The Open Championship venue, Carnoustie Golf Links, has officially opened its new clubhouse, the Links House last week. A total of 26 jobs have been created through the £4.75 million project.
The new Links House building includes:
- a golf practice and training facility (seven golf simulators),
- a new pro shop,
- visitor locker rooms,
- caddie facilities,
- an office for local golf clubs,
- and a contemporary bar and restaurant with views over the golf course and Carnoustie Bay. The Rookery restaurant is providing contemporary cuisine.
Unlike in case of PGA Catalunya Resort’s Club Café, here I found very few examples of the latest restaurant trends. It seems like The Carnoustie Golf Links tried to bring back the furniture design of the 60’s and 70’s. I miss very much:
- the Scottish design to make the clubhouse more unique,
- greens (e.g. Living green wall): what we will find is very few,
- and similar to Club Café –> how will they bring your community together.
We cannot neglect these issues as well:
- Wellness,
- Technology,
- Families – services to all members of the family (to be accessible),
- Eco-friendly operations – The Carnoustie Golf Links is a GEO certified venue.
I see that people worldwide embrace their own health and wellness destinies. This is not just about doing more exercises and going to the gym. It is also about how we are living, what and how we eat etc.
I agree with those who say that wellness is a lifelong journey. Although the new Links House has got a different purpose, their chef could pay attention to what kind of basic materials he/she will use during the cooking + what kind drinks will they offer.
As we are in the experience economy, it is very important to come up with timely, personalized offers and services. The empowered customers are buying from those brands that can offer RELEVANT services and products to their needs at the moment.
So when they talk about “a superbly designed new pro shop”, I hope they mean to utilize such technologies like:
- wearables,
- beacon technology,
- augmented reality,
- artificial intelligence etc.
This is also true for other services of Links House and Carnoustie Golf Links.
I hope they will be able to answer these questions for the sake of exceptional customer experience:
- Do you know how to define the customer experience that you would like to deliver to your customers? If yes, then what kind of customer experience would you like to deliver + why?
- Have you mapped the touchpoints that are the most critical to driving revenue, forming a relationship bond, and retain and grow share of wallet?
- Do you know what matters most to your customers/guests? In other words, what do your customers value emotionally the most + what drives them?