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As every golf range operator knows, business success can depend upon reliable security. Crimes ranging from burglary to employee theft can set operators back thousands of dollars—or more. These incidents also can hurt the range’s reputation, an intangible but very valuable business asset and advertising tool. Having security systems in place often can stop violations before they happen. Just as importantly, security systems can help ensure that your customers trust your business operations, feel safe at your range, and keep coming back.
Web-based surveillance. This type of system allows operators to log on to the Internet from any location and view real-time or recorded images from their surveillance cameras. Although this remote-access is convenient, the biggest advantage of Web-based surveillance is its ability to keep a record of events even when vandals destroy a camera—a feature that standard videotaping lacks. “Someone can break into a business, see a [conventional] surveillance camera and break it, destroying the tape of the crime,” explains Liz Campbell, who represents security software company VidSys. With Web-based technology, the computer keeps a permanent record of the burglary, at least up until the moment the perpetrator destroys the camera.
Vandalism. Ranges are vulnerable to vandalism simply because they are open and outdoors. Most ranges can’t afford a night watchman, so cameras are the next-best choice. Security services offer both visible and hidden video surveillance cameras that help operators keep an eye on potential problems at their range. Although hidden cameras are less likely to be destroyed, visible cameras can deter vandals from damaging property at all. Vandals are discouraged by visible cameras, lots of light, and a lack of hiding places.
Computers. Few range operators can do without a computer anymore. Computers make it easier to keep track of sales, to balance the books, and to record employee and customer (marketing) information. But any computer that is connected to the Internet may be vulnerable to crime, says Daniel Owens, owner of DanielSecurities in Fort Collins, Colo. Operators who market their ranges online (a fast-growing trend) should be especially careful, particularly if they keep customers’ credit-card or any other personal information on file.
“If you send e-mails with your computer, then there may be a way to get in,” Owens says. “This can be a bigger problem than someone taking money from the cash register.”
Owens recommends two ways to protect a business computer: security auditing and vulnerability testing. When his company performs a security audit, a skilled technician will attempt to break into the client’s computer, looking for weaknesses in the computer’s firewalls, antivirus systems and security settings. Vulnerability testing involves checking each software application separately for bugs that might make the application vulnerable.
Another security alternative is to keep sensitive data and applications on computer systems that are not even connected to the Internet. This approach eliminates the capability for computers to interact via e-mail on a network, but it does work.
Ball theft. When operators don’t collect balls at the end of each day, there’s a chance some will be stolen by morning. After discovering his own employees were taking balls from his range, John Carroll of Stone Meadow Golf in Lexington, Mass., came up with an efficient and cost-effective solution to help ensure that balls make it back to his clubhouse every night. Carroll combined an Easy Picker ball picker with a blower system and underground tubing. Once the balls are collected from the range and dumped into his system, they are soaked, washed and returned to the range clubhouse without being handled by employees. To make a do-it-yourself security system work, “all you need is a little common sense and a little imagination,” Carroll remarks. “A little common sense goes a long way at a golf range.”
Employee theft. Of course, the most disheartening kind of security breach is when those you think are helping you end up hurting you and your business. To protect yourself from employee theft, invest time in hiring good people. Ask people you trust to recommend their relatives and friends to you. Reach out to older adults, who are responsible and often eager for something to do in their retirement. And consider implementing (and enforcing, when necessary) a zero-tolerance employee theft policy.
Spending some time and money on security systems for your golf range may be your best investment yet.
A few helpful tips: (1) Keep some lights on around the range at night. (2) Keep shrubbery and other vegetation cut back to eliminate hiding places. (3) Use a reliable firewall to protect your computer, or keep vulnerable databases on a computer without an Internet connection. (4) Install security cameras. (5) Pick balls regularly, and always at the end of each day. (6) Check references of all new employees.
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