Golfers invited to become 59Club Mystery Secret Agents

Golfers throughout the UK and Europe are being offered the chance to go undercover to analyse the good, the bad and the ugly in the golf industry from a customer service point of view.

Players are being invited to step forward and assist 59Club in assessing the customer experience at more than 100 golf venues across the UK, Europe and Dubai.

If you visit a golf club and have a great experience - or, conversely, an awful time - you may not ever say anything to the club concerned. So how do golf clubs and resorts gauge their performance for members and visitors, or compare themselves with their competition?

Well, in short, many of them follow the tried and tested examples of the big retailers and restaurant chains: they utilise a mystery shopper service. This involves a ‘tester' visiting the club as an anonymous punter and reporting back on every aspect. The ‘test' process analyses both the customer's experience during 18 holes of golf as well as the service and food quality in the club house bar before and after the round.

This is a great opportunity for avid golfers to not only enjoy the fruits of their labour, but in doing so, they take on a valuable role in reporting back on their findings to assist 59Club and the golf community with the aim of improving the customer experience.

Simon Wordsworth, a fellow of the PGA and chief executive of 59Club, Europe's leading golf-specific mystery shopper service, offered a brief overview of what the process involves and the people who carry it out.

"We recruit testers in all regions and, if they fit the criteria we're looking for, we arrange for them to visit selected venues within the 59Club test programme to provide a comprehensive report on the golf club," he explained. "The tester may be required to analyse all areas, from the design and quality of the golf course and practice facilities, to golf-relevant services and the food and beverage experience.

"If in-depth evaluations are desired, the assessment may encompass the complete experience, starting with a first call or contact and resulting in a stay-over of several days or even a half-year membership. It all depends on how in-depth the club wants to look at itself.

"Some of the larger resorts want absolutely every aspect covered while smaller clubs may require the golf course and clubhouse analysed. The data is extremely in-depth at whatever level."

Wordsworth continued: "Our testers are experienced and diligent golfers, men and women, with a knowledge of - and an eye for - what makes a good, or bad, golfing experience. The visits are carried out by golfers with handicaps ranging from scratch to 25, with testing opportunities available all year round.

"The recruitment process for these golfers is thorough as we need to ensure they are reliable and conscientious, have an eye for detail, a passion for good service, and a positive, constructive way of communicating quality feedback. We currently have a test team made up of people from all walks of life, from managing directors and business owners to university students.

"It is important that all testers have experienced various levels of customer service, from playing at an array of golf clubs over the years, so they are armed with the ability to identify and differentiate between good and bad service.

"The quality of feedback and personal observations based on staff, facility and service is extrmely important, as all of our clubs tested rely on the detailed analysis we supply to ensure they maintain the highest possible standards."

College lecturer "Gary", 41, has been a tester with 59Club for nearly two years and the 16-handicapper has visited more than a dozen venues in that time.

"It's a great initiative to be involved with, especially as I previously used to critique each golfing experience" he smiled. "I always analysed every aspect of the day and would recognise a really well maintained course or be the first to say if the service was dreadful.

"Now I can put those observations to a constructive use, as the clubs tested are privy to my observations which are recorded in accordance with strict 59Club marking guidelines. They help keep me on track and ensure my feedback is non-subjective.

"My playing partners now actively provide me with their own feedback which I can quantify before including it in my report. Two friends have even asked if they could become testers themselves, and I was delighted to refer them to 59Club. We have all got the testing ‘bug' and fully appreciate the long-term difference we can make to the experience of future golfers at a club.

"It's also an ideal way for me, as a keen golfer with a young family, to enjoy my golf without worrying that it's costing me money. I get reimbursed, 59Club gets an in-depth report, the golf club benefits from the extensive feedback and future golfers reap the rewards of the improvements driven by the comments."

Fir more information on how to become a mystery agent and to view the current portfolio of clubs you can be selected to test, please visit  - www.59club.com