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Google Analytics 4 Event Dictionary and Exploration Guide
Eagle Club Systems Knowledge Center

Google Analytics 4
Event Dictionary

Understand the events recorded by Google Analytics 4 and the Eagle Club Systems booking engine, including what each event means, when it occurs, and how golf courses can use the data.

Event definitionsBooking funnelsRevenue attributionDrop-off analysis
Eagle Club Systems
Built for golf operationsTurn booking data into decisions.
Getting started

Connect Google Analytics 4 to Eagle Club Systems

Before booking-engine events can appear in your Google Analytics reports, you must create or locate your GA4 Measurement ID and enter it into Eagle Club Systems.

Locate Your GA4 Measurement ID

Your GA4 Measurement ID connects the Eagle Club Systems booking engine to your Google Analytics property. A Measurement ID begins with G-.

  1. Sign in to your Google Analytics account.
  2. Select the correct Google Analytics property for your golf course.
  3. Click Admin.
  4. Under the property settings, select Data Streams.
  5. Open the web data stream associated with your booking engine.
  6. Copy the Measurement ID displayed for the stream.
Example Measurement IDG-ABC123XYZ9

Do not already have Google Analytics? Create a Google Analytics account and property before continuing. When creating the web data stream, use the URL associated with your online booking engine.

Open Google's GA4 Setup Guide

Add the Measurement ID in Eagle Club Systems

Once you have copied the Measurement ID, enter it in your Eagle Club Systems course settings.

  1. In Eagle Club Systems, navigate to Management.
  2. Select Course.
  3. Click the Interface tab.
  4. On the right side of the page, locate the field labeled Google GA4 Measurement ID.
  5. Paste your Measurement ID into the field.
  6. Save your changes.
ManagementCourseInterfaceGoogle GA4 Measurement ID
Eagle Club Systems

Where to Enter Your GA4 Measurement ID

Management → Course → Interface
Eagle Club Systems Interface tab showing the Google GA4 Measurement ID field
Enter the complete ID, including the G- prefix, in the Google GA4 Measurement ID field on the right side of the Interface tab.

Verify That GA4 Is Active

After saving the Measurement ID, visit the booking engine and perform several test actions. In Google Analytics, open Reports and then Realtime to confirm activity is being received.

You may begin seeing events such as:

page_viewbooking_widget_select_teetimebooking_widget_step_playersbooking_widget_step_paymentbooking_confirmationpurchase

Once data appears in Realtime, the connection is active. Standard GA4 reports and Explorations may take additional time to populate.

How Events and Traffic Sources Work

An event describes what a golfer did. Examples include viewing a page, selecting a tee time, beginning a form, submitting payment information, or completing a booking.

A traffic source describes where the golfer came from. Examples may include Google organic search, a paid advertisement, an email campaign, a golf course website, or Reserve with Google.

These two types of information work together. For example, Google Analytics may report that a purchase event occurred and that the session source was RWG. This tells the course both what happened and where the golfer came from.

Quick reference

Event Names

Automatically Collected GA4 Events

Booking and Revenue Events

Detailed dictionary

Event Definitions

page_view

Automatically collected

What it means

A visitor viewed a page on the golf course website or booking engine.

When it occurs

The event normally occurs when a page loads or when the displayed page location changes.

Why it matters

Page views help a course understand overall traffic and which pages receive the most attention.

Golf course use case: Compare views of the booking engine with the number of golfers who select a tee time. A large difference may indicate that visitors are not finding an acceptable time, rate, or number of available players.
Return to event names

session_start

Automatically collected

What it means

A new browsing session began.

When it occurs

It occurs when a visitor begins a new session on the website or booking engine.

Why it matters

Sessions measure visits rather than individual actions. One session can contain several page views and booking events.

Golf course use case: Measure the number of booking-engine visits generated by Google, RWG, email campaigns, social media, or the course's website.
Return to event names

first_visit

Automatically collected

What it means

Google Analytics recognized the visitor as a new user on that browser or device.

When it occurs

It normally occurs the first time the browser or device visits a website using the applicable Google Analytics property.

Why it matters

It helps distinguish new visitors from returning visitors.

Golf course use case: Determine whether an advertising campaign is introducing the course to new golfers or primarily bringing existing visitors back to the booking engine.
Return to event names

scroll

Enhanced measurement

What it means

A visitor reached approximately 90% of a page's vertical depth.

When it occurs

It normally fires once per page when the visitor reaches the required scroll depth.

Why it matters

It can help indicate whether visitors are reaching content near the bottom of a long page.

Golf course use case: Determine whether golfers are reaching membership details, league information, cancellation policies, or booking instructions positioned lower on a page.
Return to event names

user_engagement

Automatically collected

What it means

Google Analytics recorded that the website or booking engine was actively being used.

When it occurs

GA4 collects this event to help measure the amount of time a page remains actively engaged in the foreground.

Why it matters

It helps distinguish meaningful interaction from a quick visit in which the user immediately leaves.

Golf course use case: Compare engagement from different traffic sources. Golfers arriving from one campaign may spend more time browsing tee times than golfers arriving from another campaign.
Return to event names

form_start

Enhanced measurement

What it means

A visitor began interacting with a form that Google Analytics can detect.

When it occurs

It may occur when a visitor first interacts with a tracked form field during the booking process.

Why it matters

It indicates that the golfer moved beyond browsing and began entering information.

Important:form_start does not necessarily mean that a golfer reached the credit card section. The first interaction may involve a name, email address, phone number, player field, or another form field.

Golf course use case: Compare form starts with completed reservations to identify overall form abandonment.
Return to event names

booking_widget_select_teetime

Eagle Club Systems event

What it means

A golfer selected an available tee time in the Eagle Club Systems booking engine.

When it occurs

It occurs after a golfer chooses a specific tee time and begins moving into the reservation process.

Why it matters

This is a strong indicator of booking intent. The golfer found an available time or rate worth selecting.

Golf course use case: If 1,000 golfers view the booking engine but only 200 select a tee time, the course can investigate availability, rate presentation, booking restrictions, or the date and time search experience.
Return to event names

booking_widget_step_players

Eagle Club Systems event

What it means

A golfer reached the player-information portion of the booking process.

When it occurs

It occurs after the golfer selects a tee time and advances to the step involving player or reservation information.

Why it matters

It shows that the golfer progressed further into the booking funnel.

Golf course use case: Compare tee time selections with visits to the player step. A significant decline may indicate confusion about rates, player limits, login requirements, or booking policies displayed after selection.
Return to event names

booking_widget_step_payment

Eagle Club Systems event

What it means

A golfer reached the credit card payment step during checkout.

When it should occur

It occurs when the golfer advances to the payment step of the booking process.

Why it matters

This event identifies golfers who reached the credit card payment step, making it possible to measure how many continued to a completed booking or purchase.

Use this event as the starting point for measuring payment-step abandonment. Do not use form_start as a substitute because that event may occur before the golfer reaches the credit card section.

Golf course use case: If 150 golfers trigger booking_widget_step_payment but only 120 trigger purchase, 30 golfers reached the payment step without completing a reservation with recorded value.
Return to event names

booking_confirmation

Eagle Club Systems event

What it means

A tee time reservation was successfully created.

When it occurs

It occurs when the golfer reaches a successful reservation confirmation and the booking is recorded.

Why it matters

It is the primary measure of completed bookings, including reservations that may not require an online payment.

Golf course use case: Use this event to calculate the percentage of booking engine visitors who successfully reserve a tee time, regardless of whether the full amount is collected online.
Return to event names

purchase

Eagle Club Systems event

What it means

A reservation with an associated value was successfully completed.

When it occurs

It occurs after a reservation is successfully completed and should include the applicable transaction identifier, currency, value, and item information. The golfer may pay online or pay later at the golf course.

Why it matters

The event allows GA4 to report reservation value, transaction counts, and the marketing sources associated with completed bookings, whether payment is collected online or at the golf course.

Golf course use case: Compare the value of reservations generated by RWG, organic Google searches, paid campaigns, email campaigns, and direct booking-engine visits.

Booking confirmation versus purchase: Use booking_confirmation to count successful reservations. Use purchase when the reservation also includes a value that should be reported in GA4. The golfer does not have to pay online for the purchase event to be useful.

Return to event names

No matching terms were found

Try searching for a broader term such as booking, revenue, payment, or traffic.

Customer journey

Recommended Booking Funnel

Funnel StageEventWhat It Indicates
Booking engine viewedpage_view A golfer entered or viewed the booking experience.
Tee time selectedbooking_widget_select_teetime The golfer found and selected an available tee time.
Player step reachedbooking_widget_step_players The golfer advanced to the player-information step.
Form interaction beganform_start The golfer began entering information into a detected form.
Payment step reachedbooking_widget_step_payment The golfer reached the credit card payment step.
Reservation confirmedbooking_confirmation A successful tee time reservation was created.
Paid transaction completedpurchase The completed reservation and its associated value were recorded.
Attribution

Understanding Traffic Sources and RWG

Events should describe an action. Traffic-source dimensions should identify how the golfer reached the booking engine.

To analyze Reserve with Google traffic, apply a filter or comparison using the traffic-source field in which the RWG value is being received. Depending on the implementation and report, this may be displayed under a session source, first-user source, source/medium, campaign, or another attribution dimension.

QuestionRecommended Measurement
How many golfers came from RWG? Filter the applicable traffic-source dimension to RWG and review users or sessions.
How many RWG golfers selected a tee time? Filter the source to RWG and the event name to booking_widget_select_teetime.
How many RWG bookings were completed? Filter the source to RWG and review booking_confirmation.
How much reservation value came from RWG? Filter the source to RWG and review reservation value associated with purchase.
Reporting guides

How to Build GA4 Explorations

In GA4, important business actions are now commonly called key events. Customers may still use the term conversion, especially when discussing conversion rates or Google Ads.

Exploration 1: Revenue by Traffic Source

Use this report to identify which sources generate completed reservations and the greatest reservation value.

Before creating the report

Confirm that the purchase event is recording reservation value, currency, and a unique transaction identifier.

Setup instructions

  1. Open the applicable GA4 property.
  2. Select Explore from the left navigation.
  3. Choose Free form.
  4. Name the exploration Booking Value by Source.
  5. Under Dimensions, import:
    • Session source
    • Session medium
    • Session source / medium
    • Session campaign
    • Event name
  6. Under Metrics, import:
    • Total revenue or purchase revenue
    • Ecommerce purchases
    • Transactions, when available
    • Total users
    • Sessions
  7. Add Session source / medium to Rows.
  8. Add revenue, ecommerce purchases, users, and sessions to Values.
  9. Add an event-name filter that exactly matches purchase when needed.
  10. Sort the table by revenue from highest to lowest.
Technique
Free form
Rows
Session source / medium
Values
Purchase revenue, ecommerce purchases, users, and sessions
Optional filter
Event name exactly matches purchase
RWG view
Add a filter where the applicable session-source dimension matches RWG
Questions this exploration answers: Which traffic source produces the greatest reservation value? How much booking value comes from RWG? Which campaigns generate traffic but few completed reservations?

Exploration 2: Booking Conversion Funnel

Use this report to see how golfers move through the booking engine and where they leave before completing a reservation.

Setup instructions

  1. Open the applicable GA4 property.
  2. Select Explore.
  3. Choose Funnel exploration.
  4. Name the exploration Online Tee Time Booking Funnel.
  5. Choose an open funnel when golfers may legitimately enter the process at different stages. Choose a closed funnel when every golfer must begin with the first defined step.
  6. Configure the following steps using Event name exactly matches:
StepStep NameEvent Condition
1Selected a Tee Timebooking_widget_select_teetime
2Reached Player Informationbooking_widget_step_players
3Started Formform_start
4Booking Confirmedbooking_confirmation
  1. Add Session source / medium as a breakdown to compare traffic sources.
  2. Add an RWG segment or source filter when you want to view only Reserve with Google traffic.
  3. Review the completion percentage and abandonment count between each step.

Mark booking_confirmation as a GA4 key event when a confirmed tee time is an important business outcome. Mark purchase as a key event when recording the value of a completed reservation is an important outcome.

Questions this exploration answers: What percentage of tee time selections become completed bookings? At which step do golfers most frequently leave? Does RWG traffic convert better than direct or organic traffic?

Exploration 3: Credit Card Drop-Off

Use this report to identify golfers who reached the credit card payment step but did not complete the reservation.

Required event: The booking engine must send booking_widget_step_payment when the golfer reaches the credit card payment step. Without this event, GA4 cannot accurately isolate payment-step drop-off.

Setup instructions

  1. Confirm that booking_widget_step_payment and purchase appear in the GA4 Events report or DebugView.
  2. Select Explore.
  3. Choose Funnel exploration.
  4. Name the exploration Payment and Credit Card Drop-Off.
  5. Use a closed funnel with the following steps:
StepStep NameEvent Condition
1Payment Step Reachedbooking_widget_step_payment
2Booking Confirmedbooking_confirmation
3Purchase Completedpurchase

How to interpret the results

  • Drop-off between booking_widget_step_payment and booking_confirmation may indicate golfer abandonment, a card-entry issue, a validation problem, or a checkout error.
  • Drop-off between booking_confirmation and purchase should be reviewed carefully. It may be legitimate when a reservation is completed without a value being sent to GA4.
  • If every completed reservation sends a value to GA4, purchase should normally be the final successful step.

Drop-off calculation

To calculate the payment-step completion rate:

Completed purchase events ÷ users who reached the payment step × 100

For example, if 120 users reach the payment step and 96 complete a reservation that records a purchase event:

96 ÷ 120 × 100 = 80% completion rate

The corresponding credit card drop-off rate is 20%.

Recommended breakdowns

  • Device category
  • Browser
  • Session source / medium
  • Campaign
  • Mobile versus desktop traffic
  • RWG versus non-RWG traffic
Questions this exploration answers: Are mobile golfers abandoning payment more often than desktop golfers? Is one browser producing an unusually high failure rate? Are golfers from one source reaching payment but not completing the transaction?
Before you publish

Important Reporting Notes

  • Newly implemented events are not retroactive. They begin collecting data after implementation.
  • Event data may take time to appear in standard GA4 reports.
  • Use DebugView or another approved testing method to confirm that events and parameters are being sent correctly.
  • Use a unique transaction identifier with each purchase event to reduce the risk of duplicate transactions.
  • Source values should be tested across the entire booking journey to confirm that attribution is not lost when the golfer moves between the course website and booking engine.
  • A purchase count and a booking-confirmation count may differ when some completed reservations do not send a value to GA4.

This guide is intended to help golf course operators understand the data collected through Google Analytics 4 and the Eagle Club Systems booking engine. Available dimensions, metrics, menus, and labels may vary based on the property's configuration and Google's interface updates.