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The North Course, one of three at Kau Sai Chau, Hong Kong’s only public golf course. Photo: SCMP

Letters | Why Hong Kong Jockey Club’s public golf course needs to ring in the tech age

People often say we now live in the age of technological revolution. So, I find it hard to imagine that any business can survive for more than two decades without changing the way it operates, and still register the highest demand ever for its service. Yet, we have one example in Hong Kong.

The way the Jockey Club runs our only public golf course amazes me. It still uses the telephone booking system adopted more than 20 years ago. Thanks to Covid-19, golfers no longer have the option of going across the border to play. Instead, they are all stuck in Hong Kong, spending at least an hour each day trying to make a booking, but 99 per cent of them are failing. Does the Jockey Club know how frustrating it is?

Let’s face the reality. No matter what kind of system it uses, 99 per cent of golfers do not get to play, which is fine. People can accept that. What is not fine is the amount of time they are being made to waste on the phone.

The Hong Kong Golf Club hosts “open days” once or twice each year, using a simple electronic ballot system. Why can’t the Jockey Club do the same? As an institution that generates betting turnover of HK$200 billion per year, it can certainly do a better job!

A. Wong, Tsim Sha Tsui

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