Club Systems International has celebrated its 40th anniversary in style with the market leaders in golf club management software enjoying a year full of innovation, success and milestone moments.
First established in 1982, the family-run business celebrated its landmark date in the same way as the previous 39 years – working to provide first-class customer service and a range of software and hardware solutions which make the day-to-day management of a golf club easier.
The business, which started as a simple CONGU handicapping solution, now employs more than 40 staff from its Manchester base, running the HowDidiDo app and website and providing services to more than 1,600 golf clubs across five different continents.
Over the past 12 months, both Club Systems and HowDidiDo user numbers continued to grow. More than 8.1 million rounds were inputted into Club Systems software with in excess of 240,000 competitions taking place as 749,000 users took to the system.
Last year also saw HowDidiDo enjoy a milestone moment with its app passing one million downloads. HowDidiDo recorded more than 317 million total page views – up by 13 per cent on 2021 – more than 97 million sessions and user numbers increasing by 42 per cent compared to 2021.
The How Do We Beat It charity donation fund for Prostate Cancer UK also passed the £200,000 mark in 2022 as Club Systems looks to help raise awareness and fund research into beating the most common cancer in men.
As The Open Championship celebrated its 150th edition at St Andrews, Club Systems was on hand to play a part in the smooth running of the event by providing additional hardware to three of its golf clubs at the home of golf, helping them to facilitate the huge number of visitors during the week of the tournament.
The St Andrews Golf Club, The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and The New Club St Andrews all benefitted from MerlinTouch EPOS tills, allowing for food and drink transactions to be completed quickly and easily.
After a Covid-inflicted absence, the popular Club Systems Roadshows – which provide a perfect opportunity for golf club officials to find out more about the products on offer and get a sneak-peek of upcoming developments – also returned in late November and will continue with a range of dates across the UK and Ireland in early 2023.
The company also introduced a new customer support system in 2022 as part of its ongoing aim to improve customer care. Zendesk gives clubs and officials the ability to log issues and then track their progress at the touch of a button.
One of the biggest reflections of the company’s continued progress came in September when it was acquired by ClearCourse, a UK-based group which provides software solutions and an integrated payments platform. By joining ClearCourse, Club Systems is better equipped to scale and grow the business by receiving increased investment and access to improved products for their customers.
Not only were Club Systems game changers of the golf club management industry when they first started out 40 years ago, they have continued to be ever since with the release of market-leading innovations such as ClubV1, HowDidiDo and more recently MSi (Mobile Score Input), and have plenty more advancements in the pipeline to continue to make life easier for golf club officials and their members.
Richard Peabody, managing director of Club Systems, said: “It’s been a memorable last year for Club Systems as we celebrated our 40th anniversary with a number of landmark achievements and new innovations.
“The year also saw us team up with ClearCourse and, with their help and expertise, we’re looking forward to helping our members benefit from many more market-leading software solutions in the months and years ahead.”