How Mid-Round AI Upselling Actually Works (Without Annoying Your Golfers)

Your course has 100 golfers wandering around for four straight hours. They've got cash, cards, and appetites. From the first tee to the 18th green, most of you sell them zilch.

That's the opportunity sitting right in front of you every sunny Saturday. SimpleUP Golf figured out how to grab it — not with ads or coupons, but with conversations. Real ones.

The Timing Problem

Cart service sounds good on paper. One person with a cooler full of drinks driving past 40 groups. She flags down maybe 20. The rest? Eyes on the ball, not the beverage tray.

Turn stands with menus? Golfers speed by at 20 mph in their carts. Signs blur into the scenery. Nobody stops to read a laminated board.

Here's the thing — golfers live in their phones between shots. Checking scores, texting their buddies, scrolling. That's where you meet them. And when you do, it needs to feel like a person reaching out, not a vending machine.

How the Conversations Work

A golfer books their tee time through GolfNow, foreUP, or your website. They check in at the starter shack. SimpleUP Golf's AI picks up the thread from there.

It already knows their name. It remembers that last time they grabbed a hot dog at the turn and that they usually play with three buddies. The AI uses your player data — what the kitchen has ready right now, what the weather's doing, and where the player is on the course.

So when they're walking off the 7th green, they get a text that reads like it's from someone who actually works there:

"Hey Mike — the Arnold Palmers are going fast today, and I know that's your drink. Want me to have one waiting at the halfway house?"

Mike texts back: "Make it two, one for my buddy."

"Done. Two Arnold Palmers, ice cold, at the window. Enjoy the back nine."

That's it. A real conversation, not a coupon code. The order hits the POS like any walk-up sale. Staff preps it. Mike grabs it without breaking stride.

This is the difference between SimpleUP Golf and every other golf AI out there. Most of them give players a chatbot with buttons — "View Menu," "Order Now," "See Specials." The player taps a button, gets a scripted response, maybe clicks through three more screens to place an order. It feels like using a kiosk at the airport.

SimpleUP Golf talks to people the way people talk to each other. Open-ended, natural, personal. The AI asks questions, responds to what the player says, and handles the weird requests too — "extra pickles," "put it on my buddy's tab," "what do you have that's gluten free?" It's a concierge, not a menu.

The "Right Hole" Science

Holes 7 through 9 are gold for food and drinks. That's when hunger hits, energy dips, and the turn is close enough to act on. Courses running SimpleUP Golf see a 70%+ response rate on offers sent in that window.

Post-round is prime time for the pro shop. Players are buzzing from the round, scorecard bets are settling, and they're already walking past the merchandise on their way out. That's why courses running this see pro shop attachment rates nearly double.

And here's a fun one: the AI can read the round. Bad hole? Double bogey on 5? A gentle nudge lands well: "Rough one on 5, huh? Our pro has a quick tune-up session open tomorrow morning — 30 minutes, and he's great with iron play. Want me to pencil you in?" Light touch. No pressure. Just a well-timed suggestion from someone who's paying attention. This kind of contextual selling is also what makes AI-driven loyalty programs work — the AI knows enough about each player to make every offer feel relevant.

What These Conversations Actually Sound Like

"Won't This Annoy People?"

That's the number one question we get. Nobody wants their players complaining about spam.

Here's why it doesn't happen: these aren't blasts. They're conversations. There's a huge difference between getting a generic "20% OFF TODAY" coupon and getting a text from someone who knows your name and suggests the sandwich you had last week.

Players opt in at check-in. The AI sends one, maybe two messages per round — always relevant, always personal. And if someone wants to stop? They just say so. "No thanks, not today." Done. No complicated unsubscribe process.

The feedback we actually get from players? They love it. It feels like the course cares about them individually — like someone's paying attention. That's what a personal concierge feels like. Most courses can't afford to give it to every player. With SimpleUP Golf, it happens automatically. The same approach extends to voice AI for inbound calls — every phone interaction gets the same personal touch.

The Numbers

Courses using this see $32 more spend per player. Straight average.

F&B attachment jumps from 24% to 39%. That's real rounds, real data.

Works over 70% of the time on holes 7-9. Plus 30% overall F&B revenue increase — turning kitchens from cost centers into profit machines.

One GM shared: "Doubled our halfway house sales without adding staff." Stacks up across Canada and US spots.

Your Setup Doesn't Change

Whatever you're running right now — foreUP, GolfNow, Lightspeed, something else — stays exactly where it is. SimpleUP Golf plugs into your existing setup and pulls what it needs: player info, tee sheet data, purchase history. Our guide to the best golf course software in Canada covers how all the pieces fit together.

Orders from mid-round conversations show up in your POS like any other sale. Kitchen screen dings, staff makes it, player picks it up. Your team doesn't learn a new system.

And here's the part that matters if you're not a tech person: you don't set any of this up yourself. There's no dashboard to configure, no rules to write, no menus to program. We sit down with you (or jump on a call), learn how your course runs — what you serve, when you serve it, how your tee sheet works, what your regulars are like — and the AI takes it from there.

You keep running your course. The AI handles the conversations. If you change your lunch menu or add a new special, just let us know. That's the extent of your involvement.

Want to See What It'd Look Like at Your Course?

Every course is a little different — different layout, different food operation, different player mix. The best way to get a feel for it is to talk to Amy for an instant demo and see real conversations in action. Or if you'd rather schedule a walkthrough, book a demo at a time that works.

If you want the full rundown, here's the feature breakdown and pricing — $299/mo for webchat, $699 for voice with Amy, $1,299 for the full combo.

For the bigger story on how courses are adding $50K+ a year with AI, check out our main piece on golf course AI revenue.