Ok, so we really don't have a Mission Statement, Core Values, or any of that other stuff you see on corporate sites. This page does include some Q&A-type background into birdietracker.com.

Why did you create this site?
Since I'm a professional programmer by trade, it started out as a project to learn some new technology. Once I got past the education part of it, I decided to make a golf tracking service available to the public that's better than any other out there. Version 2 is a major upgrade in technology and feature-set.

How can you provide this site for free?
The truth is that there is certainly some out-of-pocket costs involved to create, maintain, and run the website. I was a member of another service similar to this one that after they got their membership up high enough, they started charging members, thereby holding their scoring history hostage. Since that pi#$ed me off, I vowed not to do the same thing.

How can you compete with the other bigger sites doing the same thing?
Because to me, this site is important. To them, it's just another piece of their huge company. I would challenge anyone to submit an idea to the big boys and see if they follow through or even answer your email. I've created a Message Board dedicated to your suggestions for all members to view and post ideas.

What do you mean by BirdieTracker on Rails?
The first version of this site was written in Java using JSPs and Struts on the front-end, sitting on top of a MySQL database. Version 2.0 is now using the Ruby language and the Rails web framework, with PostgreSQL as the database. While this may not mean too much to the average golfer, it does to me since I can now support, upgrade, and enhance the site much faster and easier than ever before.