As new technologies make ardent strides in affecting our everyday lives, Paul Gallagher examines how it is infiltrating the Irish golfing establishment

Who'd have thought the day would come when the secretary/manager of the golf club flags up an evening soiree via text message? But that's what's happening, among other innovative uses, as the game in Ireland embraces the new wave of technology available in the internet age.

Perhaps the days of time-consuming mail-shots and the bush telegraph are numbered as said communication channels make way for more efficient SMS services, which sends text messages direct to mobile phones users in an instant. This is the method clubs like Clontarf GC, in Dublin, have adopted when they want to relay information to members.

"Basically we bought into a text messaging service which means that I can send a message from my computer, or any PC, to every member who has registered their mobile phone number with us," explains Arthur Cahill, secretary manager at Clontarf. Since signing up for the service at the beginning of the year, Cahill has over 25 per cent of the 1,000 members registered, and already he can see the benefits.

"It's very handy. For example, we had flash flooding a couple of weeks ago, all of a sudden the course was closed, people were in transit, but we were able to get the message out there immediately.

"We also use the service to flag up functions at the club, reminding members to buy their tickets," adds Cahill. "Other uses include sending out results of key competitions, or any other information we think is important enough to relay."

Furthermore, the service can be tailor-made to target a specific group from the database. "Say you only want to get in touch with certain team members about a forthcoming match. Instead of making numerous phone calls, team captains can contact me and I send the message just to the relevant players, informing them of a change in time, for example," says Cahill.

The particular software Clontarf subscribe to was developed by a group of students who formed the company Phorest. "All you do is sign up and select a package that suits, depending on how many text messages the club plans on sending each month. We might buy 4,000 messages at a time, and because of bulk buying the cost for us sending out messages is only six or seven cent per unit," says Cahill, who simply logs-on to the Phorest website, registers with a unique username and password before inputting the message for sending.

"We find it very handy and inexpensive. It's very convenient compared to doing a mail-shot," Cahill concludes.

The obvious drawback which springs to mind is the onus it puts on a club to convince members to register, otherwise you're not dealing with the full picture. And that's not taking into account the fact that not everyone uses a mobile phone. That said, mobile use in Ireland has reached 80 per cent coverage.

In a wider context, the Golfing Union of Ireland (GUI) and Irish Ladies Golfing Union (ILGU) lean heavily on the internet now that they have introduced a new smart card in conjunction with the launch of the Centralised Database of Handicaps (CDH) in May, 2002.

Every member of the 408 clubs affiliated to the GUI has been issued with a new membership card, which, in turn, allows individuals to access their handicap on the internet-based CDH via www.GOLFnet.ie at any time. "The idea was to get one large database to house all the handicaps from each club and make this accessible on the internet," explains Pat Finn, GOLFnet project manager, and assistant to the GUI general secretary.

For this to work, each club needed to ensure their existing software - most clubs use a handicap system called CONGU (Council of National Golfing Unions) - was compatible with the centralised database.

"We instructed the vendors, who supply the handicap software to clubs, to update their software so that when changes are made to handicaps locally, the changes are also mirrored on the CDH and stored on one large web server," Finn explains.

There are considerable benefits to this system; not least that it creates greater transparency. "In the past we've had problems where an individual, who is not a member anywhere and therefore without an official handicap, pitches up to play in an open competition," says Finn. "That can't happen now with the new database because only members with their smart card will be able to enter competitions.

"However, the principle reason for establishing the system was to give individuals increased access to their own information (handicap) and to also lighten the considerable workload on handicap secretaries in every club," he says, referring to the old procedure. Previously club officials had to make the adjustments manually, particularly when away cards are returned.

At present not all 408 clubs have the technology in place to link up to the CDH, but Finn confirmed that over 340 clubs have completed the process with the remainder due to come online by the end of the year.

If the individual golfer's club has registered and linked with the CDH, they then have the option of checking their most up-to-date handicap online or use the SMS service to obtain the same information by mobile phone. Simply text the unique, eight digit number on the back of every membership card to the designated GUI number (086 383 2600), and GOLFnet will respond immediately.

When GUI officials first conceived the notion of using the internet to house the CDH, in the late 1990s, they also conversed with the other home nation unions (England, Scotland and Wales) to see about the possibility of moving the scheme forward collectively.

"Shay Smith (GUI secretary) and Rollo McClure (GUI treasurer) attended meetings with hope of finding a way to establish a uniform way of creating a handicap database for all the home unions," says Finn. "But unfortunately at the time, around four years ago, other unions had already made steps towards creating their own software, so it was too late to turn back and invest in the one system."

It was at this point the GUI/ILGU forged ahead with their concept, and now Ireland is the first country to have a mandatory centralised handicap database. Granted, countries like France, Sweden and Switzerland have an arrangement where golf clubs can decide if they want to sign up or not.

"GOLFnet is the first of its kind, in that it was mandatory for all clubs affiliated to the union to come on board," Finn adds, emphasising the system they introduced was also non-commercial.

That's not to say this particular sector of the leisure industry isn't subject to commercial influences. Like the service Clontarf subscribes to, other players have also entered the market.

Last month another Irish-based mobile company, Bongtree Mobile, launched their SMS product on the back of success in other areas of the leisure market.

"We already supply text messaging services to the David Lloyd tennis clubs and the Westwood Fitness Centres," explains Conor McKenna, managing director of CLUBtxt.

"These clubs want to be able to communicate easily to their large membership base. It may be to promote new classes or highlight an event, and text messages are an easy way to do that," adds McKenna who linked up with Carton House GC in Kildare to run their pilot scheme for CLUBtxt at the start of the year.

And it's not just golf clubs that are being targetted by commercial enterprises: golf societies are seen as a lucrative niche in the market. "There are over 1,500 societies in Ireland, so that's a huge area for us to explore," says McKenna whose company offers monthly rates for users. For €19 a month, societies can send 150 text messages in the same way golf clubs can send 450 messages for €59 per month.

So, when all's said and done, if you are a golfer who has been dragged, kicking and screaming, into the technological age, then these developments may fall on deaf ears.

However, the information superhighway looks to be here to stay as the internet and mobile phones alike become evermore entwined in our everyday lifestyles.