In 1983 Handicomp developed and released what many believe was the industry's first PC based Golf Tournament software application. In those days tournaments were time consuming projects where scorecards where dotted by hand and calligraphy ruled the scoreboard. Though technology showed promise, computers were bulky, slow, and unreliable, and printers were contunuous feed, slow, expensive, and always getting jammed. Nevertheless, despite little technical knowledge and/or experience there were forward thinking PGA professionals willing to take on the challenge. It was through their persistence and leadership that golf clubs began to explore Tournament Management software in earnest.
By the early 90's, Tournament software was in place at many private clubs and some public courses. By then Handicomp had developed a robust text based tournament software application (some called it DOS based), but that’s when things began to change. Color, graphics and laser printing were beginning to take hold and Handicomp responded by rewriting it's software to accommodate the newer technologies. Then something really big happened; the Internet came into being and Handicomp had to rethink the entire software application. Fortunately, Handicomp had great success developing and deploying two other web based golf management systems; the Golf Handicap Network and the Golf League Network. As a result, Handicomp had a blueprint for its web based Golf Tournament Network software application.
So, in 2011 Handicomp began to develop the Golf Tournament Network; a purely web based software application. With the Golf Tournament Network Handicomp didn’t attempt to reinvent the wheel. Instead, Handicomp took 30 years of tournament application knowledge and experience and incorporated it into an Internet based software application that served courses and golfers. This means that Handicomp designed the system with as much consideration for the tournament player as it gave the tournament administrator. This was done by giving each golfer their own unique landing page where they are presented with their own personal information "dashboard" when they logon.
Then the market changed again as smart phones began to replace computers as the point of access for people looking for information. Handicomp recognized this evolution and in 2015 first developed the Golf Mobile Network smart phone application. The Golf Mobile Network has a robust interface with the Golf Tournament Network and provides golfers with loads of tournament information at their fingertips. Not only that, the Golf Mobile Network provides touchless scoring allowing golfers to post scores and see real-time standings as they play. We didn't know it then, but with COVID touchless scoring become a huge hit and is used within many events.
With respect to the future, things are bright for the Golf Tournament Network. The system is served in the cloud, it's scalable, it has a mobile application, and it's easily interfaced; for example the system uses Stripe as a method for collecting event fees for online tournament registrations! Most importantly the Golf Tournament Network is resourced by Handicomp; a company with 55 years of market experience, which means an investment today will not be sacrificed tomorrow. The Golf Tournament Network grows with needs and often exceeds them. Handicomp's history supports this promise.