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How the PGA Tour Manages Data

IT Chief Steve Evans relies on legions of golf-crazed volunteers, high-tech lasers and the input of golf pros to help him identify, manage and display the Tour's most critical data.

By Thomas Wailgum

April 04, 2008 — CIO — This article was updated on June 25, 2008 to reflect additional reporting. In 2008, the PGA Tour will award $278 million in prize money. And it's up to Steve Evans, senior vice president of IS, and his team to deliver it.

"The objective of the organization is to drive value and benefits to our members," who include the world's top 125 golf professionals, Evans says. "And the primary value we can drive is prize money." Evans's technology unit plays a key role by making the game appealing to fans and corporate sponsors. "We put a lot of energy into technology that focuses on enhancing the fan experience across all mediums," he says.

The name of the game is data—collecting it, distributing it and analyzing it—with systems and processes designed to support the Tour's unusual business model. The Tour and its IT operation may be one of a kind, but IT's role is familiar. Evans must deliver accurate and timely business intelligence both to support the players and keep customers—millions of golf fans—engaged with the competition.

Desire for the Tour's data—specifically players' statistics—has dramatically increased during the last decade or so. To keep up with the yearning from the fans and players for more data and analysis on every shot of every tournament (typically 32,000 shots per four-day event), Evans and his IT crew have spent lots of time and money on technology improvements that satisfy the growing demands of each constituency.

A Business (Perhaps) Unlike Any Other

The PGA Tour's Steve Evans

The Tour has a unique business model, says Evans. First, the PGA Tour is a tax-exempt member organization that wields a powerful, global brand. Second, the location of the business moves weekly from one venue to the next. Third, its operations are subject to the whim of the weather gods. What's more, the success of its main product, sports entertainment, is controlled not primarily by Tour employees but by the professional golfers, whom the Tour considers independent contractors. Finally, its core workforce isn't the 2,000 Tour employees but tens of thousands of unpaid tournament volunteers. (The nonprofit company does not disclose its revenue, though estimates place it at more than $300 million.)

Each year, the players, along with Tour staff, including 15 or so mobile IT workers, crisscross the country, where the golfers compete on the finest courses under grueling and pressure-packed conditions with millions of dollars in prize money at stake. A typical purse for a Tour event is $5.3 million, with the winner getting anywhere from $700,000 to more than $1 million.

 

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