What Do You Like In Golf Websites?

Q: I have recently been hired as the webmaster for a chain of golf courses in the Southeast US

A: Being a hacker (I usually shoot 72, then start on the back 9) I enjoy playing but am not anywhere near proficient in the sport. I am not familiar with the equipment, the players, or more importantly, what parts of a golf course make the most impact on a website. I have been following this newsgroup for several months now, and have learned a lot from you fine folks. Being savvy enough to know how to use the newsgroups, I am assuming anyone who reads this is to some degree an Internet Junkie and has seen many golf websites, good and bad. I hope you will take a moment to answer some questions for me so I might better serve my client as well as players like you when you come to my site. How important is it to have "flyovers" of each hole of a course? Does seeing the course make you more likely to play there? Do you prefer "ball's flight" views or straight overhead views? 360 degree wrap-around views? If you're the type of person that travels around to play golf, would you be likely to use an online tee time/hotel/airline booking system or would you prefer to go to your local travel agent or work out the details yourself? Would you sign up for a system that would email you occasionaly when there were special discounts on green fees? (for example: "If you make a reservation before 5pm today, your foursome plays for half price tomorrow!") Would you like live webcams from the course? How about weather forecasts or radar images? Would you sign up for web-based email from a golf course site? (for example "y...@idratherbegolfing.com" or do you think there are enough Hotmails out there in the world? When buying equipment, do you prefer to buy online or in person? Would you be more likely to buy online from a mainstreams dealer or a unknown golf course, if the golf course had a better price? If you had 4 or 5 local golf courses to choose from, would you be more likely to go play at one that had an extensive online presence? Would you participate in a website that lets you post your scores for each hole to compare against other players, and/or had newsgroup-like bulletin board to dicuss the best method of play for individual holes? Would you use a web-based system for finding other players in the area to complete a foursome, or find a player at a similar skill level? Is there anything you've seen on any golf website that really impressed you? Anything you think is missing from golf websites? Thanks in advance for any thoughts and ideas you'd care to share.

A:- Remarkable. How did you get the job? Congratulations on the job, but I just have to wonder how one would go about getting a job as a webmaster for a golf site; yet not know anything about the content of the site. Granted, I could probably run a website about basket weaving, and I don't know any of the players; but I just couldn't get into it. - One thing you might consider ... don't blast visitors with a whole bunch of cookies. Most people don't even know it's happening, but there are minority (I among them) who don't like them and will not return to a site that uses them.

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