Golf Simulation Company

Case Studies Golf Simulation Company

When the Golf simulation company came to us, they weren’t looking for just another booking tool — they needed a system that could keep up with a growing membership of their virtual golf venues. With two high-energy locations combining immersive golf simulators, food, drinks, and constant foot traffic, their team was juggling too many moving parts without the right support behind the scenes.

Reservations were tracked with SpotOn, but staff managed memberships through phone calls, emails, and guesswork. Walk-ins and no-shows created daily headaches, and nothing felt truly connected.

The main goal was to create a membership application that could use API’s to connect to SpotOn and manage memberships.

Scenario

Before working with us, golf simulation company was relying on SpotOn to manage bookings across their virtual golf facilities. While the system worked well enough for handling standard reservations, it quickly became clear that it wasn’t built with membership-based businesses in mind.

For a business like golf simulation — where a growing base of loyal members expect seamless access to tee times and a frictionless booking experience — this was a major limitation. SpotOn didn’t offer native support for memberships, meaning there was no way to differentiate members from one-time guests or apply special access rules and perks automatically.

As a result, this golf simulation company had to manage all of their member records separately, outside of the system. Staff maintained their own list of members manually and were forced to intervene in the booking process any time a member wanted to schedule time. That meant double-checking eligibility, manually creating the reservation in SpotOn, and making sure the member wasn’t charged incorrectly — all while keeping the calendar balanced across two busy locations.

This process was very inefficient. Members couldn’t enjoy the self-service convenience that non-members had, and staff were stuck in a cycle of workarounds that consumed valuable time and increased the risk of errors or double bookings.

It was clear that the booking system was working against one of 9Yards’ most valuable business models. Memberships were growing, but the tools in place couldn’t scale with them.

That’s where we came in. By designing a custom platform tailored to the realities of how this company operates — including membership management baked directly into the booking flow — we helped them eliminate manual tracking, reduce operational overhead, and deliver a more professional, user-friendly experience to their core customers. What used to be a bottleneck is now a strength.

Decision Time

The exciting part of taking on a project like this golf simulation company was that it challenged us to rethink the intersection of hospitality, sports tech, and member-first booking experiences. At Coretechs, when we kick off a build, we don’t start by choosing tools — we start by asking the right questions.

For the company, those questions looked like this:

Who are we building this for, and what are the pain points we’re solving?
The company serves both casual players and a dedicated community of members across its virtual golf facilities. Their biggest hurdle was using SpotOn, a system that didn’t support memberships natively. Staff had to maintain member records separately and manually step in for each booking — creating friction for everyone involved.
What kind of product are we creating, and how will it fit into daily operations?
This wasn’t just a booking system — it was a full operational tool. It needed to streamline scheduling, automate membership validation, and offer staff real-time visibility across locations. We had to strike a balance between customer-facing simplicity and back-office power.
Which team members should lead this effort, and what technologies make the most sense for this use case?
We pulled in engineers and designers experienced in custom scheduling systems and hospitality tech. Their input helped us land on a modern, scalable stack that could support integrations, handle multiple user types, and grow with the business.
Is this a fast-build MVP or a long-term investment?
The company was ready to move quickly, but they weren’t building a throwaway app. They wanted a foundation they could iterate on — with room for loyalty programs, dynamic pricing, and deeper analytics down the line.
What third-party services do we need to integrate or replace?
Since SpotOn wasn’t cutting it, we built the membership system from the ground up. That gave us full control over the user experience and allowed us to integrate tools where it made sense — not because we had to.

In the end, the result was a streamlined, custom solution that gave the company’s staff their time back and gave members the frictionless experience they’d been asking for.

This is what we decided on and why for this project:

Technology Choices

Our Reason

Backend: Python / Django

We rely on Django to provide a solid and scalable backend foundation. Its comprehensive features, security best practices, and mature ecosystem help us develop efficiently without duplicating common functionality. It’s well-suited for products that need to grow and adapt over time.

Frontend: Vue.js

Vue offers the flexibility and performance needed to create responsive admin interfaces. It excels at rendering complex data tables with advanced filters — perfect for managing jobs, clients, and invoices.

Database: PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL gives us a stable, structured environment to manage critical data. Its native support for time zones and concurrency ensures accurate scheduling and prevents double-bookings across multiple marinas.

Payments: Stripe

For handling payments securely and seamlessly, we used Stripe Connect to automate revenue sharing between marinas and captains.

Messaging: Twilio + SendGrid

To maintain real-time communication, we used Twilio for SMS alerts and SendGrid for email. This setup ensured timely notifications for admins, captains, and clients throughout the user journey.

Where does the stack live?

Once we defined the tech stack for the golf simulation company, the next step was making sure it had a solid, scalable home. This isn’t just about spinning up servers — it’s about creating a platform that stays fast, reliable, and secure no matter how busy the booking calendar gets.

For the company, we chose Amazon Web Services (AWS) to host the entire system. It’s flexible, battle-tested, and built for the kind of consistent performance that a high-traffic virtual golf venue demands — especially during peak hours and weekend rushes.

Here’s how the infrastructure is set up:

EC2: Django runs on EC2 instances, powering the backend logic for invoicing and managing user access and permissions.
RDS (Relational Database Service): Securely hosts invoice records, user information, and pricing configurations, with built-in redundancy and automated daily backups for data protection.
CloudWatch: System performance and errors are tracked through CloudWatch, with proactive alerts set up to flag server issues and application errors early.

This setup gives the company a future-proof foundation — one that supports not just today’s booking needs, but tomorrow’s potential expansions, features, and new locations. Whether it’s managing dozens of simultaneous bookings or scaling for events, the stack is built to deliver smooth performance without added complexity.

Golf Simulation Company

Scenario