In 2017, Golf Australia acquired the commercial rights to GOLF Link. In partnership with MPower MSL, Golf Australia has since invested in software development to attain real-time insights into GOLF Link competition rounds.
Software now programmed to automate the reporting of competition rounds revealed anomalies in the monthly source files provided by GOLF Link to a third party engaged to report to Golf Australia and the Australian Golf Industry Council (AGIC).
An analysis of the anomaly showed that rounds had been overstated due to calculating competition rounds for players who had changed clubs or who are members of more than one club. What this in practice has meant, is that year on year growth in the order of 4% as reported for over 10 years, had been compounded off inaccurate rounds.
Golf Australia has elected to take full control of competition rounds reporting and rigorous testing has taken place to ensure that the new automated system of rounds reporting is reconciled right down to individual club data, as held at the four major golf software companies.
Analysis between 2013 and 2017, under the new automated system, revealed a base of 9.99 million rounds, as opposed to 13.34 million rounds previously reported. In 2014, rounds grew by 3.5% to 10.34 million and has remained steady at 10.32 million in 2017. See Table 1.
Table 1.
|
Competition rounds via GOLF Link |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
|
Total |
9,993,160 |
10,339,702 |
10,263,898 |
10,314,052 |
10,321,643 |
|
NSW |
3,938,658 |
4,011,968 |
3,887,027 |
3,929,826 |
3,933,683 |
|
VIC |
2,482,962 |
2,541,360 |
2,584,929 |
2,547,056 |
2,577,976 |
|
QLD |
1,652,636 |
1,804,222 |
1,768,392 |
1,847,292 |
1,793,553 |
|
WA |
887,826 |
924,002 |
952,189 |
948,142 |
953,532 |
|
SA |
724,321 |
738,906 |
750,722 |
738,436 |
747,801 |
|
TAS |
261,818 |
274,471 |
278,069 |
260,862 |
275,034 |
|
NT |
44,939 |
44,773 |
42,570 |
42,438 |
40,064 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Competition rounds have shown a solid start to 2018 with a rise of 5.3% in the first quarter compared to 2017. The increase was largely attributed to an increase of 14% in NSW that accompanied a return to more normal weather following extreme heat in the first quarter of 2017 that reduced rounds. See Table 2.
Table 2.
<image="2" align="left" />
Under the new automated system, national and state level GOLF Link competition rounds will be published quarterly and accompanied by further analysis.
Work is also underway to provide clubs and facilities with a software interface, allowing real-time data and accurate analysis of a club’s own rounds.