Players 1st

What Players 1st does

Players 1st is a Denmark-headquartered SaaS company that provides an AI-powered customer experience management (CXM) platform purpose-built for the golf industry. Its platform enables golf course operators to collect structured feedback from golfers, members, employees, and tournament participants through survey templates tailored to the golf customer journey, then analyze that feedback using NLP-based text analysis, NPS scoring, priority-mapping algorithms, and benchmarking against a national/international dataset of 3,000+ golf facilities built on 250M+ golfer data points. The core product is augmented by a Business Intelligence Suite, a GolfersVoice module developed with the National Golf Foundation, an AI Assistant (beta) for open-ended comment analysis, and tee-sheet integrations with 15+ golf technology platforms (foreUP, Tournament Master, ClubOS, Lightspeed, WiseGolf, GolfManager, Tee-On, etc.).

Name

Players 1st

Legal name

Players 1st ApS

Website

https://players1st.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Players 1st is a Denmark-based SaaS company that provides an AI-powered customer experience management platform designed specifically for golf course operators, serving 3,000+ facilities globally through survey templates, benchmarking, and integrations with leading golf technology systems.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Golf Customer Experience Management Software

NAICS

Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Golf Clubs & Tournament-Host Clubs (Professional/Elite Golf Clubs) (MPAKABAE)

Keywords

• Golf customer experience
• Golf club surveys
• NPS benchmarking platform
• Golfer feedback analytics
• Golf CXM software

Headquarters

HQ city

Aarhus

HQ country

Denmark

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Subscription Software (SaaS): Players 1st generates revenue primarily through tiered subscription plans (Core Insights, Advanced Intelligence, Performance Plus) billed monthly or annually. The subscription model provides access to survey templates, analytics dashboards, benchmarking, and AI-powered features. Annual billing offers 20% discount, encouraging longer-term commitments.
2. Enterprise Licensing: Large multi-course operators (like Troon Golf with 700+ facilities) require customized enterprise arrangements with multi-course management capabilities, strategic advisory services, and dedicated customer success managers included in Performance Plus tier.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Players 1st provides an AI-powered customer experience management (CXM) SaaS platform purpose-built for golf course operators. The platform automates golfer and member feedback collection, applies AI text analysis to open-ended responses, delivers real-time alerts and benchmarking against a national/international dataset of 3,000+ facilities, and integrates with leading tee-sheet, POS, and club management systems. Customers subscribe to tiered plans (Core Insights, Advanced Intelligence, Performance Plus) covering surveys, analytics, employee engagement, and strategic advisory.

Product overview

Players 1st is a customer experience management platform for the golf industry, operating as a unified platform with modular add-ons and survey templates. The core Customer Experience Management platform collects golfer feedback via surveys and delivers real-time insights, AI-powered analytics, and benchmarking. This core is augmented by the Business Intelligence Suite for advanced data analysis, GolfersVoice by NGF for federation-level benchmarking, and AI-Powered Text Analysis (AI Assistant beta) for processing open-ended survey comments. The platform also offers four specialized survey templates: Guest Survey, Member Survey, Tournament Survey, and Employee Survey. Pricing tiers include Core Insights, Advanced Intelligence (adding AI features, automations, and employee module), and Performance Plus (adding strategic advisory and branded experiences).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• GolfersVoice by NGF: Survey product in partnership with National Golf Foundation
• AI-Powered Text Analysis
• Business Intelligence Suite

Products and services

• Customer Experience Management Platform Core SaaS platform that enables golf course operators to collect golfer feedback via surveys, track satisfaction and NPS, receive real-time alerts, and benchmark performance against 3,000+ facilities globally.
• Business Intelligence Suite Advanced analytics and data handling solution for managing and analyzing member, rounds, and financial data for golf businesses.
• GolfersVoice by NGF Survey and data intelligence product developed in partnership with the National Golf Foundation (NGF), providing golf-specific benchmarking and golfer insights for the U.S. market.
• AI-Powered Text Analysis (AI Assistant) AI-driven feedback tool that analyzes and structures open-ended comments from surveys, organizing free-text responses into actionable themes. Available in beta.
• Guest Experience Survey Survey template designed for gathering feedback from visiting golfers and guests at golf courses, covering pre-booking, arrival, the course, and overall experience.
• Member Experience Survey Survey template for collecting feedback from golf club members, tracking their overall experience, satisfaction, and likelihood to recommend the club.
• Tournament Experience Survey Survey template for gathering feedback from participants in golf tournaments and events.
• Employee Engagement Survey Survey template that enables golf businesses to gather employee feedback on job satisfaction, track staff satisfaction over time, and benchmark against national competitors.

Quantifiable outcome

• Clubs achieve 70%+ survey response rates (vs. industry average of 10-20%)
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration15 records

AI capability6 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Wales GolfminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 January 2026Strategic partnership launched January 2026 to support Welsh golf clubs with customer experience management tools and resources.
• Golf AustraliacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2023After successful pilot with 15 clubs achieving 70%+ response rates and 4,000+ responses, Players 1st partnered with Golf Australia to offer the platform to all affiliated clubs. The partnership commenced in September 2023.
• England GolfcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership since 2018 where England Golf recommends Players 1st to affiliated clubs. Players 1st sponsors awards and participates in annual England Golf Awards.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Broad incumbents

• Qualtrics: Enterprise customer experience management platform owned by SAP. Comparable as a horizontal CXM/VoC vendor that golf operators could in theory adopt, though it lacks golf-specific templates, federation benchmarking, and tee-sheet integrations that Players 1st provides.
• Medallia: Enterprise experience management platform used across hospitality and leisure verticals. Comparable as a broader CXM competitor that could be deployed by large multi-course operators like Troon, though it is not golf-specialized.
• SurveyMonkey: Mainstream survey and feedback platform. Touchstone Golf's testimonial explicitly notes 'We have used other survey tools over the years' before choosing Players 1st, positioning SurveyMonkey as the generic incumbent alternative Players 1st displaces.
• Trustpilot: Consumer review and reputation platform used by hospitality and leisure businesses. Comparable as a general-purpose feedback/review solution that golf operators might consider, though it lacks golf-specific benchmarking and tee-sheet workflows.

Direct peers

• Lightspeed Golf: Golf course point-of-sale and management software used by many of the same operators Players 1st serves (including joint customers). Comparable because it competes for the same golf-club software wallet and is a listed integration partner of Players 1st.
• Clubessential: Club management software platform for golf and country clubs, offering tee sheets, member management, and communications. Comparable because it is sold to the same golf-club buyer and bundles adjacent member-engagement functionality.
• Jonas Club Software: Club management software for private and semi-private golf clubs, providing member accounting, tee sheets, and POS. Comparable as a competing software suite sold to the same golf-club customer base.
• foreUP: Golf course management software with tee sheets, POS, and online booking used by public and private courses. Comparable because it serves the same buyer and is currently a Players 1st integration partner that could potentially add native CXM features.
• Gallus Golf: Golf course technology provider offering tee sheets, marketing, and member communication tools. Comparable as a tee-sheet/management vendor sold into the same golf-operator customer base.
• EZLinks Golf: Tee-sheet and online booking platform serving thousands of golf courses globally, owned by Lightspeed. Comparable as a tee-sheet provider with adjacent course-management capabilities sold to the same customer segment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/players_1st
• Facebookfacebook.com/players1st.golf
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/players-1st
• Instagraminstagram.com/players.1st

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Players 1st