As Head Golf Professional at Mitcham Golf Club I had always felt that we may be losing revenue when the Proshop was closed especially in winter time when it's dark at 4pm. There must be a way, I thought, that we can continue to allow people to book tee times when the Proshop is closed.

I discovered that one of my lessons was the MD of an Internet company and when I put the idea to him he liked it so much that he went off and made it happen.

Fourteen months later and Mitcham Golf Club haven't looked back. Green fee revenue has increased by 60% and more bookings are made online than via the phone. We have created a database of over 1350 emails in 12 months (growing by the day) which we regularly target with email newsletters and which in turn increases repeat business.

Members and visitors feedback has been excellent on the ease and convenience of using the booking system: we have even had people book from the US prior to a visit to London! The admin system is easy to use and it keeps the Proshop phone on its cradle far more than it ever used to be.

Each morning when I check my email I receive at least five or six bookings made the evening / night before when the Proshop was closed. To me that's two or three hundred pounds worth of green fees from golfers who may have played elsewhere or even decided not to play at all.

		At the time of writing this we have just had 241 green fee booking forms via our online system in April 2006, representing a total of well over 800 players booked onto the course. That's an average of 27 a day or 190 a week. They were made up of approximately 95% visitors and 5% members.

See the system in action at: www.mitchamgolfclub.co.uk or call Paul at the club on 020 8640 4280. He will be more than happy to speak to you about the system.