Blog Post Case Study: Encouraging New Golfers with Golf Ireland and App Rail

The Problem

Golf Ireland is the single governing body for golfing in Ireland. Under the tagline Golf for Everyone, they aim to open up the game to all and ensure it has a positive impact on Irish society.

We wanted to develop a Golf Ireland app to reach more people and encourage them to take up golf

Carla Reynolds, Digital and Social Media Manager explains that the pandemic had a big effect on who was being attracted into the game. Statistics for previous years showed that the number of male golfers was reducing year on year with a 5% decrease over a four-year period, and one third of adult golfers who tried golf for the first time during the pandemic were under 25 years old.

Covid-19 brought many challenges to the golf industry in Ireland with extended lockdowns and ongoing restrictions, but it also presented a renewed enthusiasm for the game and, in particular, in golf club membership. Carla adds:

The progress made in female participation has most certainly been affected by the influx of memberships during the pandemic which have primarily been male.

Goals for the app

Carla and her team could see an opportunity to engage with new members and also future new participants through a Get into Golf App.

It was important to them to build something that would be used by more of the groups that don’t typically play golf – especially women and younger people. It needed to be easy to use, inclusive and encouraging with a friendly, welcoming tone.

As beginners take up golf, they wanted the app to be a pathway into membership and be used as a tool to help them develop their understanding and confidence in the game. This means it should be able to answer their questions, test the gaps in their knowledge and provide inspiration to carry on.

Golf Ireland also had some clear targets in mind around uptake of the app. “We wanted it to engage with those who completed the Get into Golf programme in golf clubs and convert 50% into using the GIG App in year one,” explains Carla.

Choosing App Rail

The Golf Ireland team had a clear vision for their App, and it was created quickly and easily with App Rail’s no-code solution. After an initial scoping session they were able to use the platform independently.

App Rail provided a clean and simple way to build what we were looking for in a timely manner and in line with our budget,” agrees Carla.

The app has a raft of content that has been added by the Golf Ireland team. This includes a knowledge bank of videos and guides on different aspects of the game, as well as practical, interactive features like checklists and quizzes to boost confidence. It’s also been future-proofed, giving the client autonomy to grow the content in future.

The final App includes

• An easy-to-navigate knowledge bank of videos and guides to develop beginners’ understanding of different aspects of the game.
• Practical, interactive features like checklists and quizzes to boost confidence.
• Easy for clients to develop these features themselves and upload and manage content independently.

Results so far

The app has been built and tested and is now ready to roll out to its users. Carla says her team is happy with the outcome and is looking forward to getting user feedback.

The simplicity of the app is key – it’s clean and user friendly. It has achieved the goals we outlined in terms of build and the content available, and now we’re excited to get it into the hands of golfers!

They have set some challenging targets for the app’s usage, and plan to measure success by monitoring how many new members are retained year on year. They will also be surveying participants on how the app has affected their confidence and competence levels.