Albatros Datenservice GmbH won the SAGA tender, in 2009, to provide the governing body of amateur golf in South Africa with a handicap solution.

In 2010, Albatros entered into an agreement with the SAGA to implement the handicap system. Soon after, SAGA formed a joint venture company with Super-Brands (Pty) Ltd to form Handicaps Network Africa (Pty) Ltd (HNA).

Volker Schorp, Managing Director of Albatros Datenservice GmbH, worked tirelessly in winning the tender. Once the agreement, mentioned above, was entered into, he and project manager Steven Bukenberger then went about setting up an operation in South Africa. And so began the company Albatros Golf Solutions, wholly owned by its German parent company, which now works very closely with HNA.

“It was a huge task in the beginning,” explains Schorp. “Not only did we have to create the central system we also had to import all scoring records from another service provider. This presented us with long working days and some interesting challenges. I am pleased to report that we met all deadlines and got the handicap system up and working on schedule.”

Today the company employs eight people and is based in Cape Town, South Africa.

Albatros Datenservice GmbH is a creator of and specialist in golf software products.

The company is based in Karlsruhe in the south of Germany. It employs over 30 people on a full time basis.

The golf club business is the primary focus area of the company. “More than twenty years ago I started with the company and have built it up into a multinational business,” said Volker Schorp, the managing director. “Golf Clubs have become big business requiring a lot of automation of systems and processes to run profitably.”

To this end the Albatros software has expanded it’s product range for clubs. It now sells and supports it club products in twelve countries, primarily focused around Europe. In addition it has expanded its offering to include products for Golf Federations. “The central handicap solution we provide the SAGA we are using in a various forms with four other Federations,” explained Schorp.

With over 1,000 golf clubs using the software, Albatros has become a major player in the sport’s business.