Golf course management tool

A method for managing a golf course, the method comprising:

• receiving a plurality of player locations respectively associated with a plurality of rounds of play on a golf course the plurality of player locations determined by sensors associated with individual players during the plurality of rounds of play on the golf course, at least some of the plurality of player locations representing ball-strike locations;
• storing the plurality of player locations linked with their associated round of play in a database;
• receiving a first user command over a network from a client device identifying a first portion of the golf course;
• retrieving a set of one or more ball-strike locations from the plurality of player locations stored in the database, the set of one or more ball-strike locations located within the first portion of the golf course;
• creating a first graphical representation based on the set of one or more ball-strike locations, the first graphical representation comprising a spidograph of approach shots to a green included in the first portion of the golf course, the spidograph providing information about percentages of the approach shots that are long, short, left and right of the green;
• sending the first graphical representation over the network to the client device for presentation to a user;
• receiving a second user command over the network from the client device defining a first selected area within the first portion of the golf course;
• identifying a first set of rounds of play from the plurality of rounds of play on the golf course that are associated with a ball-strike location of the plurality of player locations that is located within the first selected area;
• calculating at least one time-of-play statistic for the first set of rounds of play;
• sending the at least one time-of-play statistic for the first set of rounds of play over the network to the client device for presentation to the user;
• receiving a third user command over the network from the client device identifying a second portion of the golf course;
• obtaining an overhead image of the second portion of the golf course;
• retrieving a collection of one or more player locations from the plurality of player locations stored in the database, the collection of one or more player locations located within the second portion of the golf course;
• creating a second graphical representation based on the collection of one or more locations and the overhead image of the second portion of the golf course;
• sending the second graphical representation over the network to the client device for presentation to the user;
• receiving a fourth user command from the client device over the network, the fourth user command including identification of three or more points on the second graphical representation to define a second selected area on the golf course;
• receiving at least a first maintenance cost for a first feature type and a second maintenance cost for a second feature type of the golf course from the client device over the network;
• identifying a current feature type of the second selected area as the first feature type and a proposed feature type for the second selected area as the second feature type;
• and
• calculating a maintenance cost difference for the second selected area between the current feature type and the proposed feature type as a function of the first maintenance cost and the second maintenance cost.