Case Study: Golf Australia and the PGA of Australia

Introduction

Golf Australia, the national sporting organisation for golf, in partnership with the PGA of Australia has embarked on a bold mission to make golf inclusive to all. From their participants, PGA Professionals and spectators through to their workforce, in particular their volunteers, the team are committed to breaking down traditional stereotypes to make golf accessible to all. 

To achieve this goal, the golfing bodies recognised the need for a centralised volunteer management system to support their national event schedule. From major professional events including the Australian PGA Championship and Australian Open, to the 2023 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, the PGA and Golf Australia have enlisted the help of Rosterfy to revolutionise their national volunteer program. 

The Challenge

Until very recently, the PGA and Golf Australia operated their events independently, relying heavily on manual processes including spreadsheets to manage their extensive events schedule.

With the average age of their volunteers over 60, almost all of whom are traditional golf enthusiasts, the golfing bodies recognised that in order to scale their national volunteer program they were going to need to become more inclusive, flexible and tech savvy when it came to their volunteer recruitment. 

Through a phased approach, the use of Rosterfy was piloted at one of the largest amateur tournaments in the world held in October in Melbourne, The Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, to gain insights and feedback from their volunteers, volunteer managers and administrators. The response was a resounding success with even the most digitally naive volunteers enjoying the ease of the system. 

The Solution: Implementing Rosterfy

Prior to using Rosterfy, the recruitment of volunteers for an event was clunky and manual. For the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, registrations were initially opened to the host golf club and received 20 volunteer applications. With the ability to lean on the national database of volunteers gathered in Rosterfy, the event volunteer manager sent an email to past volunteers from PGA and GA events and within 24 hours they had 120 registrations. A huge success given they didn’t have to do any additional promotion via their website or socials to gain 100 additional volunteers!

In addition to streamlined recruitment, one of the most significant achievements for the PGA and Golf Australia was the ability to collect valuable demographic data on its volunteers. Before implementing Rosterfy, the organisation had limited information about its volunteer workforce. Now, these golfing bodies have the ability to gain crucial insights into their volunteers, including their age, gender, club affiliations, and even their geographical locations.

Claudia Marazita, Head of Workforce Engagement at Golf Australia said, “Before Rosterfy I knew how many people we had volunteering and that’s about it.  After implementing Rosterfy, I pulled a report which showed me the total number of volunteers but also what the male and female breakdown was, that there were 73 different clubs represented, that there were people from Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia who travelled down for the event and that the average age of the volunteers was 61. This is really important data for us to have. Not only can we use this to help inform our volunteer program and strategy for recruitment, but it will also allow us to celebrate and recognise the work of our volunteers.”

With the ability to create a single identity for their volunteers and the ability to track volunteer attendance through Rosterfy’s onsite check-in process, volunteer activity was now being tracked against a volunteers' profile, enabling administrators to record volunteers who did and more importantly who didn’t attend to help inform future selections and decisions. 

The PGA and Golf Australia were also able to promptly collect volunteer feedback via a post event feedback form sent via Rosterfy straight after the conclusion of the event. With a 53% response rate, the overwhelming feedback was that volunteers thoroughly enjoyed Rosterfy - a huge win given the average age of volunteers at this event was 61. 

Volunteer Experience and Feedback

While the transition to new technology can be met with resistance, these golfing volunteers overwhelmingly appreciated the shift to Rosterfy. In a survey, over 90% of volunteers rated their overall experience using the system as excellent or good. The improved communication, ease of use, and the ability to provide prompt updates contributed to a positive volunteer experience.

Volunteer Feedback on Rosterfy

“As a Team Leader, Rosterfy emerged as an extremely powerful tool to communicate to my 100 or so volunteers as Caddie Master. I did not experience one no show due to poor communication. The fact that text messaging was able to be used augmented prompt communication.” 

“I find the system to be user friendly and do not regard myself as an IT user expert.”

“Very user friendly system. Looking forward to volunteering again.”

Broadening Volunteer Demographics

One of the most exciting developments was the PGA and Golf Australia's ability to attract a broader demographic of volunteers with Rosterfy now in place to support their volunteer program.

By centralising all their events in one place, the PGA and GA were exposed to a whole new database of volunteers. This included individuals like Hriday Bajaj, A Deakin University Sports Management student who had never volunteered at a golf tournament before. 

Image: Hriday Bajaj pictured volunteering at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship

Bajaj volunteered at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship as a Caddie and was paired with Indian player Krishnav Nikhil Chopra, and the two were able to connect on culture, cricket, and their shared home, despite Bajaj's lack of golf experience.

Learn more about how Hriday Bajaj got into volunteering with Golf Australia's article - Getting into Golf through Volunteering.

This shift in strategy demonstrates a commitment to making golf accessible to all, rather than narrowing the focus solely on those with golf experience, highlighting that experience playing golf isn’t the only thing that makes a ‘good’ volunteer. 

The PGA and Golf Australia recognised the need to revolutionise its program to accommodate more flexible volunteering options, and Rosterfy was the tool that made it possible.

Looking Ahead

The PGA and GA are set to continue using Rosterfy for their upcoming events, including their flagship events in Brisbane and Sydney later this year. They have already opened registrations for next year's Victorian Open, and with 41% of slots already filled, their volunteers and administrators are clearly seeing the value in the new system.

Looking ahead, the golfing bodies plan to further enhance the volunteer experience by using SCORM files for training modules in Rosterfy, providing resources to support their volunteers to ensure that lack of knowledge about golf isn’t a barrier to volunteering.

Conclusion

The PGA of Australia and Golf Australia's adoption of Rosterfy has been transformative. The platform has not only streamlined their volunteer management but has allowed them to gather valuable demographic data, provide an exceptional volunteer experience, and broaden the demographic of volunteers. These organisations are well on their way to achieving their vision of making golf more inclusive and accessible. With Rosterfy's support, they are embracing change and revolutionizing volunteer management to drive the sport forward.