Welcome to Issue #4
"Confidence is the single most important factor in this game, and no matter how great your natural talent, there is only one way to obtain and sustain it: work. "
Jack Nicklaus
What’s on our mind this week
The fun is about to start with contract renegotiations over at LIV, the home of golf is going big on renovations, Tiger's Sun Day Red goes retro, has Tommy broken 100 left-handed yet? (spoiler: no), Golf Channel going full nostalgia mode, Malbon x Honma bougie golf clubs, oh, and yes, I won my clubs gold medal (after a stewards’ inquiry).
In the news
Why it matters: Amazon launched its first-ever golf ball last week, the Amazon Basics Core Soft, at just $14.49 per dozen or 24 balls for $25 - that's almost $1 a ball. This isn't just another budget option entering a crowded market; it's the world's largest e-commerce platform leveraging its distribution muscle to undercut virtually every competitor. For context, premium balls like Titleist Pro V1 retail around $55-60 per dozen. Online testing shows the Amazon ball isn't just cheap - it actually performs.
Our Take: The golf ball market is worth $1.4bn annually and is dominated by Titleist, Callaway and TaylorMade. Amazon doesn't need to beat those brands on performance, it just needs to be 'good enough'. Amazon has scale and reach that the other companies don't; +200m Prime members, next-day delivery, the world's most powerful recommendations engine. When a casual golfer searches online for golf balls, guess which one will pop up first? When Amazon enters a market, prices drop. Just look at the battery category where Duracell prices fell by 30%. We can expect to see similar dynamics play out in golf.
Why it matters: Kai Trump, the 18-year-old granddaughter of President Donald Trump and a Miami golf commit, will make her LPGA Tour debut in November after receiving a sponsor exemption into The ANNIKA. Kai is ranked #461 in the Junior American Girls standings (not close to tour-ready), has 6m followers on social media and recently launched an apparel and lifestyle brand. This isn't about golf credentials, it's about eyeballs. LPGA executive Ricki Lasky explicitly stated: "Kai's broad following and reach are helping introduce golf to new audiences, especially among younger fans." The tour is openly prioritising celebrity and social reach over competitive merit.
Our Take: The LPGA faces a brutal commercial reality - talent depth doesn't pay the bills, star power does. Sponsor exemptions are explicitly commercial decisions. Trump's invite is shrewd marketing but questionable optics. It confirms that connections and marketability beat years of grinding developmental tours. The political dimension adds complexity as her grandfather owns multiple golf courses and the Trump name guarantees massive media coverage but also risks alienating fans who prefer sports without political baggage. Sponsor exemptions for non-professional golfers aren't uncommon in either the ladies' or men's games - Kai's presence at The ANNIKA will undoubtedly raise the event's profile and create hype online. If ticket sales and viewership increases 10x, then the risk the LPGA is taking will be worthwhile.
Why it matters: The PXG x Cole Haan collaboration, which unveiled a limited-edition collection of performance-driven golf footwear, signifies the complete merger of the specialised golf market with mainstream fashion and comfort technology. This partnership directly addresses the post-pandemic shift in consumer demand for hybrid apparel and footwear that transitions seamlessly from the course to the clubhouse and daily life. By merging PXG's edgy, performance-first ethos with Cole Haan's nearly century-long legacy in comfort innovation, this collaboration validates the golf industry's move away from purely functional, niche products towards lifestyle integration.
Our Take: This collaboration is a masterclass in lifestyle brand extension. For PXG, historically known for high-end, bold clubs and apparel, partnering with an established global lifestyle brand like Cole Haan immediately grants them access to a broader, affluent, fashion-conscious consumer base outside traditional golf retail. This move enhances PXG's reputation as a complete lifestyle brand, fulfilling their mission to serve "the complete golfer, from the moment they step onto the course to how they carry the game into their everyday life." For Cole Haan, the partnership strengthens their commitment to technical, performance-driven innovation. The strategy relies on creating limited-edition scarcity combined with premium pricing to drive immediate revenue whilst significantly broadening the marketing funnel for both brands.
Pics from The Times and Bunkered
Worth your time
Listen: Founders Podcast David Senra does a fascinating dive into Tiger Wood’s life and brilliant mindset.
Read: Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT and the Race That Will Change the World by Parmy Olson Interesting book.. explores the AI arms race, tech strategy and the business implications, all relevant to golf.
Watch: The Koerner Office If you happen to have a floating green and a spare lake, you could be in business.
Follow: @kclairerogers on X/Twitter Claire Rogers brings golf news and insights in her unique and engaging style.
Feature story
The algorithm on the green: AI's three-front revolution in golf
Pic from Google Blog
I saw an Instagram Reel this week that made me stop scrolling. A golfer rests his phone against his bag, opens ChatGPT, and starts hitting balls. The AI analyses his swing in real time. Expert feedback. Custom drills. Zero cost.
Five years ago, this would have required a $50,000 launch monitor and a biomechanics expert charging $300 per hour. Now? Free. On your phone.
That Reel reveals something bigger: AI isn't coming to golf. It's already here. The sports technology market is projected to explode from $17.81 billion in 2024 to $117.93 billion by 2034 - that's a 20.81% compound annual growth rate, and golf sits right in the middle of this surge.
AI is already redesigning equipment, managing courses, pricing tee times, and changing how millions learn the game. The question isn't whether AI will transform golf. It already has. The question is whether you'll leverage this strategically or watch competitors pull away whilst you're still debating whether to trust it.
Equipment manufacturers are playing a different game now
Equipment R&D has historically been expensive, time-consuming, and limited by human intuition. Traditional design cycles take 18-24 months and often produce incremental improvements rather than genuine breakthroughs. Golfers now demand data-backed performance claims, not marketing promises.
Callaway's Epic Flash driver changed everything. They invested $5 million in a supercomputer that ran 24/7 for four weeks, cycling through 15,000 virtual iterations. Dr Alan Hocknell, their head of R&D, wanted to "break out of a pattern of thinking too similarly to our competitors."
The result was fundamentally different equipment. Each club possesses a unique AI-generated face thickness pattern that no human designer would have conceived. The AI explored design spaces traditional methods couldn't reach, producing measurably better performance that sells itself on launch monitor data.
TaylorMade followed with machine learning optimising their Stealth driver. Ping deployed AI for custom fitting at scale. What once required a master fitter's intuition now happens algorithmically, consistently, and at volume.
Apparel manufacturers are leveraging AI in equally sophisticated ways. Under Armour and Nike now use machine learning algorithms to analyse biomechanical data and design golf clothing that enhances performance. These AI systems study how fabric moves during a golf swing, where restriction occurs, and where additional stretch or compression could improve range of motion. The result is apparel engineered not just for comfort, but for optimising the kinematic sequence of a golf swing.
This creates a moat that smaller brands struggle to cross. Companies without AI capabilities aren't just slower to market - they're producing demonstrably inferior products. As Ismail Benhayoun from Altair notes: "Through AI, Altair has one goal: to help companies make better products faster, cheaper, and in a more sustainable way."
But the transformation isn't just confined to the factory floor, it's hitting the fairways too…
Courses and clubs are capturing revenue they used to miss
78% of golf facilities are reporting seasonal staffing shortages. Margins are thin. Revenue opportunities slip through the cracks because nobody's answering phones at 11pm when someone wants to book a tee time.
AI-powered chatbots now handle up to 87% of hospitality enquiries. 24/7 service, no additional labour costs. One Florida resort saw enquiry response time drop from 4 hours to 4 minutes, with conversion rates jumping 23%.
Revenue management systems using AI boost revenue per available room by 5% to 17% and overall revenue by 12% to 15%. For a mid-sized club generating $2 million annually, that's an additional $240,000 to $300,000 straight to the bottom line.
Dynamic pricing for tee times is now accessible to any course willing to implement it. AI analyses weather patterns, historical demand, local events, and competitor pricing to optimise rates in real time. Some courses report AI-driven advertising generates 75% of their green fee revenue.
Smart agronomy: From reactive to predictive
Course maintenance is seeing similar gains. AI-powered agronomy platforms analyse drone imagery to detect pest infestations and disease before they're visible to the human eye. Irrigation systems determine precise watering needs, reducing water usage by 20-30% whilst improving conditions.
Richard Windows, Assistant Director of Sustainable Agronomy at The R&A: "The R&A's agronomy team is focused on delivering high-performance surfaces in a sustainable way." Robotic mowers, optimised irrigation, predictive analytics. These are operational realities at leading facilities now.
The clubs implementing these systems are capturing revenue their competitors miss. The uncomfortable truth is AI adoption is widening the gap between well-capitalised operators and everyone else.
The uncomfortable truth about AI coaching
Traditional golf instruction is expensive and inconsistent. A lesson with a top instructor costs $100-$300 per hour. Feedback is subjective. Progress tracking is manual.
Bryson DeChambeau's partnership with Google Cloud shows where this is heading. His smartphone-based AI platform provides instant biomechanical feedback. "Do I believe that AI can change how golf is fundamentally coached? 100%. I think it's the future."
But the real revolution is in democratising access. That Instagram Reel I watched, where ChatGPT analyses a swing via smartphone camera, represents a fundamental shift. Technology that required expensive launch monitors five years ago is now free.
Arccos Golf's Smart Sensors track every shot, using machine learning to identify patterns and suggest improvements. Sal Syed, Arccos CEO: "We're doing something unique in turning AI into a physical good," like their Smart Laser Rangefinder with AI-driven course strategy.
The PGA Tour's AWS partnership captures 72 million data points across a four-day event. ShotLink feeds into TourCast, creating digital twins that help players understand exactly why certain decisions work or fail.
Pic from Sportsbox AI
Where human expertise still wins
Here's where honesty matters. AI brilliantly diagnoses the what. "Club face 2 degrees open at impact" is measurable and accurate. But human coaches provide the why and how. A good coach translates overwhelming data into one actionable "feel" and understands that improvement involves psychology as much as mechanics.
AI models are based on averages and cannot account for unique anatomical quirks or competition pressure. That's not a current limitation. It's a fundamental constraint.
The winning model isn't AI replacing coaches. It's AI supplementing them - handling data collection whilst coaches provide interpretation and strategy.
What happens next
Well-capitalised operators will pull ahead because they can afford systems that deliver measurable advantages. Initial AI systems require significant investment: analytics tools, drones, smart irrigation, custom fitting technology.
But the operators succeeding aren't replacing humans with AI. They're empowering humans with AI. Equipment brands using algorithms still need master fitters. Courses using AI for operations still need staff for member interactions. Coaches using AI for analysis still provide interpretation and psychology.
Industry experts encourage starting small: "Choose one item that frees up time, like email copywriting or member communications. Just incremental changes, that's what works." Pick one problem, solve it well, measure results, expand. Treat AI like any capital investment: clear ROI targets, measurable outcomes.
Data quality determines everything. Rubbish in, rubbish out. If your data is inconsistent or incomplete, AI amplifies problems rather than solving them.
We're building systems making decisions affecting competitive outcomes, financial markets, and livelihoods. Data privacy remains paramount with wearables collecting sensitive information. GDPR compliance is essential. The bias risk isn't theoretical - if your AI trains on data reflecting historical inequities, you're automating those inequities at scale.
Soul still matters. The magic of courses like Dundonald Links lives in nuance and imagination. Equipment that performs brilliantly but feels dead won't sell. Instruction providing perfect data but killing joy won't retain students.
Bloomberg predicts the generative AI market reaches $1.3 trillion by 2032, up from $40 billion in 2022. The clubs, brands, and coaches embracing AI strategically will thrive. Those resisting risk falling behind because competitors are capturing revenue and efficiency gains they cannot match.
Two years is long in technology. But in golf business, operators making these investments now will own the next decade. That's not a prediction. It's just what the numbers say.
One thing from history
The ball with a secret: Penfold’s bold branding gamble
Pic from Morton Golf Blog
In the 1920s, English entrepreneur Albert Ernest Penfold saw golf balls as more than just equipment - he saw them as a story. Whilst competitors obsessed over patents and dimple patterns, Penfold focused on personality.
He launched the Penfold Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, and Spades - golf balls marked not with dull numbers but with playing-card suits. It was brilliant branding long before "brand strategy" was a thing. Golfers could identify their ball instantly, and the designs gave Penfold an unmistakable identity on the tee.
Then came the ultimate marketing hole-in-one: a Penfold Hearts cameo in Goldfinger (1964). James Bond teed one up against Goldfinger himself. No sponsorship deal, just perfect placement.
Penfold never became Titleist, but his flair for storytelling and differentiation left a mark.
Penfold understood that success in golf, and in business, isn't just about technical excellence. It's about emotional connection. By giving his golf balls character, he turned a commodity into a conversation piece. The performance mattered, but the story sold it. In an industry where innovation is quickly copied, distinctiveness endures.
Next week
Inside the business model showdown – How the PGA and LIV are shaping up for the 2026 season.
Have a good week. Until next Friday,
David
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