The Open Now Features Mobile Ordering

The Open is known as “golf’s original championship,” but this clear connection to history doesn’t preclude a consideration of futurism. In fact, the original championship has upgraded significantly, and now attendees will be able to order and pay for their food and drink right from their smartphones.

Thanks to a connection to Mastercard’s Qkr! app, spectators will be able to both place orders and pay for these remotely. It’s actually the first time that any such Open event has offered such a service, reports note, and the over 200,000 spectators set to arrive in its duration will likely welcome the new feature.

Once the orders are placed, they will be delivered within minutes, reports note, thus allowing the patrons to have a snack or a drink while not missing a second of the golfing action. The Qkr! app itself, backed by Mastercard’s Masterpass digital payment service, allows for easy, one-touch payment action delivered by any of a variety of payment preferences.The app has already seen plenty of use at sporting events, including the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Copa America.

Mastercard UK and Ireland president Mark Barnett noted “We are continually exploring ways to introduce Mastercard’s technology to our partnerships to provide our cardholders with a better experience. Whether at a sporting event like The Open, or a gig or in a restaurant or bar, the emphasis has to be on having fun and being immersed in the event. For us that means minimizing the time spent on payments or queues so that they don’t get in the way.”

This is an excellent summation of why mobile payments—and by extension mobile ordering systems and the like—are catching on. Convenience is a huge part of the equation, and staying out of lengthy lines away from the places you want to be is part of that. Sure, we all have some level of concern about mobile payment—a lot of users are still unsure about the security side of things—but as that improves, the convenience aspect only gets better.

It’s a safe bet many users will turn to mobile payments, and when at The Open, plenty will order food and drink ahead with this new service.