Leading up to this year’s Open Championship at Carnoustie Golf Links, Rickie Fowler offered a clue to the future of his sport. The professional golfer posted a picture on Instagram of him playing the course on a golf simulator.
Despite a healthy resistance to change from some traditionalists, electronic golf—eGolf—not only represents the sport’s future but may also be an important ally to a game that has been played for centuries. Fowler’s seemingly innocuous photo reflects where golf is rapidly headed, a technological renaissance.
eGolf can be defined as the digitization of the game’s courses, operations, and overall customer experience. While professional athletes in other sports have long used video games in their preparation, the golf community has been slower to embrace them. In fact, the vast majority of courses still aren’t available on simulators, and many country club presidents would rather marry their daughter off to Hannibal Lecter than let their courses fall into a stranger’s hands, even just in digital form.
However, professional golfers are increasingly using technology, like simulators, to improve their game, and so are younger generations of golfers wanting to emulate them. This creates demand for digital courses and is forcing change in a sport led by some of the most private, exclusive establishments on the planet.
Golf Courses
In August, TrackMan, a leader in golf analytics technology, released all four St. Andrews courses in a software update for its simulator. The Old Course, one of the game’s holiest venues, is now available in a lifelike, digitized form for golfers to enjoy all over the world, even after the sun goes down.
Digitization started with notable public courses but has begun to include private ones as well. TrackMan’s software also features Sebonack Golf Club, one of the most expensive memberships in golf.
Last year, I spoke about the game’s future at the National Golf Foundation Business Symposium. As someone who helps grow sports technology startups, I have seen a lot of emerging technology in golf. The sport is also my personal sanctuary and the way I spend time with my closest friends. I’m lucky to belong to a celebrated golf club and to have played many others. I can empathize with the fear of detracting from a hallowed golf course, but, at some point, almost every single course could, and should, be available to play on simulators.
Golf Operations
The operations of each golf facility are also on a necessary collision course with digital innovation. Many golf establishments often struggle to simply maintain a website. Scores of software companies are catering to the golf operations industry. One such example is Golf Genius. Led by tech veteran Mike Zisman, Golf Genius has spread to courses around the globe. Anyone who has played in a golf tournament over the past few years likely used the platform, and may not have even noticed.
In 2017, private equity firm Apollo Global Management bought golf facility owner and operator ClubCorp for $1.1 billion, among the largest transactions in the game’s history. As with most private equity investments, the intent of such deals is to improve financial performance before exiting for a profit. However, streamlining operations and leveraging economies of scale can only take an existing business model so far. The future of golf will lie in eGolf’s myriad opportunities to create value and build new revenue streams, like leveraging intellectual property.
Growing Participation
eGolf doesn’t cannibalize the traditional sport; it grows the industry as a whole. Imagine, for example, you first try the sport at Topgolf with your friends. Liking it and wanting to improve, you go to a local club fitting facility to get lessons and buy your first set of clubs. As you hone your skills in simulators and on driving ranges, you feel confident enough to transition to the real thing.
Continuing to build your prowess and shrink your handicap, you move fluidly between traditional rounds of golf and rounds in simulators. At facilities like Urban Golf and Golf Manhattan, in Los Angeles and New York City, respectively, you’ll get real-time data (swing speed, path, dynamic loft, etc.) and experience courses to which you may not otherwise have access.
In time, course owners will come to appreciate that eGolf creates greater interest and demand for their establishments, not just locally but globally. Digital golf is an ace up the sport’s sleeve, and not a noose around its neck. Perhaps one day in the not too distant future, we’ll look back in bemusement at the resistance of certain golf courses to go digital and the traditionalists who thought that eGolf would hurt the analog game.
Disclosure: Kai Sato is a board member and investor in SportTechie but currently has no other formal relationships with any of the companies mentioned in this article.