Ready to Hit the Greens? Here’s Your Guide to the Australian Open Event

Pushing the boundaries of innovation, Golf Australia used a digital interactive golf course map to help crowds navigate the ISPS HANDA Australian Open event.

The Client

Golf Australia is the governing body for the sport of golf in Australia. Their goal is to raise the level of interest and participation in the game from grassroots golfers through to the elite levels, spectators, volunteers, and associated industry bodies.

Golf Australia helped bring a world-class golfing event to Melbourne - the ISPS HANDA Australian Open. Marking the first national Open to be played as a joint event in golf. The field consisted of 288 players, including 108 women and 156 men, and a 12-person mixed field for the All Abilities Championship.

The Opportunity

To bring a digital experience to the ISPS HANDA Australian Open, Golf Australia was looking for an interactive digital mapping solution that would help attendees explore the event and navigate the grounds with ease.

Golf Australia also wanted to lower costs and reduce waste by lessening the amount of paper maps being printed. Instead of distributing physical maps at large, they wanted to make the digital map accessible from their website to encourage guests to get directions and event information from their mobile devices.

The Solution

Responsive Web App: Golf Australia embedded Mappedin’s Responsive Web App on their website, providing attendees with a digital map to search, discover, and navigate the Australian Open event from any device. The map features the eighteen-hole golf course, along with key points of interest including scoreboards, amenities, parking, and more.

Blue Dot Wayfinding: Golf Australia also enabled blue dot wayfinding through the Responsive Web App to better assist with navigation around the event grounds. This feature allowed device users to see their exact location on the map as they follow step-by-step directions, providing an accurate and seamless wayfinding experience. If a guest strays from their path, for example, the navigation will update automatically to guide them back on course.

QR Codes: Golf Australia also placed Mappedin’s QR codes around all the entrances of the event. With this solution, attendees were able to scan the QR code to quickly pull up the digital map experience in the web browser of their mobile devices upon arrival at the event. It also created an awareness that shifting to a digital event map is more environmentally friendly.

The Result

Golf Australia made it easier and faster for an estimated attendance of over 50,000 spectators to get directions and event information at the ISPS HANDA Australian Open using digital maps. Since the maps can be updated in real-time, it allowed for changes in the event schedule or layout to be reflected immediately. This also made searching for and locating amenities convenient, making it easier for attendees to find their way around the event.

Golf Australia also accomplished their goal of reducing the number of paper maps being printed, allowing them to lower costs, achieve a higher return on investment, and reduce waste. Over the course of the event, the digital map had thousands of unique visits, preventing the need to print thousands of single use maps.

- Jarred Pilgrim, Data and Analytics Manager at Golf Australia

Looking Forward

Mappedin will continue to support Golf Australia and its goal of bringing digital experiences to the world of golf. For future events, Golf Australia is exploring additional mapping capabilities, and we look forward to bringing those ideas to fruition.

If you’re interested in learning more about our solutions for events, contact us. We’d love to bring your vision to life.