Automatic Severe Weather Alerts vs. Person-Driven: What’s Best for Your Golf Course

Automatic Severe Weather Alerts

The main difference between automatic severe weather alerts and similar person-driven alerts is very simple. The first type automatically sounds when severe weather threatens your golfers, while the second type requires a human trigger. While this seems very simple, discerning the value between the two is a much more complex matter.

Both automatic and person-driven alerts complete the same job, but the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of this task is greatly hindered by person-driven alerts. If you had the chance to choose between scientific-backed decision-making and human-backed decision-making, which one would you choose?

Difference in Value: Race Against the Storm

When severe weather moves towards your golf course, it’s imperative that you understand the speed, strength, and anticipated hazards the storm will bring. These pieces of information will help you clear the golf course quickly and protect your golfers and members.

For example, let’s say you own a person-driven severe weather alerting system. Oftentimes, someone will make the call that the alert needs to go out because a storm is imminent. Maybe your horn box is located closest to your pro shop at just 5 minutes away. This presents a lot of steps for your employees. Firstly, the person monitoring the system calls the pro shop. If your employee at the pro shop is busy with customers, he might not get the message until 5 minutes go by. Then, he has to walk over to the horn box and turn it on.

That’s nearly 10 minutes wasted by a person-driven system. Depending on the location and speed of the storm, golfers could already be in harm’s way and not even know it. Person-driven systems delay alerts and therefore render them less effective.

Liability

On the other hand, automatic severe weather alerts go off without anyone making a trip to the horn box. Automatic alerts work by monitoring weather conditions and sounding when lightning gets within a certain proximity of the course. This is extremely helpful as lightning strikes can injure or kill people from upwards of 10 miles away.

By using the fastest, most accurate weather alerts, you not only are protecting your golfers but protecting your golf course as well. Recently, play-at-your-own-risk courses have come under fire for failing to address the dangers of severe weather. Learn more about liability and severe weather for golf courses by downloading our free eBook.