The story behind Leading Courses

Many years ago a couple of colleagues decided to start a golf review website from scratch.

The main reason: frustration.

At that time there was no such thing as a website that allowed golfers to easily find and compare golf courses. Besides, most golf clubs did not even have a website.

With more than 25.000 verified golf courses, 3,000 bookable golf courses, 350,000 golf course reviews and 500,000 monthly visitors, Leading Courses has become a trusted brand in the golf industry.

Time to catch up with founder Jeroen Korving…

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Jeroen, can you explain what Leading Courses is?

Leading Courses is golf’s only community-driven tee time booking platform. We enable golfers to book their tee times at a large number of golf courses in Europe, helped by feedback (reviews) from other golfers just like them.

We believe that by gathering reviews from actual golfers we are able to help other golfers to decide where to play. Moreover, those reviews written by our members will help golf clubs to improve. At first, golf clubs were quite hesitant about the transparency we offer. But today, all golf clubs appreciate the service we provide!

The idea for Leading Courses sparked in 2007. How did you come up with the idea?

When the golf virus bit me and my friends, we decided to play abroad at least once a year. The first time we did, we went to The European Club, one of Ireland’s best links courses. Little did we know, but the course was too difficult – at that time my handicap was 36 – too expensive – 150 euros back in the day, and too weather dependent – it was very windy and we couldn’t finish our round due to heavy rainfall. In the clubhouse, we met a local golfer who told us that there were similar courses just around the corner for one-third of the price that would have suited our abilities much better. But, nobody knew those courses and foreign golfers all flocked to The European Club because that was the only course they knew.

So, there, at that moment the idea was born – out of frustration basically – to help people find the golf courses that suit them best, based on what other golfers said about it.

What has changed to the Leading Courses platform over the years?

Obviously we’ve grown quite a bit since then, but In essence, we’re still the same company as we were when we started. Reviews are as important as ever, but to further facilitate golfers all over the world, we added the option of booking tee times on Leading Courses in 2019. Four years in, we offer tee times at more than 3,000 golf courses worldwide and every month, thousands of golfers book their tee times with us.

What are the most popular clubs that golfers book tee times at?

In general, all clubs on the Spanish and Portuguese coastline are popular. We see that most golfers from Northern Europe flock to Southern Europe to play golf. The weather and high quality and quantity of golf courses obviously play a large part there. France and Italy – since their Ryder Cup appointment – have also become more popular over the years.

Since the birth of the platform, you’ve written almost 300 reviews. Which golf course is your favourite?

Based on my ratings I would have to say ‘Real Club Valderrama‘. On my profile page, people can find all the golf courses that I have reviewed. The course at Valderrama is very well maintained, the layout is great, the greens are absolutely impossible (stimp 11-12) and it has a great history.

On one of the most famous holes (hole 17) at Valderrama, I had the chance to make an eagle (a putt which I missed). But, I walked away with a birdie on this memorable hole. In my opinion, that is what we try to capture: the experience that you have with your friends. Sometimes that experience is great and sometimes it’s poor. With our platform, we hope to minimize the number of bad experiences.”

What would you say are the most relevant criteria for being a good golf club?

It all depends on the golfer. Some golfers don’t really care about the golf course. They just want to play a lot, they want a fair price and friendly people. Others want to play on the best courses and don’t mind the clubhouse, facilities or hospitality. Leading Courses enables golfers to select the course that fits their criteria. Personally, I like it when the people at a course are friendly and welcoming and the course should be well-maintained. Often golf clubs lack the funds to change the layout or to revamp the golf course, but a club should never economise on maintenance. Making people feel at home doesn’t have to cost any money at all, just a little time and attention”

Leading Courses also has ratings for golf courses. How does that work?

Like for instance Tripadvisor or Booking.com, we have an algorithm which determines the rating of a golf club. As a user you don’t see this algorithm because it’s very advanced and complex. But the idea is that you rate your visit to a golf course on items like general impression, course maintenance, price-quality and several others.

Combined with your motivation text and date of play, the algorithm calculates the score. When golfers review a course, we use their status on our website (steel, bronze, silver and gold) as an indication of their trustworthiness. In essence, the more courses you review, the higher the impact you make. We also depreciate ratings over time to keep the rating of a club as accurate as possible.

I could talk for hours about how we determine the rating for a golf club, but it is quite boring. What counts is the end result, the rating and the rankings.

Why should people use Leading Courses?

Golfers should use Leading Courses to find inspiration for their next golf trip. Backed by what other golfers say, they can book their tee times with confidence and in just a few clicks. After playing, they can share their opinion by writing reviews. Thiswill also create a personal profile page where they can see all the courses they have played (on a map!), courses that they’ve added to their bucket list, past and future bookings, and much more. Plus, they help other golfers and golf courses. A win-win situation!

To find out more, check out the Leading Courses website

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