How BayControl runs your simulator bays

BayControl is how you run your simulator bays from OpenCourt. It locks every bay that nobody has booked, opens it for the customer who did, and shows you what every bay is doing right now — from the front desk, or from your phone at home. The result is unstaffed bays: you can sell late-night and early-morning slots without anyone at the desk, and still know exactly what happened in every bay.

What does BayControl do for my venue?

Controls every bay from the front desk

• Locks a bay when it is free. Every screen in the bay shows your club's lock screen, and the simulator behind it waits for a paying customer.
• Opens for the paying customer. Every booking on a bay comes with its own code, and the bay asks for it.
• Opens and locks bays remotely. Staff open a bay for a walk-in or a lesson for a set number of minutes, lock a bay, or end a session early — from any computer or phone signed in to the admin panel.
• Ends sessions on time. Customers get warnings before their time runs out, and the bay locks itself, ready for the next booking.
• Keeps working when the internet does not. A network drop does not lock a paying customer out of a bay they paid for, and your staff can still open a bay.

Monitors every bay on one screen

The Status tab shows your whole venue at a glance — how many bays are online, and whether each one is protecting itself right now. For each bay you see what is happening in it: free until the next booking, waiting for a customer's code, in session with the minutes left, or ending soon.

Open any bay for its health: when its PC last restarted, how many restarts, outages and crashes it had in the last 7 days, whether it runs the latest version and your latest settings, and whether its clock is right. BayControl updates itself, so nobody has to visit a bay to keep it current.

Keeps a history of every bay

Every bay has its own Activity timeline: each customer unlock, linked to the booking and the customer, each wrong code, each time staff opened or locked the bay, each restart, outage and update, and each attempt to get past the lock screen. Today's unlocks and wrong codes are counted at the top. The history belongs to the bay, not to the PC, so replacing a PC does not break it.

Gives customers a self-service bay with your brand on it

The lock screen shows your club's name and logo over full-screen golf images, the bay's name, a clock, the next booking, and a QR code that lets a walk-up customer book the bay on their phone. It greets each customer by first name. You choose the images and the highlight color.

Does BayControl work with my simulator?

BayControl works with the top golf simulators, and it needs no new hardware. Your bays keep running the simulator software they run today.

Running something less common? Tell us which simulator software your bays use and we'll confirm it before you start.

What do my customers see?

1. They book a bay in OpenCourt, the same way they do now. Their code comes with the booking — on the booking in the OpenCourt app, labelled Bay unlock code, and in their confirmation and reminder emails. Nobody at the desk has to hand anything out.

2. Before their time, the bay is locked and shows your lock screen. Shortly before their booking, the screen shows it under Up next, with their first name.

3. When they arrive, the bay greets them by name and offers to start. A few minutes early is fine.

   

4. They type their code on the bay's touchscreen or keyboard, and the simulator is theirs.

   

5. They play. Near the end, a small notice in the corner counts down their remaining time. It never covers the game.

6. When their time is up, the bay thanks them and offers one free extra minute to save their round, then locks for the next booking.

   

The customer's side is in Unlock your simulator bay.

How do staff handle walk-ins and problems?

• A walk-in or a lesson with no booking: staff open the bay for a set number of minutes from the admin panel, and it locks itself again when the time runs out. Staff can also open a bay at the bay itself.
• A customer who cannot find their code: staff read it back to them from the booking in the admin panel.
• A session that has to end now: staff lock the bay from the admin panel.

Each of these is in the bay's Activity timeline, with who did it and when.

What do I need to use BayControl?

• Your simulator bays booked through OpenCourt. BayControl follows your OpenCourt schedule.
• The PC that already runs each bay's screens and simulator. There is nothing new to buy.
• An internet connection at the venue.
• BayControl switched on for your club. Contact us and we'll set it up with you.

Common questions

Do I need a smart lock or new hardware?

No. BayControl locks the bay's screens and simulator, not a door, and it uses the PC each bay already has. If your club also uses OpenCourt's door locks and access controls, the two work side by side: a customer gets an Access code for the door and a Bay unlock code for the bay.

What happens if the venue's internet goes down?

Customers with a booking still get in, and your staff can still open a bay. New bookings made during the outage reach the bay once the internet is back.

Can customers start early or get extra time at the end?

Yes. By default a code works from 5 minutes before the booking until 2 minutes after it, and a customer can take one free extra minute at the end to save their round. You set all of these for your club in the admin panel.

Can I match the lock screen to my brand?

Yes. The lock screen shows your club's name and logo over full-screen golf images. Play a slideshow or keep one image, pick from the OpenCourt collection or upload your own photos, and choose the highlight color. You set all of it in the admin panel, and your bays pick it up within about a minute.

How do I know a bay needs attention?

The Status tab counts the bays that are not reporting and the bays that are not protecting themselves, and marks each one in the table. Email alerts for both are next on the BayControl roadmap.

Can I try it before rolling it out to every bay?

Yes. Start with one bay, check it with your team, then add the rest. Contact us to plan it.

BayControl guides

• Set up BayControl in the admin panel — choose your bays, the lock screen, the session rules and your team's PINs.
• Bay codes and your customers — where customers find their code, when it works, and what they see at the bay.
• Monitor and run your bays day to day — the Status tab, a bay's history, walk-ins and ending a session.

Installing BayControl on a bay PC and preparing the PC have their own guides for clubs that use BayControl. Open them with the help password OpenCourt gave your club: Install BayControl on a bay PC and Prepare a bay PC for BayControl.