Golf sim booking automation: what should happen between booked and teed off
Your booking system knows who's coming, which bay and when. On most sites that information sends one confirmation email and then sits there. It can run the whole visit.
Here's what we think should happen automatically around every booking, in order. None of it needs a person.
When the booking is made
- Confirmation with the practical bits: address, parking, how to get in, what to bring. Text or WhatsApp gets read; email often doesn't.
- An entry code for that booking only, valid from shortly before the slot until it ends.
- Recognise returning customers by phone number, so a regular isn't treated like a stranger.
Before they arrive
- A reminder a few hours before, with the entry details again. Fewer no-shows, fewer "how do I get in?" calls at the door.
- Bay power on ahead of the slot. Around 15 minutes for the sim PC and projector. Heating takes much longer: 30 to 60 minutes for a cold room in winter, depending on the building. The room is ready when they walk in.
During the session
- Someone answering if anything goes wrong. A frozen screen gets a reply and a remote restart in minutes, not a refund the next day. Our remote fix playbook covers how.
- No power changes while the bay's in use. Power should follow the booking, with a check that the room is empty before anything switches off.
After they leave
- Bay off once the session ends, the room is empty and nobody's booked next. People overrun routinely, so allow a grace period. More in switching bays off without switching off on a player.
- A review request 30 minutes to 2 hours later, while the round's still fresh.
- A rebook prompt: "Same time next week?" with a free slot and the booking link. The easiest booking is the next one.
When plans change
| Event | What should happen |
|---|---|
| Booking moved | New entry code times, bay power moves with it, customer told |
| Booking cancelled | Entry code cancelled, bay stays off |
| No-show | Bay switched off after a grace period, owner notified if it's a pattern |
| Bay won't come back after a fault | Customer told straight away, owner alerted with what was tried |
What you need
A booking system that can tell other systems when something happens. YourGolfBooking, used by many TrackMan venues, can do this, and most modern booking platforms can send a webhook (an automatic message when a booking changes). If yours can, everything above can hang off it. If it can't, that's worth knowing before you invest in anything else.
Your booking system, running the visit
BAYi connects to YourGolfBooking today, and to other booking systems by webhook. Book a 20-minute video demo to see a booking set everything off at Bunkerbay.