My previous company focused on contactless guest experience, initially for restaurants and later for hotels (think ordering food or getting your waiter right from your phone while eating in the restaurant). After months of research into what were the greatest customer pains in the space, I uncovered a class of recurring events that reliably caused negative experiences and named those “immediate needs.” From then on, every time I stumbled across something similar, I added it to that list. Here is one shining example: You get your food and then realize you need a drink refill, or a fork, but your server is nowhere to be found. Your food is now getting cold as you try to find your server, adding friction to your experience, interrupting your time with friends or family, and reducing the overall quality of the meal. Amazingly, just about every one of us has had this exact experience, and restaurants still haven’t figured out how to solve it.
As a lifelong golfer, I have a deep understanding of these frustration-causing elements in the golf space and have experienced many of them personally. So, as I look deeply - and objectively - into the current state of golf practice facilities, I am on high alert for these “immediate needs”.
Yes, TopGolf just “reimagined” the “amusement golf” experience, but by focusing so heavily on that customer segment, they have alienated others. I mean, does whacking balls with your sticky, greasy, hot wing-holding hands somehow translate to better scores on the golf course? Does hitting balls from 100 feet in the air on TopGolf’s top floor help you get your distances dialed in for any scenario other than the few holes in the world that are that elevated? No! Maybe they just made the driving range into its own activity totally separate from playing golf on a course, like skee-ball is to bowling. No judgment here; they created a thriving business that people love and are getting value from, but it sure doesn’t seem like it’s helping people get better at the game, and the on-the-course golfers I know would never go to TopGolf for real practice (no putting green and no chipping area - the most important skills to lower your scores).
What is the happy medium that solves the immediate needs of golfers who actually want to get better at the on-course game? Well, it is definitely not a carnival ride that just happens to have golf involved, nor is it a dirt field, ten-year-old range balls, a rubber mat that was salvaged from the bottom of a lake, and $100 per hour golf lessons.
It’s time for a new golf learning experience. One that is affordable, yet packed full of value; one that is built around the fundamentals and education from the ground up; one that lets you learn your way, at your pace, while making help readily available when you need it; and one that constantly draws the lines between what you are working on and how it will help you beat the pants off your buddies next weekend.
That’s our mission at From Golf with Love, to make sure everyone who visits a practice facility, whether they’re a lifelong player or have never hit a ball before, is welcomed by a well thought out experience specifically designed to accelerate their progress towards lower scores on the course.
From Golf with Love.
Helping Golfers Get Better, Right Now.
You in?