage anti-barter sentiment by offering a non-barter, commission
payment option for its services.
In the depths of the Great Recession, things were understandably quiet.
Supreme Golf launches, attempts to be the "Kayak of golf."

GolfNow and PGA announce a partnership at the PGA Merchandise Show. Protesters march on I-Drive.
Okay, not really. But enough voices were raised to scuttle the deal a month later.
GolfNow acquires FORE! Reservations, launching it into the GMS business. It also acquires UK tee time
company BRS. OpenTee launches.

GolfNow acquires Click4teetimes and Active Network, adding to its stable of GMS systems (FORE! and
Crescent Systems), OpenTee acquires GolfSwitch, and EZLinks rebrands its marketplace website as TeeOff.
com.
Club Prophet disconnects its API from GolfNow and TeeOff, the PGA Tour becomes an equity partner
with EZLinks establishing the joint Teeoff.com web reservations portal, and EZLinks acquires GolfSwitch
and OpenTee.
EZLinks acquires IBS. W5 partners with GolfNow. GolfNow's infamous "Boatload of tee times" national
sales meeting video leaks on social media. Oops.

Golf Pipeline rebrands as Golfbook and announces a strategic partnership with CBS Sports Digital. EZLinks acquires Coursetrends and its Golf18 Network. Golf.com launches a tee time booking app powered by
Supreme golf.
Supreme Golf makes a major investment in ForeUP GMS. Golfnow acquires EZLinks.

So after three decades and hundreds of millions of dollars
spent (and tons lost), we've come to this - two major players in
the online tee time distribution business: GolfNow/EZLinks/
TeeOff, and Supreme Golf/Golfbook. GolfSwitch is still around
but likely has a very short shelf life now that it's in the hands
of GolfNow. People who built a golf technology company and
cashed out likely made some money. They are just as likely to
not care about their place in tee time history as they laugh their
way to the bank or cash their latest installment check.

One thing we can say with confidence - the use of bartered
tee times in return for some level of service or product will likely
proliferate even more due to the consolidation of the two major
barter purveyors. Stay tuned for an NGCOA report on barter, which I have researched and authored, due out soon. It will
stimulate serious thought about the barter model value equation, how to do the math and how to evaluate the pros and
cons of sharing control of your tee sheet inherent in the barter
business model.
n

December 2019

https://www.teetimecoalition.org/history/

The Pellucid Perspective - December 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Pellucid Perspective - December 2019