What a "Free" Tee-Time-for-Software Deal Really Costs Your Club
Quick Answer
Golf club software paid for with a tee time a day isn't free. At typical Irish green fees, one tee time a day is worth €11,000–€20,000 a year in green fees the club no longer collects. A flat monthly fee keeps every tee time yours, with the cost in plain sight on your accounts.
Some club software is offered “free”, in exchange for one tee time a day that the provider sells on its own booking marketplace. It sounds like a good deal, until you do the maths.
How a tee-time-for-software deal works
Instead of paying a fee, the club hands over a tee time every day. The provider lists that slot to the public and keeps what it sells for. The club gets its software; the provider gets 365 tee times a year.
Because the cost never appears as an invoice, it's easy to forget it's there. But every one of those tee times is a green fee the club could have collected itself.
The real cost calculation
Here's the maths at typical green fees for member clubs in Ireland:
| Green fee (avg) | Tee times/year | Annual cost equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| €30 | 365 | €10,950 |
| €35 | 365 | €12,775 |
| €45 | 365 | €16,425 |
| €55 | 365 | €20,075 |
For most clubs, a tee time a day is worth €11,000–€20,000 a year. It doesn't show up as a software cost on your accounts, but it shows up in your income.
What else to weigh up
The money is only part of the picture. Before agreeing to a tee-time deal, ask:
- Who controls the slot? Is a tee time committed every day, even on competition days and the busiest weekends?
- Who sets the price? A slot sold at a discount elsewhere can undercut your own visitor green fees.
- What do members see? A slot that's gone is a slot your members can't book.
- Whose customer is the golfer? If a visitor books through someone else, their details may not come to the club.
The alternative: a flat monthly fee
With a flat monthly fee, you pay for the software in plain sight. Not per member, and no tee-time deal: every tee time on your sheet stays yours to sell, and every visitor who books is your club's customer.
Set the subscription against €11,000–€20,000 a year in tee times, and for most clubs it costs a fraction of the deal it replaces.
The bottom line
“Free” software paid for in tee times still costs your club. The question isn't whether you're paying; it's whether you're paying in a way you can see.
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