CASE STUDY: DSG TAG Systems International
at The Warwickshire Golf & Country Club

"DSG TAG will make a big difference to our revenues this season"
Paul Taylor, Operations Manager, The Warwickshire G&CC, April 2012

THE BUSINESS PROBLEM

With fifty four buggies in constant demand from members, visitors, societies and corporate customers, the thirty six hole The Warwickshire Golf & Country Club complex has one of the largest golf cart fleets in England’s Midlands. With over ten thousand cart rounds per year, more than a fifth of rounds at The Warwickshire involve a golf cart during the height of the season.

Although it enjoys a countryside location, the club is near to three towns and in early 2011 began to face a slight problem with its cart fleet attracting the attention of joy riders, who on a few occasions had driven The Warwickshire-branded golf carts off the property. A cart security policy review was badly needed.

In general, although golf carts were an integral part of the customer experience at The Warwickshire, the business needed to improve fleet efficiency levels.

THE DSG TAG SOLUTION

In autumn 2011 The Warwickshire fitted its entire cart fleet with DSG TAGs, and trained almost a dozen members of staff to use its full suite of capabilities. The club is now seeing many benefits from a better-organised cart fleet, including:

Improved security

Following the installation of DSG TAGs all golf carts are now disabled when not in use. When the fleet is locked-down, TAG motion sensors now alert management even if a cart is moved manually while it is switched off. Using the TAG system staff know where each golf cart is at the close of business, highlighting where individual carts are displaced and need to rejoin the fleet in a secure area.

Using the DSG TAG system the club has also created a virtual geo-fence around the whole of the property, meaning that tagged carts cannot be taken off the property. Even if an immobilised cart were stolen, and loaded on the back of a lorry, the cart’s TAG motion sensor would instantly alert club management.

“DSG TAG stopped a slight but annoying buggy theft problem overnight. The installation was a total success and solved our golf cart security issues. And if something’s not right, the TAG system sends email alerts to my phone, and even sends me text messages.”
Paul Taylor, Operations Manager

Improved fleet rotation, minimal down-time

Over [95%] of The Warwickshire’s cart fleet is now available at the start of each day, as the club is now managing cart battery levels more efficiently. DSG TAG gives staff real-time battery power levels on each cart, enabling The Warwickshire control its fleet rotation accurately. Cart hire revenues have increased as a result, with optimal availability levels throughout every day.

“DSG TAG has considerably improved our cart availability, and therefore our revenues. We can see accurately which carts have enough battery left for another round, and which ones need a recharge.”
Paul Taylor, Operations Manager

OTHER BENEFITS

Improved course conditions

The DSG TAG zoning system, which prevents golf carts from accessing zoned areas, was an immediate success when put into use at The Warwickshire’s golf courses. Using TAG the club zoned off its Earls Course throughout the winter, owing to wet conditions underfoot. With most of the Earls well out of sight of the clubhouse, problems due to unwanted cart traffic – which would have been hard to police in past seasons – were instantly eradicated. Cart drivers at The Warwickshire first receive an audible warning, followed by cart immobilisation if an attempt is made to enter a restricted zone.

The club now regularly zones off certain areas of its golf courses, restricting carts to paths in areas which have become wet or are under repair. Greens, green approaches, water hazards, bunkers and teeing areas are also zoned off.

“Zoning has been a massive benefit: we make major gains in course conditioning and health & safety, and we can create or modify zones in a few simple clicks. You simply couldn’t get a better system.”
Paul Taylor, Operations Manager

Improved tournament management

In a tournament situation, particularly a shotgun start, the club can now release all carts simultaneously without the need for keys. Events at The Warwickshire start more promptly and golfers enjoy a well-organised golf tournament experience.

“We run a lot of corporate and society days with shotgun starts. With the TAG, we can see when the last cart has reached its allotted tee, which tells us that the event is ready to start.”
Paul Taylor, Operations Manager

Improved pace of play

The Warwickshire course marshals can now tell golfers exactly how their pace of play relates to others on the course, enabling them to better manage what can be a confrontational situation. If a marshal suspects a group is falling behind, he simply radios in to request an accurate time-check for the group’s golf carts: this is then presented to the group in question. Pace of play across both golf courses has improved as a result.

Improved start / return procedure

With golfers no longer needing keys, pro shop staff can enable a cart as soon as a golfer has arrived for his tee time. At round’s end, the golfer simply returns the cart to the control area. Shop staff can monitor whether a cart has been correctly returned, and can immobilise the cart if necessary.

Improved customer tracking

With every cart now leaving a ‘trail’, staff can track exactly where a cart has been during a given round. Golfers can easily be shown where they went off-track if a dispute arises, as the DSG TAG system gives staff the name of each cart driver, as well as a map of the trail.

Improved staff motivation & management

With staff in the office and pro shop all trained to use the DSG TAG control system, The Warwickshire now has an enthusiastic and skilled cart fleet management team. Staff feel positive about the results the system produces, and the team bonds around a feeling that it is a more efficient unit. In addition, managers can monitor the whereabouts of course marshals and drinks buggies, ensuring that those roles are being performed as requested.

“It was very easy to train staff to use the DSG Tag system – nobody struggled with it, and we found it simple to use straight away.”
Paul Taylor, Operations Manager

OTHER QUOTES FROM CLUB MANAGEMENT

“When golfers want a golf cart we can now deal with their request in a highly efficient way. With the DSG TAG keyless system, all of our golf carts are controlled from a single screen [in the pro shop], meaning that we can enable or disable individual carts remotely, ensuring that golfers drive away in the right cart. The DSG TAG system makes shotgun starts easier, as we can now release all participating golf carts simultaneously, with a single click.”
Oliver Foster, Retail Manager

“Fitting the DSG TAG to our carts has made it so much easier to manage two busy 18-hole courses here at The Warwickshire. Slow play is unpopular, and avoiding the problems it creates is key to a creating pleasant golf experience for our customers. DSG TAG enables us to identify problem groups quickly, making my job much easier and less confrontational.“
Colin Daly, Course Marshall

“We fitted our golf carts with the DSG TAG system almost a year ago, which means we can now monitor all aspects of the fleet efficiently and simply, from speed of play and cart usage levels to security and battery levels. The DSG TAG zoning system also enables us to prevent carts from entering certain areas on the golf course, protecting not only the course but also our golfers. There have been very few problems, but when needed DSG Tag’s customer service has been exceptional, with support available at all times. We constantly strive to improve the golfing experience at our courses, and certainly our partnership with DSG has helped considerably.”
Paul Taylor, Operations Manager

© DSG TAG Systems International Limited 2012

DSG TAG Systems International Limited
The Oxford Science Park
Magdalen Centre, Oxford OX4 4GA
United Kingdom
Tel: (0)1865 784434
Email: colin@dsgtag.com
Web: www.dsgtag.com

If you’d like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Colin Surman, Vice President International Sales (based in the UK), please call or email Andy Hiseman on +44 (0)7795 360112 / andy@hiseman.com

www.dsgtag.com

DSG Fleet Solutions specializes in reducing the operation costs facing operators of Golf, Turf, and Utility fleets. Our flagship product is the revolutionary TAG, a new benchmark in Fleet Management.

With the TAG installed on their fleet, operators know exactly where any particular vehicle is and what its doing. TAG delivers real time information that is accessible from any computer. You have complete control over your fleet. TAG is helping operators reduce costs such as labour, theft, vandalism, slow play on the golf course, and fuel.

By addressing many of these operational issues our customers are seeing real benefits to their profitability and the bottom-line. If you operate any kind of fleet you need to know about the TAG and how it can help your business complete in a challenging economy.