Barefoot bowls bookings
Groups, birthdays and work parties book online with rinks, bowls hire, food and drink packages and deposits.
Bowls club software: green bookings, comps & members
Bowls clubs: barefoot booked, members organised. More time on the green.
Barefoot bowls gets booked over the phone at the bar, comp entries go on a sheet pinned to the noticeboard, pennant sides are typed up on Thursday night and half the renewals are still sitting in an envelope. We build green booking, competition, member and function systems for bowls clubs, then we host them and look after them.
Looking for bowls club software that handles the greens, the comps and the members?
A bowls club is a sporting club, a social venue and a function centre run mostly by volunteers. The greens get juggled between pennant practice, club comps, roll-ups and barefoot groups. The secretary chases renewals. The bar roster has a gap every second Saturday. And the whole thing lives on a noticeboard, a desk diary and a couple of members' email inboxes.
Wollopit builds custom bowls club software around how your club actually runs. Barefoot groups book and pay online. Rinks are allocated on one calendar so nothing clashes. Members enter comps and mark their availability from their phone or at a screen in the clubhouse. Renewals remind themselves and volunteers grab shifts without a ring around. We work alongside BowlsLink and the tools you already use, then host and look after the lot.
01The problems
What we hear from bowls clubs
Does your bowls club have these problems? Here's how we'd fix them.
Most bowls clubs we talk to run on the goodwill of a handful of volunteers and a very full noticeboard. It works until the secretary goes on holiday.
- The problemBarefoot bowls booked by phoneBirthday groups and work Christmas parties ring the bar, someone writes it in the diary and half the time nobody calls back.How we fix itOnline barefoot bookings with group sizes, rinks, food packages and deposits taken up front. Confirmations and reminders go out on their own.
- The problemRinks double bookedPennant practice, a club comp and a barefoot party all expect rink 3 on the same Saturday arvo.How we fix itOne green calendar showing every rink, every booking and every closure. Clashes get flagged before they happen.
- The problemComp entries on a sheetThe entry sheet goes up on the board, names get crossed out and the comp convenor squints at handwriting to build the draw.How we fix itMembers enter singles, pairs and fours comps online or on the clubhouse screen. The entry list builds itself and the draw is ready to go.
- The problemPennant selections by phone treeSelectors pick the sides, then spend two nights ringing around to find out who's actually available.How we fix itMembers mark availability in advance. Selectors build sides from who's free and everyone gets their side, rink and travel details by SMS or email.
- The problemRoll-up draws done by handNames in the book, a pile of cards on the table and ten minutes of shuffling before anyone bowls.How we fix itMembers tick in for the roll-up on their phone or at the door and the draw is made and shown on the clubhouse TV.
- The problemRenewals chased by the secretaryRenewal forms posted, cheques and cash at the bar and a list of who hasn't paid that's never quite right.How we fix itOnline renewals with card payment, automatic reminders and a member list that's always current. Members who'd rather pay at the bar still can.
- The problemGaps in the bar rosterSaturday afternoon bar duty is empty and the same three volunteers end up covering it again.How we fix itVolunteer rosters for bar, kitchen and green duties with shift swaps, reminders and a fair share for everyone.
- The problemFunction enquiries lostWakes, birthdays and corporate days come in by phone, email and Facebook with no one place to track them.How we fix itFunction enquiries land in one place with packages, quotes, deposits and a run sheet for the bar and kitchen.
- The problemMembers miss the newsGreen closures, comp results and the AGM notice go on the board and members who don't come in never hear about it.How we fix itClub news, results and green closures sent by email and SMS, posted on the website and shown on the clubhouse screen.
- The problemResults on a whiteboardComp results and championship ladders are scribbled up and gone by next week.How we fix itResults, ladders and honour boards kept online so members and visitors can look them up any time.
02What we build
Solutions
What we build for bowls clubs. Usually all talking to each other.
Pick the one that's hurting most or join the whole lot up. Everything is built around how your team works, not the other way round.
Green & rink calendar
Every rink on one calendar: pennant, comps, roll-ups, barefoot, coaching and greenkeeper closures.
Comp entries & draws
Singles, pairs, triples and fours entries online with draws, results and championship ladders.
Pennant selections
Member availability, side selection, rink and travel details sent straight to players.
Roll-up tick-in
Members tick in on their phone or a clubhouse screen and the draw is made for them.
Membership & renewals
Online sign-ups and renewals, membership categories, card payments and automatic reminders.
Member portal
Members check their details, comps, availability and results from a simple screen.
Function bookings
Packages for wakes, birthdays and corporate days with quotes, deposits and run sheets.
Volunteer rosters
Bar, kitchen and green duty rosters with swaps, reminders and a fair share.
Clubhouse TV screens
Today's bookings, roll-up draws, results and upcoming events on the TV in the bar.
Club news & messaging
Email and SMS for green closures, results, AGM notices and social events.
Coaching & come-and-try days
Bookable beginner sessions that turn barefoot players into new members.
Sponsors & raffles
Sponsor listings on the website and screens, plus raffle and meat tray nights tracked properly.
A website that bowls
Quick on mobile, with barefoot bookings, events and results, built to rank for 'barefoot bowls near me'.
03The systems
The big ones
Your whole club, on one system.
These are the systems bowls clubs ask us about most. Each one works on its own and they get properly handy when they're joined up.
Barefoot bowls
Barefoot groups that book and pay themselves.
Barefoot bowls is how most clubs bring in new faces and good money. Groups pick a date, a session and a package online, pay a deposit and get reminders before they arrive. The bar sees exactly who's coming and how many sausage rolls to warm up.
- Online bookings by session and rink
- Group sizes and rink limits
- Food and drink packages
- Deposits and full payment online
- Bowls hire and flat shoe reminders
- SMS reminders the day before
- Weather cancellations in one click
- Gift vouchers for barefoot sessions
- Bookings shown on the bar screen
- Follow-up offers to join the club
Greens & rinks
Every rink, one calendar. No more clashes.
Pennant practice, club comps, roll-ups, barefoot, coaching and greenkeeping all share one green calendar. Close a green for renovation and every booking affected is flagged straight away.
- All greens and rinks on one view
- Pennant, comps, roll-ups and barefoot
- Recurring bookings for regular events
- Greenkeeper closures and rink rotation
- Clash warnings before saving
- Synthetic and grass greens tracked separately
- Visible on the clubhouse TV
- Members see what's on before they head in
Comps & pennant
Comp entries, draws and pennant sides without the sheet.
Members enter club comps online or on the clubhouse screen and the draw is ready when entries close. Selectors see who's available for pennant before they start picking and players get their side, rink and travel details on their phone.
- Singles, pairs, triples and fours entries
- Entry closing dates and fees
- Draws made from the entry list
- Results and championship ladders
- Pennant availability by round
- Side selection from available players
- Side and travel details by SMS
- Roll-up tick-in and draws
- Honour boards kept online
Membership
Renewals that chase themselves.
New members sign up online and existing members renew with a few taps. Reminders go out on their own and the member list is always right. Members who'd rather fill in a form and pay at the bar still can and it all ends up in the same place.
- Online joins and renewals
- Bowling, social and junior categories
- Card payments and pay-at-the-bar option
- Automatic renewal reminders
- Up-to-date member list
- Works alongside BowlsLink
- Member discounts at the bar
- Payments into Xero or MYOB
Functions & volunteers
Functions booked and the bar always staffed.
Wakes, birthdays and corporate days come in through one form with packages and pricing set by the club. Volunteers pick up bar, kitchen and green duty shifts from their phone so the roster fills without a ring around.
- Function enquiry form and packages
- Quotes, deposits and run sheets
- Function calendar shared with the green
- Bar, kitchen and green duty rosters
- Volunteers pick and swap shifts
- Reminders the day before
- RSA details kept on file
- Hours recorded for the annual report
04How it changes
Before and after
A Sunday barefoot session, wolloped.
Here's how a Sunday barefoot booking could change. Every club runs differently, so we map yours first.
Before
- Group rings the bar during the Saturday rush
- Booking scrawled in the diary with no deposit
- Same rinks already promised to a club comp
- Secretary rings around for someone to run the bar
- Half the group doesn't turn up and nobody's paid
After
- Group books and pays a deposit online at 10pm
- Rinks locked in on the green calendar
- Clash with the comp flagged before it's saved
- Bar shift picked up by a volunteer on their phone
- Reminder SMS goes out the day before
- Group gets an offer to come back for a come-and-try day
05Services
Everything under one roof
Software, websites and systems for bowls clubs.
Whether you're starting fresh or upgrading what you've got, it's one team from the first sketch to the support call.
Custom software for bowls clubs
Built around how your bowls club actually runs: barefoot bowls bookings, green & rink calendar and the admin in between, in one system you own.
Websites for bowls clubs
Fast, hand-built websites that rank for the searches your customers make and turn visits into enquiries, bookings or orders.
Bowls club system upgrades
Running on spreadsheets, old software or a platform you've outgrown? We move your data across and upgrade in stages so the business never stops.
Apps and portals for bowls clubs
Comp entries & draws and pennant selections: customer and staff portals that work on any phone without an app store.
Integrations and automation
We connect BowlsLink, Square and SwiftPOS so information moves on its own and nobody retypes it.
Hosting, support and care
Managed hosting, updates, backups and security for your bowls club, looked after by the people who built it.
06Integrations
Connections
Plays nicely with what you already use.
We connect to the tools your club relies on, work alongside BowlsLink and replace the bits that are holding you back.
- BowlsLink
- Square
- SwiftPOS
- Bepoz
- Xero
- MYOB
- Stripe
- Mailchimp
- Twilio SMS
- Google Calendar
- Google Business Profile
- Google Maps
- Microsoft 365
- Humanitix
- Eventbrite
- Canva
07How we work
The process
Some people dip their toe in. We turn up in a rebreather.
We get properly below the surface of your bowls club: the systems, the busy days and the jobs everyone hates. Then we fix the bits that matter most first.
- 01
Think
We sit down with the committee, the secretary and the bar volunteers, walk the greens and work out what's actually eating everyone's time.
- 02
Archi-tech
We plan it before writing code: your greens, comps, pennant, members, functions, rosters, hosting and cost.
- 03
Build
Real engineering, shown to you early and often. Usually barefoot bookings or renewals first, so you get a win before the season starts.
- 04
Look after
We host it, maintain it and keep improving it. When something breaks you call the people who built it.
08Questions
FAQ
Things bowls clubs ask us.
Something else on your mind? Ring 0423 011 252 and ask the people who'd build it.
Is it easy for older members?
Yes. Big buttons, clear screens and no jargon. Members who don't use phones can still enter comps on a screen in the clubhouse or have the bar do it for them.
Do we have to stop using BowlsLink?
No. BowlsLink stays for your affiliation and state pennant needs. We build the club side around it: barefoot, greens, club comps, functions, rosters and renewals.
Can barefoot groups pay a deposit online?
Yes. You set the deposit, the packages and the cancellation rules. Payments go through Stripe or Square and land in your accounts.
Can selectors see who's available for pennant?
Yes. Members mark their availability by round and selectors build sides from who's free, then send side and travel details by SMS or email.
Do we need to replace our bar POS?
Usually not. We work with Square, SwiftPOS, Bepoz and other club POS systems where they allow it. If something is holding you back we'll show you the options before anything changes.
How much does a bowls club system cost?
It depends on what you need, so we quote up front once we understand it. No surprise invoices, no lock-in and the club owns what we build.
How long does it take?
Smaller jobs like barefoot bookings or online renewals can be quick. Bigger systems are planned in stages so you get the first win early instead of waiting for everything at once.
Who looks after it once it's built?
We do. We host it on our own managed servers and keep it updated and secure. When the committee changes over, the system doesn't. You ring the people who built it.
We already have systems. Can you upgrade them instead of starting again?
Usually, yes. Most bowls clubs we work with keep what's working and upgrade the rest in stages. We move your data across, connect the old and new while we switch and retire the old system only when the new one is proven.
Contact
Got a bowls club problem? Consider it wolloped.
Tell us what's slow, broken, manual or missing. You don't need a spec, just describe what's going on.