The Cloud Series: Why Experience Still Matters

by: Ian Versaw, Vice President of Revenue

Growing Up With Golf

I started at Club Prophet when I was 16 years old as an intern, working for my uncles who founded the company.

More than 30 years later, I’ve had the opportunity to work in just about every corner of the business and in many ways, I’ve grown up alongside the golf industry itself.

One thing that’s never changed throughout that time has been the people.

I’ve always been in awe of the quality of people in golf. They’re quick with a joke, incredibly welcoming, and deeply committed to creating great experiences for their customers and communities. Whether it’s a municipal course, a private club, or a destination resort, there’s a shared passion that makes this industry unique.

My role in that ecosystem has always been fairly simple: Help operators utilize technology so they can focus on what they do best. And while that mission hasn’t changed, the expectations around technology certainly have.

Golf Has Never Been More Popular Or More Complex

By most measures, golf is experiencing unprecedented demand. Tee sheets are fuller than ever, and participation is strong with new audiences entering and invigorating the game. 

From the outside looking in, all of those indicators can make it seem like golf operations should be easier than ever to run. Those of us in the industry however know that is not the reality.

Because alongside that growth, there has also been a growth in the scope of golf operations. Today’s facilities aren’t just one business, they’re many businesses operating simultaneously.

A course often encompasses:

• Golf operations
  
• Food & beverage/restaurant
  
• Weddings and events
  
• Tournaments and outings
  
• Marketing and customer engagement
  
• Simulators and driving ranges
  
• Lodging and resort operations
  
• Retail and merchandising

Top it off that every one of those areas has its own workflows, staffing challenges, reporting needs, and customer expectations. The complexity is what makes this industry special and exciting, but it’s also what makes it difficult.

Technology Has Evolved and So Has the Vendor Problem

Technology has absolutely improved over the years and operators now have access to more tools than ever before.

The challenge is that managing all of those tools can become a full-time job in itself.

In many cases, operators are juggling multiple vendor relationships across different parts of the business:

• One system for tee sheets
  
• Another for food and beverage
  
• Another for events
  
• Another for lodging
  
• Another for marketing or customer communication

Even when those systems individually work well, the operational burden of stitching everything together often falls back on the facility. 

That’s one of the biggest things we wanted to rethink with Club Prophet Cloud.

Why Cloud Matters to Us

Club Prophet Cloud gives us the opportunity to build a brand-new product using modern technology, but grounded in more than 30 years of real-world operator experience.

And I think that second part matters more than ever because while software can now be built faster than at any point in history with AI; the technology itself is no longer the differentiator: the knowledge of what to build is.



After decades of working with golf operators every day, we understand that most facilities aren’t looking to manage more technology relationships. They’re looking to simplify operations and create better experiences for both staff and guests.

That’s why we’ve approached Cloud as an all-in-one platform philosophy.

Not because we believe every operator should be locked into a single ecosystem, but because we believe technology should feel more connected, more intuitive, and easier to manage.

Extending Beyond Golf Through Fullsteam Hospitality

What’s especially exciting is how this vision expands through Fullsteam Hospitality.

Golf facilities, particularly resorts and destination properties, are increasingly operating as full hospitality businesses. The guest journey doesn’t begin and end with a tee time anymore.

It includes: 

• Lodging
• Dining
• Activities
• Weddings and events
• Retail
• Entertainment experiences 

Historically, those areas have often operated in separate systems with separate reporting and disconnected guest data.

Through Fullsteam Hospitality, we now have the opportunity to connect those experiences more meaningfully through solutions spanning:

• Property management systems
  
• Food & beverage platforms
  
• Payments and transaction data
  
• Activity and experience booking

That creates something operators have wanted for a long time: a more complete, 360-degree view of their guest experience. Operationally, this type of visibility is crucial for performance, but also for delivering world-class guest experiences.

Experience Still Matters

One thing I’ve learned over the last 30 years is that trends come and go. Technology changes quickly and buzzwords change even faster.

What's remained constant is the importance of experience and knowledge of how golf operations actually function day-to-day. Understanding the pace, the pressure, the staffing realities, and the guest expectations matters.

That’s what excites me most about Club Prophet Cloud. We’re not building technology for the sake of technology. Cloud represents decades of industry expertise paired with modern tools and built with the people running golf operations at the forefront.

Our goal with the launch of Cloud isn’t just better software: it’s helping great operators continue delivering great experiences.

About the Cloud Series

The Cloud Series features articles from the perspectives of the people helping shape the future of Club Prophet Cloud. Drawing on decades of experience in golf, hospitality, technology, and business strategy, each article explores the trends, challenges, and opportunities influencing the next generation of golf management software.