Our response to the HFTP and CMAA club management system RFI

I.Introduction

The RFI that HFTP and CMAA published in 2005 for an integrated club management system is still the closest published structure a US private club uses; we found no newer HFTP or CMAA version. We answer in its eight-section order so a committee can set this beside other vendors' replies.

II.Information conditions

Response order

Introduction, then sections III to VIII, as the RFI asks.

Pricing basis

The published price list as checked on the date under Sources below; no quote-only pricing.

III.Vendor information

Company

Links Meridian Limited, registered in Northern Ireland (NI741768), incorporated 26 June 2026. Self-funded, no outside investors.

Contact

Connor Johnson, founder, CEO and sole director, the direct contact through setup and go-live.

Staff by function

One person today: the founder builds the product and runs sales, migration and support.

Own or resold software

Our own software. Card payments run on Stripe; hosting on Hetzner.

Customers and installations

No club is live yet.

Differentiators

Tee sheet, member billing, POS, F&B, events, accounting and the members' app on one platform, with published prices and no Links Meridian fee on payments.

IV.General and technical

Architecture

Cloud software used in a browser; no club server to buy. Members use a portal and club-branded iOS and Android apps (a web app in a native shell, not native code).

Interfaces

Tee time is native. Per-club API keys with seven read scopes and one write scope; signed outbound webhooks for seven events.

Accounting interface

QuickBooks Online sync is built; production keys are pending. Xero and Sage: not yet.

Handicap interface

No GHIN posting today; whether to apply for the USGA licence is an open founder decision. The club's index is recorded and imported, never calculated by us.

Hardware

Card readers (Stripe S700 or S710) bought direct from Stripe; any current browser for staff.

Hosting

Today the platform runs in the EU, on Hetzner servers in Germany. US region: Ask us. US data residency: Ask us.

Uptime

Ask us

Reporting

Role-based dashboards; P&L, balance sheet and trial balance; exports to CSV, Excel, PDF and IIF.

History

Ledger periods close and lock; staff changes go to an audit log the club can read.

Security

Every query scoped to the club; Argon2id passwords; authenticator app or passkey, two-factor the club can require for all staff; admin IP allowlist; TLS 1.2 or later; AES-256-GCM for sensitive fields; nightly encrypted backups kept 14 days, restore drill run 3 August 2026.

Card data

Card numbers never touch our servers; Stripe is PCI DSS Level 1. The club validates with SAQ A online and SAQ C for readers. Our SAQ D is in progress; the attestation: Ask us.

Certifications

No SOC 2, ISO 27001 or external penetration test report yet; an external test where the club's contract requires one.

V.Application requirements

Member records

Yes. Profiles, households, custom fields, communications log, committees, applications and waiting lists.

General ledger

Yes. Double-entry ledger with period close.

Budgeting

Not yet. Budget against actual is not built.

Member billing and AR

Yes. Dues, house accounts, statements (PDF and scheduled runs), F&B and spend minimums with shortfall billing, online payment. Account PINs, charge limits and holds: not yet. US ACH for dues: not yet live.

Accounts payable

Yes.

Fixed assets

Not yet. No fixed-asset register.

Point of sale

Yes. Pro shop and F&B tills; card, cash, member account and gift card.

F&B cost accounting

Not yet. Recipe costing and cost-of-goods variance are not built. F&B POS with floor plans and kitchen display: yes.

Recipes

Not yet.

Banquet management

Yes. Weddings and private events from enquiry to final invoice, with proposals and deposit schedules. BEO, run sheet and seating: not yet.

Purchasing

Not yet. Purchase orders are not built.

Inventory

Yes. Receive, write off, stock levels and value, low-stock alerts. Stock counts and vendor returns have no screen yet.

Human resources

Yes. Staff records, time clock, timesheets, rota, shift swaps and leave.

Payroll

Not yet. No payroll run; hours export to CSV for the club's payroll provider: yes.

Golf pro shop

Yes. POS with gift cards and stock. Special orders, repair work orders and demo check-out: not yet.

Tennis pro shop

Not yet. No separate tennis shop module; tennis, padel and squash courts are bookable.

Fitness center

Not yet. No fitness module; coaching and rooms are bookable resources.

Locker management

Yes. Lockers and bag storage assigned for a term with a fee.

Golf course maintenance

Not yet. Maintenance windows and course status on the tee sheet: yes; no agronomy or work-order module.

Management information

Yes. Role-based home dashboards and financial statements. A report writer and scheduled emailed reports: not yet.

VI.Customer service and support

Support services

The founder is the direct contact through setup and go-live; the in-app assistant answers staff and members at any hour. Hours, channels and response times: Ask us.

Education

Onboarding is included on every tier; an in-app help centre with setup checklists.

Implementation

Most clubs live in 2 to 4 weeks; private clubs 4 to 8. The current system stays in use during migration and nothing is switched off until the club confirms in writing.

Data conversion

Included at no charge. We import members (households, dues fields, handicap index), opening balances, prepaid access balances, course records, awards, event results, future bookings and the POS product catalogue, with a dry run, row-count reconciliation and rollback. Gift-card history and past booking history are not imported.

Releases and tax updates

Updates are included in the subscription. Sales tax is calculated by state, county and city on an effective-dated engine.

Documentation

In-app help centre and on-page assistant context.

VII.Investment considerations

The cost lines the RFI asks for are in the three-year cost example at the end of this response. The licence terms are below.

What the licence includes

Every feature of the tier, migration and onboarding, and every update.

Cost per added user

Unlimited members from Standard up; no per-user fee for staff in our order form.

Term and exit

No minimum term and no exit fee; cancel any time, access to the end of the paid period. CSV exports any time, a full JSON export on request at no charge, data kept 90 days after the end, then deleted.

Continuity

Not yet: no escrow or continuity clause in our contract pack today.

Sample licence

Our published terms and data processing agreement.

VIII.References

Live clubs

None yet. We will introduce the first clubs once they are live, with their agreement.

Instead, today

A sample of the club's own data, loaded into the copy of Links Meridian we set up for the club, before any decision.

Three-year cost example: an 18-hole semi-private club on Professional

The investment lines the RFI asks for, for one 18-hole semi-private club on the published Professional tier, in US dollars.

• Professional is $749 a month; annual billing is 0.8 of monthly, $599 a month. Arithmetic: 599 x 12 = 7,188; 749 x 12 = 8,988; each times 3.
• The reader count is an example; readers are $299 each, and the S710's optional cellular service is $10 a reader a month.
• Each further course is $499 a month; one Par 3 course is free.

• Card processing is Stripe's, paid to Stripe: 2.7% + 5c in person, 2.9% + 30c online, ACH 0.8% capped at $5. We add no fee today: the platform fee is dormant at 0.
• Prices assume the published price holds for three years. Published prices carry no written price lock today; only Charter Clubs have one.
• Tax: Ask us. The terms put applicable taxes on the customer.