Golf tournaments simply cannot run smoothly, if at all, without the help of highly valued volunteers, who give up their time to fulfil various vital roles.

With the importance of volunteers in mind, Golf Australia partnered with Rosterfy, an end-to-end Volunteer Management Software, with the recent Vic Open marking the most complete use of Rosterfy for volunteer management. The implementation was considered a success by both the organisation and volunteers.

“Implementing Rosterfy is just one of the ways we are transforming our volunteer program. We want golf to be seen as a volunteering destination for anyone willing to contribute their time,” Golf Australia’s Head of Workforce Engagement Claudia Marazita said.

“Having an online platform that allows us to gather data efficiently and promote our volunteering opportunities all in the one place takes us one step closer towards this vision.”

After entering the partnership with Rosterfy ahead of the 2022/2023 tournament season in Australia, the first use of the software was for registrations of volunteers at the 2022 ISPS HANDA Australian Open and Fortinet Australian PGA Championship, as well as the 2023 Vic Open.

With the 2023/24 season in mind, the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at Royal Melbourne allowed for a pilot use of Rosterfy, which has subsequently been used to greater effect throughout the season.

At the Vic Open, Rosterfy’s increased implementation allowed for volunteers to self-select shifts after being shortlisted into roles, as well as checking in the volunteers online.

Used by 210 volunteers from 78 different clubs, with an average age of 67, the transformative change to a more technological approach to volunteering at Australian golf tournaments is representative of the Australian Golf Strategy. The Strategy focusses on more collaboration and digital products for the growing and changing game of golf and industry, this especially important in the case of Rosterfy given the typical demographic of volunteers.

Part of Rosterfy’s appeal for Golf Australia beyond communication, rostering and attendance to make the volunteer experience as simple as possible, is the ability to produce a deeper understanding of volunteer demographics, while recognising the achievements of this loyal group of Australian golf fans.

Encouragingly, following the Vic Open, a survey completed by the majority of volunteers showed user experience with Rosterfy was overall extremely positive. Eighty percent of respondents either Strongly Agreeing or Agreeing that Rosterfy was easy to use overall with 74 percent of respondents Strongly Agreeing or Agreeing that it was easy to self-select their shifts.

Following from the successful Vic Open and armed with Feedback from volunteers, Golf Australia will soon conduct a full implementation review of the current season with an eye toward further support for volunteers via Rosterfy in 2024/25.

Next season will see video and written resources added to the Golf Australia website for ease of use.

“We look forward to using the feedback provided by our volunteers to make appropriate changes for the 2024/25 season and importantly, continue on the path of creating opportunity and a great experience for future volunteers,” Marazita said.