Don't Use "Barter for Resale"

Dear Potential Customer,

First and foremost, let me thank you for considering the Fore! Reservations software system for your golf course. We have proudly serviced the golf industry for over 15 years, however it is your commitment to this great game that truly makes our industry run! Like yourself, Fore! Reservations genuinely cares about the success of our industry.

We believe in providing golf courses with profitable solutions through a feature-rich system that incorporates innovative tools, revenue-generating features and automated technology that can help businesses succeed. I want to see this industry thrive in the months and years to come, and operators profit from serving and growing this great game. I encourage every operator to maximize your software utilization, leverage your customer database, enact best marketing practices and implement technology that helps your business increase rounds and revenue. I would also advise against utilizing businesses that engage in the practice of bartering tee times.

In a golf economy where price erosion is sprilaring out of control, it's critical that courses discount less and stop bartering tee times with third-parties that operate on a barter for resale model. I believe the barter for resale philosophy is a cancer that has infected our industry, and Fore! Reservations elects not to engage in this model as we firmly believe the best place to sell your tee times is on your website by offering the "Lowest Price Guarantee." Third-parties (software companies, webpage companies, tee time resellers, etc.) have used this business practice of taking barter times and discounting the time lower than the course can sell it for, to benefit themselves and exploit the golf course.

When the Internet consumer is trained to go away from the golf course's website to find a better tee time price, the course loses. The third-party with no “skin in the game” is able to offer the “Lowest Price Guarantee” on tee times and beat the golf course to the punch. This is creating additional competition for courses, and with an industry challenged by excess supply, increasing competition is not the right solution. So what's the best solution? I believe our industry should adopt a commission-based model and pay third-parties based on results of rack-rate tee times sold (i.e. pay 5% for any rack-rate tee time sold).

Although it may seem like the easy way out with "no money out of pocket", let's run the numbers on what bartering tee times actually costs your facility. The numbers are staggering, especially when you consider third-parties usually sell 75% of their bartered inventory!

Click here to learn more about Fore! Reservations view on barter and to see what other industry organizations and golf course operators have to say about the ongoing debate. The National Golf Course Owners Association recently released a Position Statement regarding third-party tee time resellers as well as Best Practices to follow when utilizing a third-party. I encourage every owner and operator to review the Position Statement and implement the Best Practices outlined by the NGCOA.

If you have any questions about the Fore! Reservations software, or would simply like to talk about the state of our industry, I can be reached anytime through our This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Thank you again, and I wish you great success!





Harry Ipema
CEO, Fore! Reservations, Inc.