A new golf app, Simply Golf, was launched yesterday in Dublin and aims to transform the way in which golf professionals manage the lessons that are the bedrock of their livelihood.
Backed by Irish star Shane Lowry and high powered agent Conor Ridge the app was first seen at this year’s Business of Sports Science event hosted by Sport for Business at the BT Young Scientist and Technology exhibition in January.
It provides a seamless way for amateur golfers to book lessons with golf pro’s and is similar in its simplicity to other booking engines like Hailo.
Traction
The app looks great and has real potential to gain traction in a very valuable market. As part of the launch the company is giving away 1,000 free golf lessons to those who download from the Apple store.
An android version is currently being finished for release ahead of a move to the US in the second quarter of 2015.
Free to download for pro’s and customers, the business model will be to take a small commission on each booking as it is made and paid for. There is no investment needed then in advance by either side and the success of the app will be driven not by the idea but by whether it works.
“We are launching in Ireland,” said Simply Golf CEO Colm Daly but within the next three months we will be pushing into the US market which has a value in terms of lessons of over $1 Billion a year.”
“Ireland has 550 golf professionals but Florida alone has six times that and we have been given a great reception by those who will be our customers there and in California.”
Global
“We then plan to roll out the service globally to the estimated 54 million golfers around the world.”
“I’m really excited to be involved with an Irish company whose sole aim is to grow the game of golf across the world,” said Lowry.
“Golf is a game that can be difficult for people to get into. The Simply Golf app makes it easier for non-golfers to take up the game of golf, and for golfers to improve their game.”
While elite professionals like Shane Lowry – who may carry the Simply Golf logo on his bag during his debut appearance at the US Masters next month – earn massive income through prize money, most golf professionals rely on lesson income to fund their involvement in the sport.
Income
Bernard Quigley is involved in the early stages of the business and he estimated yesterday that the provision of such a simple and accessible service could lift his income from providing lessons at Carton House by between 20 and 30 per cent.
It’s an ambitious play but with good people behind it Simply Golf has every chance of being a real winner for Irish Sports Technology. It will require big marketing spend to crack the US but with Lowry and Ridge on the case the chances of success are greater than you would imagine say for Padraig Harrington making a winning return on the US Tour…
We wish them the best of luck and have already downloaded our app. Now to dust down those clubs.
