Edese Golf Club Papendal

Customer story Edese Golf Club Papendal

The Edese Golf Club (GC) Papendal is located in the middle of the wooded and hilly landscape of the southern Veluwezoom, between Arnhem and Ede. One of the most beautiful 18-hole golf courses in the Netherlands. The Edese GC Papendal has approximately 950 members, a modern clubhouse, extensive practice facilities and excellent catering facilities.

Rob Koning is a board member at the golf club and is mainly concerned with non-golf related matters. “That sounds crazy, because everything here revolves around golf, of course. I try to arrange all facilities within our golf club as best as possible, so that people can optimally enjoy golfing here,” he says. Koning has been using the Cashless Golf solution from Xafax for several years. He tells us about the origins and development of this collaboration.

Ball machine and bag shed

The collaboration between Xafax and the Edese GC Papendal was established in 2018. “That was before my time as a board member,” says Koning. “People used to pay for the balls for our driving range with coins. A previous board member was then tipped off by Duchell, the supplier of our court materials, including the ball machine, to talk to Xafax. Then Pieter Gramser from Xafax came along and decided to automate the ball machine by creating a specific card for it. People could deposit money on that card and use it to buy balls.

The advantage of the closed system that Xafax offers is that we can also charge different rates for different types of customers. For example, we plan to slightly increase the ball price for guest users at the driving range, while it remains the same for members.

The ball machine was put into use in mid-2019. We then immediately did the access control at the bag warehouse. A lot of members do not take their golf bags and belongings home, but store them in our bag shed downstairs. From that moment on, they could also gain access to that warehouse with the ball pass, as the Xafax card was then called.”

Developments

Much more is now possible than that. Xafax's services at the Edese GC Papendal have developed considerably over the years. “There is actually a constant development, prompted by new needs from us, but also partly inspired by the Dutch Golf Federation (NGF),” says Koning. He goes through the different applications one by one, starting with the introduction of the club card.

Club card

“Previously, people paid at the bar with their NGF card. The NGF later switched to a digital pass. However, the average age of our members is over sixty. I was therefore convinced that not all members wanted to pay with their mobile phone and that we had to find an alternative. Because we already had the ball pass at the time, I talked to Pieter about whether we could also use the pass for the catering industry. Then we did that.

We immediately decided that we wanted to make that pass important. Because the name 'ball pass' does not expect you to be able to pay with it at the bar, we have changed the name to 'club card'. To make that club card personal, we provide it with a photo. We wanted to make creating such a card so easy that people could request a club card at the service desk, have their photo taken immediately and receive the card straight away. Xafax arranged that for us.

At first we doubted whether this new club card would be accepted by the members. Maybe they didn't need it at all? It was all the funnier to see how proudly the first people with a club card showed it to others. In no time everyone had a club card and it was used for everything.

A major advantage of the introduction of the club card is the fact that larger amounts can be placed on a club card. Members put ten, maybe twenty euros on a ball card, but because the club card is also for the catering industry, they quickly put a hundred euros or more on it. In addition, the photo on the club card ensures that the pass is personal and that others cannot pay with your pass if you lose it.”

Top-up machine

“The next thing we encountered was upgrading. People could deposit money on their club card via the app and use it at the golf club. That worked fine, but many old members didn't understand how, or didn't want to start. They therefore regularly came to the service desk to have this done for them. That took a lot of time.

That is why we did an internal business case, in which we had the service desk employees calculate how often members came to the counter to have the balance on their card topped up. We compared the time our employees spent on this against the costs of a Xafax top-up machine. This showed that the investment was easy to justify, so it happened.

The introduction of the top-up machine was truly fantastic. When members came to the counter again to have their club card topped up, we told them that they can now do this themselves at the machine downstairs. On the way to the machine, a member might grumble a bit: 'Is that necessary, these new-fangled things?', but once they arrived at the machine, they were all positively surprised at how easily it works. It did not take long before the top-up machine was fully accepted and put into use.”

Check-in posts

“The check-in posts came later. These partly arose during corona times. Before corona, people came to the track without making a reservation. We then worked with a ball spiral. People threw a ball in there and the place where it landed determined the order on the track. Then you only knew when you could go on the track upon arrival. That could easily not be for another two hours and therefore caused queues.

Golf was also one of the few sports that you could continue to do during corona times. As a result, the course became busier and golf clubs gained more members. At the same time, due to corona, we had to ensure that we could identify the people on the track. Then, like all clubs in the Netherlands, we introduced a reservation system.

But booking does not mean that people will actually come. It often happened that people had reserved a starting time, but did not show up. This is of course not favorable for optimal use of track capacity. To prevent that, I wanted to have a system where people not only make reservations, but also tell us that they are there. We achieved this by having them check in before they go on the track.

At many clubs, people check in at the service desk in the clubhouse. That works, but it does cause a busy problem for the service desk employees. Moreover, our hole 10, which is the starting point for the 'second nine', is quite a distance from here. People who start there often don't even come into contact with the clubhouse. That is why we have developed check-in stations together with Xafax, where people do not have to check in at the service desk, but simply at the place where they start. That makes much more sense and also prevents people from having to walk ten minutes to register.”

Competition registration

“There was also something else going on. We regularly organize competitions where people can win small prizes. In order to pay those prizes, people must pay a registration fee to participate. However, hardly anyone carries cash anymore. That is why we have chosen, together with Xafax, to introduce a pay terminal at the cash register. Now people pay the entry fee simply by scanning their club card at the competition box office.

This way we add extra value to that club card. It is the ball machine, catering, your matches, your attendance registration and access to the bag warehouse in one. So you are fully facilitated within the club with one pass. With the club card you can do everything.”

Link with iBirdies

“Finally, Xafax has also made a connection with iBirdies possible. This makes registration even easier for our members. As soon as someone enters the site, they are recognized by their mobile device and are immediately asked at the terminal whether they want to check in. Then all he has to do is click 'yes' and he is registered.

This works via GPS and members must have given permission for this. Not everyone wants that, of course. What Xafax has done with the check-in pole is that they have made it suitable for every member, regardless of that member's preference and choice. Someone who does everything 'high-tech' is already registered when he drives onto the site, but someone who does not use the app and wants to do everything with the club card can also go to the check-in post. And everyone in between too. We do not exclude anyone and every member can decide for themselves what their preference is.”

Self-sustainability

It is clear that Edese Golf Club Papendal and Xafax have not stood still since the start of the collaboration. What do all these developments actually mean for the club? “Someone sitting at the reception is interrupted a hundred times a day to process transactions. From topping up club cards to checking in members. With more than 900 members and a full job every day, there is a constant stream of distractions and interruptions. What we are trying to achieve with the Xafax system is to take away all transactions where the golf club staff has no added value by automating them,” says Koning.

“I very much believe in self-reliance. As soon as we can offer this to our members in a simple way, they like it very much and it is very well accepted. Moreover, this allows our employees to focus on other activities. “The automation that Xafax provides us gives them more time and allows them to do their work better,” he adds.

Future

So positive sounds. However, the current success does not mean that Koning plans to slow down in terms of developments. He is always looking for ways to make it even easier and more pleasant for the members of the Edese GC Papendal. “In the future we may look at whether we can also allow guest players to pay at the check-in posts. We are also working on a kind of simulator game, in which players make a shot against a canvas and this is then simulated on the canvas. We will also look with Xafax to see how we can add payment methods and different rates to this.

Another wish of mine concerns the charging stations that we will soon have here. I would like to have different rates for members and non-members for this. We are also looking at that,” Koning concludes.