Todd McGregor, media contact of BallBound is excited to announce that iPhone mobile users can make reservations from anywhere in the world to more than a thousand golf courses nationwide at discounted rates.
McGregor said in the press release, “iPhone users will save as much as 70% off tee times with the convenience of anywhere anytime tee time searching and purchasing.” The application “Tee Times,” available on the iTunes Music Store, is unique to the iPhone and the first of its kind to deliver application specific tee time reservations. Users are not required to visit a web page typically not properly formatted for the mobile user. He continues “We wanted the golfer to have the best experience possible when making a reservation by organizing the information in a concise and predictable manner in accordance to Apple’s human user interface guidelines.”
Users can make reservations over AT&T’s 3G or Edge network as well as any wireless connection or HotSpot. McGregor continues “You can leave the laptop in the car or not worry about being tied to the office computer in order to make a golf reservation. This is an unprecedented use of technology allowing golfers to reserve a tee time within moments of having the idea no matter where they may be. If you can make a phone call, you can make a reservation.” McGregor admits golfers like to show each other up with new toys and gadgets, “When a member of our foursome is responsible for the next round, I can whip out the iPhone and allow the next reservation to be purchased, no more welching.” A golfer can choose between one to four players for each reservation. You then have the option to send the reservation confirmation to each member of your party via email, a feature soon to be very popular among golfers.
BallBound.com’s numerous features include an enhanced search that allow golfers to view tee times side by side and compare rates. Three steps: Select an area, select number of players (1-4), and submit to view search results. Each course listed with their tee times. Tap to select and purchase a tee time or select a new date time and view additional results. In addition there are improved map listings of all the community golf courses as well as detailed course maps and a link to Google maps where a golfer can get driving directions to the golf course of choice. iPhone and iPod Touch owners can download the “Tee Times” application for free at the iTunes Music Store.
This first of its kind application is powered by Cypress Golf to better serve Internet customers in booking tee times. Cypress Golf maintains over 1.5 million registered golfer accounts and improves site navigation, enhances tee time search, and adds detailed golf course information with its server infrastructure. BallBound.com worked with Brian Zimmer, Director of Customer and Partner Services, and the team of Cypress Golf in order to develop the first of its kind mobile reservation application. McGregor comments “The Cypress Golf team was great to work with in meeting and exceeding our expectations during our demanding and compressed development cycle.”
Tee Times app Video Demo (60 seconds):
Direct link to video via Vimeohere.
The Tee Times for iPhone app is free.
More info and direct download link via ITunes App Store here.
While it’s cool to see this sort of app be published for the iPhone, the UI is just terrible. The demo was 60 seconds long, sure, but he didn’t enter any of the credit card information; that would be a major time suck (and pain point) to any user of that app.
MW: “john”, as in *flush*
You must “love” pain and deception.
Shwing!
It’s flawed, unfortunately, because they’re CHARGING you for making the reservation. When a simple (or painful if public muni) call to the club won’t charge you anything for the reservation. In the demo I believe the quote for the demo reservation he was setting up was $10.88. That ads up if you play golf enough to merit using this app.
Go back to the drawing board and talk to the clubs and work out a deal with them… don’t charge the user to make a reservation…instead get a kickback from the club. OR, charge more for the app itself!
Hey Guys, thanks for your comments.
The demo is long, due to the voice talking aspect. Its actually quite quick to find a course. After the first search, the area and numer of players is defaulted. Just pick the date and view available Tee Times.
The credit card info takes roughly the same amount of time as the traditional website. The speed comes from being able to add your contact info from the address book. So the real effort s for the card itself. I’m not sure how to speed this up, as saving this info is somewhat restricted by Apple rules and the confidence of the customer. To our knowledge, we are the first iPhone app to accept a credit card. There is no reference that I know of to compare our process to. Believe me, I want it as easy as possible for the user, including myself. That said, it beats a laptop on the greens or where ever to make a reservation as the guys decide to get together.
As for the deception, the video was made before the checkout could be completed without mucking live data. IN other words, at that point, the actual Tee Time would have been removed form the live database, and perhaps a golfer would have missed a desired tee time, Its the nature of the beast. We also felt users were aware and know wht to do ina checkout process.
Yes, we do charge to make the reservation. The app was created for this purpose, to make a profit. We are not getting rich off of this by a long shot. Our development costs way exceed our projected revenue, but we love the iPhone, golf and this service seemed like a good one to port over. We have received quite a few emails expressing joy and how simple the app is to use. Our critics, like yourselves, provide insight and allow us to focus on improving the user experience, our ultimate goal. Currently our top focus is to garner more courses. We have over 1,400 available for you to search. There are over 10,000 public courses in the US. We are not even providing access to the majority of courses. However, the courses we do have, are provided at discount rates. The savings typically far exceed the small fee we get for the service. Also, it should be know that we do not have any control over the fee.
As for talking to courses for the fee. Golf courses are afraid of technology. They are slow to accept what we are doing. I know not everyone is excited about this method of making a reservation and would prefer to talk to the “local muni”, however consider they go home and the iphone and our server infrastructure is running 24/7.
I hope this helps explain a few things. thank you for your criticism. It helps us focus on your needs. =]
Eddy,
Founder Tee Times app.