The focus of the principals of Golf Convergence is to assist each golf maximize their revenue, increase their operational efficiency and enhance their customer service.

Presented below are four (4) example of success stories brought about through the vision and leadership of J. J. Keegan.

Maximize Revenue

Case Study 1: The Goals American Golf Wanted to Achieve.

The headline in the Crittenden read, "AGC Fire sale - Twenty courses on sale." With the rapid construction in new courses with player demand remaining flat, every course owner is under siege to maintain operating margins. As AGC has grown large, they have a growing problem in having policies and procedures consistently implemented by local managers.

They are seeking to maximize their revenue through yield management of tee time reservations by managing player demand and pricing from their corporate headquarters in Santa Monica.

The Actions Taken by J. J. Keegan

A networked version of tee time reservation software employing the latest Oracle Advanced Queuing methodology was developed under his supervision. This new architecture allowed AGC courses to benefit from local network performance while at the same time allowing them the ability to manage the information nationally. Every fifteen seconds, transactions posted to the local database are updated to the national service.

Winning Big

American Golf Corporation is projecting increased annual net income per course of $25,000.

Operational Efficiency

Case Study 2: The Goals Waukesha County Wanted to Achieve

Can you image the internal control challenges if your golf courses were able to balance their registers only nineteen (19%) percent of the time? That was the case with Waukesha County. They also had a problem identifying the causes for variances: theft, overpayment, and carelessness.

It was their goal to improve their internal controls with respect to their cash handling procedures.

Actions Taken By J. J. Keegan

A new point of sale (POS) system was installed that tracked the variance and shortfalls at the three golf courses. The new computer-based systems allow for four cash drawers at every golf course. It can track inventory in real-time, print reports at any time, track County residents using bar coded ID's, automatically determine rates for different golfers such as juniors, seniors, and County residents, and compile demographics on customers.

Winning Big

Waukesha County Golf Department has been heralded in local and national press, including Crittenden Magazine for significantly improving their cash handling procedures. Cash draws now balance ninety-four (94%) of the time and variances, when reported, are negligible. The Golf Department received a favorable review from their most recent County audit for implementing such positive steps.

Case Study 3: The Goals the City and County of Honolulu Wanted to Achieve

Can you image six (6) golf courses that annually play over 160,000 rounds EACH--and demand isn't satisfied! The City and County of Honolulu can. The public perception was that golf course staff members were on the take. They wanted to implement a reservation system that would provide fair and equitable access to County residents and provide an audit trail of reservations made.

While the City handles over 100,000 calls per day, a few golfers were appearing regularly for the same tee time. Luck or an inside job? It was Honolulu's goal to find out.

Actions Taken By J. J. Keegan

Understanding the data structure available with the City and County's software system, and, in cooperation with the City and County of Honolulu, J. J. Keegan conducted an extensive study of tee time booking patterns and determined several individuals were receiving more than their proportionate share of tee times. A research report was prepared and presented to the Honolulu Police Department. Two phone workers, employees of Verizon, were arrested and convicted in a scam to fix golf tee times. They were using "illegal" butt sets to create busy signals to the public while they used their preferred touch tone access to make tee times for their co-workers.

Winning Big

The City and County of Honolulu's golf division received widespread coverage from TV stations and from local newspapers praising their actions in ensuring integrity in the tee time reservation process. As a result, their acceptance rating with the public soared.

Case Study 4: The Goals the State of New York Wanted to Achieve.

Can you imagine waiting in line overnight with five hundred people just to try to get a tee time? A nightmare and unfortunately, for the State of New York, a harsh reality.

The State of New York was looking to provide better customer service by implementing an automated reservation system with numerous phone lines that could easily accommodate the 14,000 calls they receive daily to play at the Bethpage complex.

Actions Taken By J. J. Keegan

At the recommendation of J. J. Keegan, an interactive voice response (IVR) tee time telephone reservation system, providing golfers tee time access via 48 telephone lines was installed. In addition, we implemented a Photo Identification system to enable residents of the State of New York to purchase advanced reservation cards for $15.

Winning Big

The State of New York not only eliminated the overnight parking queues but also increased their annual revenue by $300,000. Over 20,000 people now subscribe annually to the reservation card, creating a wealth of customer information for the State of New York, allowing them to provide excellent and personal customer service.