Blog2023-01-30T11:35:46+00:00

Blog

Find out what’s new from BRS Golf by reading our blog. In the BRS Golf Blog you’ll find technology and market insights, podcasts, press releases and much more.

The AIG Women’s Open Live Leaderboard

  The week concludes the LPGA major season as the world’s top golfers take to Walton Heath, London as they all look to compete for the 47th AIG Women’s Open. From Jenny Lee Smith in 1976 to defending champion Ashleigh Buhai in 2022, 39 different golfers have won the AIG Women’s Open. Will a new winner be crowned at Walton Heath? Or could a former champion add their name to the legendary group of just five women have claimed victory in the Championship more than once?  There are so many possibilities and so many dramatic stories to unfold; we can't wait! You can stay up to date with all the action from the AIG Women’s Open with our LIVE leaderboard: Previous Open Winners: 2022 - Ashleigh Buhai - Muirfield 2021 - Anna Nordqvist - Carnoustie 2020 - Sophia Popov - Royal Troon 2019 - Hinako Shibuno - Woburn, Marquess Course 2018 - Georgia Hall - Royal Lytham & St Annes

Strong First Half for Golf Participation in 2023

Golf’s leading provider of tee time management booking technology, BRS Golf, and the world’s biggest tee time marketplace, GolfNow, have reported a strong first half of 2023 for both member play and visitor play in the UK and Ireland, with more rounds played so far this year than in the whole of 2019. Together BRS Golf and GolfNow provide tee time booking solutions to 1,500 golf clubs across England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, making the tech giant one of the largest and most trusted sources of participation data for golf in the British Isles. Member participation remains strong 1 January - 30 June 2023, BRS Golf processed 13.6 million member rounds. A 13% increase vs the same period in 2022. Comparing rounds booked in 2023 with pre-pandemic levels in 2019, an extra 6.7M were played in 2023. To put the total rounds into context, there have been more rounds played in the first half of this year than the whole of 2019. Member rounds by country · England: 6.6 million rounds · Ireland: 2.9 million rounds · Scotland: 2.3 million rounds · Northern Ireland: 1 million rounds · Wales: 723,000 rounds Overall membership numbers see small decline but [...]

The Open Championship: LIVE Leaderboard

This week marks the final major of the golf calendar, as the world's best golfers take to Royal Liverpool - as they all look to take home The 151st Open Championship! In a year full of drama in the golfing world this week is certain to add to it and we can't wait to watch it unfold! Can Rory remake history and win The Claret Jug again at the venue where he last won The Open Championship 9 years ago? Or can John Rahm, Wyndham Clark or Brooks Koepka add ANOTHER major to their historic years? You can keep up to date with all the action with our LIVE leaderboard.  Previous winners from The Open Championship: 2022 - Cameron Smith - St. Andrews 2021 - Collin Morikawa - Royal St George's 2019 - Shane Lowry - Royal Portrush 2018 - Francesco Molinari - Carnoustie 2017 - Jordan Spieth - Royal Birkdale

Northern Ireland golf tourism continues to surge

The number of tee times booked by visitors to Northern Ireland last year was 30% higher than pre-Covid levels, new figures from Tourism NI have revealed. In depth research from the team at BRS Golf, commissioned by Tourism NI, also found Northern Ireland experienced a large increase in visitor green fee revenue in 2022, with expenditure on bookings surging both during on and off season. The report `Golf Tourism in Northern Ireland: How the pandemic and recovery has impacted visitor golf’, examined data from 75 golf clubs in Northern Ireland which use the BRS Golf tee time booking system. The report excluded rounds booked by tour operators directly with golf clubs and also does not include all clubs, such as the 2017 Irish Open venue Portstewart Golf Club. The figures show that in 2022, there were 762,575 bookings made by visitors at the 75 golf clubs in Northern Ireland. This is compared to 587,199 bookings made in 2019 – a 30% increase. Of those who made bookings, the vast majority did so through tour operators showing a move away from a finding in 2019 that more people were choosing to travel for golf in Northern Ireland independently. According to the [...]

Golf participation is still strong, but membership numbers are beginning to decline

Golf’s leading provider of tee time management booking technology, BRS Golf, and the world’s biggest tee time marketplace, GolfNow, have reported a strong start to 2023 for both member play and visitor play in the UK & Ireland. However, the golf software company can confirm that membership numbers are starting to decline. Together BRS Golf and GolfNow provide tee time booking solutions to 1,500 golf clubs across England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, making the tech giant one of the largest and most trusted sources of participation data for golf in the British Isles. Member participation remains strong 1 January-31 March 2023, BRS Golf processed 5.6 million member rounds. -1.7 million in January (150k down YOY), -Two million in February (500k up YOY thanks to the driest February on record) -1.9 million in March (flat YOY due to snow and wet weather) This equated to a YOY growth of 400k rounds, nine per cent up on 2022. Compared to the final quarter of 2022, member rounds were 600k up. And looking back to pre-Covid levels of play in 2019 rounds are 100% up, with 2.8M rounds played in Q1 2019 compared to 5.6M in Q1 Member Rounds by Country: [...]

NBCUniversal’s Internship Programme launches in Belfast

Students will embark on highly coveted software engineering or marketing intern placements based at the company’s international golf headquarters in Northern Ireland.   NBCUniversal has launched its inaugural Internship Programme based at the company’s international golf headquarters at City Quays in Belfast. The programme gives students from around the world the opportunity to embark on an internship in software engineering or marketing, working across golf technology brands including BRS Golf, GolfNow and GolfPass.   This is the first year the programme has offered placements in Belfast as BRS Golf seeks to grow its commitment to nurturing new talent and supporting young people interested in a career in technology. In total, 260 students applied for three available Belfast-based internships. Applications poured in from local colleges and universities including Queen’s University, Ulster University and Belfast Met, as well as from students in the mainland UK, Republic of Ireland, South America and China.   The three successful candidates will start their NBCUniversal internships in July 2023:   Ross Morrison, Marketing Intern, Ulster University Bachelor of Science in CAM (Communication, Advertising & Marketing)   Anika Patel, Software Intern, University of Nottingham BSc Computer Science with Industry Placement   Kane McDonagh, Software Intern, Liverpool John [...]

Record Golf Participation in 2022

Golf’s leading provider of tee time management booking technology, BRS Golf, and the world’s biggest tee time marketplace, GolfNow, have reported a strong year in 2022 for both member play and visitor play in the UK & Ireland.Together BRS Golf and GolfNow provide tee time booking solutions to 1,500 golf clubs across England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, making the tech giant one of the largest and most trusted sources of participation data for golf in the British Isles.Over the course of 2022, BRS Golf processed 24.7 million member rounds. During both 2020 and 2021 there were Covid restrictions in some form, making it difficult to get an accurate year-on-year change in the number of rounds played. However the lack of post lockdown booms in golf this year has allowed us to see a steady run of member play and to get a more consistent picture of the level of member play by month.With no lockdowns to reduce member play or post lockdown booms to inflate member play in 2022, we still saw phenomenal levels of participation. This year’s 24.7 million member rounds was 1.8 million rounds ahead of 2021, 2.5 million ahead of 2020, and 11.2 million ahead [...]

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