Just before COVID-19 started, the PGA of America kicked around a simple concept to advance its mission to both grow the game and benefit its 28,000 members: invest in golf innovation. When the time was right to implement the idea with golf’s pandemic-related boom, it found a like-minded partner from the sports realm to team up with.
The PGA of America and Elysian Park Ventures – the private investment arm of the Los Angeles Dodgers ownership group – announced in July the creation of EP Golf Ventures, LLC, an investment partnership designed to support innovation in the golf industry.
“The PGA of America had set up an innovation front and effort with the idea of how do we invest in private companies that we believe can benefit our mission to serve members and grow the game,” said Arjun Chowdri, the chief administrative and innovation officer for the PGA of America.
“We’d known the Elysian Park folks for a long time, and they said they wanted to focus on how we do these things together. Elysian Park Ventures has been very successful, and we realized we could really benefit from their insight and expertise on the innovation front. The opportunity to direct additional funding to golf industry is only going to benefit our efforts.”
Elysian Park Ventures – founded in 2014 and named for the 600-acre city park that hosts Dodger Stadium and its headquarters – holds a portfolio of more than 45 promising brands and companies that operate in sports technology, entertainment, health, fitness and wellness. It also runs a project called Global Sports Venture Studio, an incubator for ideas and startups in the sports world. Its core thesis is that technology will continue to radically change how people participate and interact with sports.
With EP Golf Ventures, the two partners will invest in areas that drive value across the $84 billion-plus golf industry. According to the PGA of America’s release, targeted areas include: coaching and training; health, wellness and performance science; hospitality; facility management; retail and agriculture.
“The PGA of America is committed to developing and growing the game for the current and next generation of players, golf facilities and PGA professionals,” said Seth Waugh, PGA of America CEO. “Through EP Golf Ventures, we will be able to identify and invest in the most promising businesses within the golf industry to support both innovation and the growth of the game, as well as create long-term value for PGA Professionals.”
“We love it because it has an opportunity to increase golf access to places that wouldn’t be able to and create opportunities for PGA members.” – Arjun Chowdri
Upon its announcement in July, EP Golf Ventures has already made investments in two companies: Sportsbox AI and Dryvebox.
Sportsbox AI is an AI-powered technology company that develops coaching applications through markerless 3D motion capture. It’s a technology that can drive the future of golf coaching for PGA professionals.
Dryvebox is a mobile golf simulator designed to increase golf access through lessons, practice sessions, virtual golf and private events. It’s currently available in California (Bay Area), South Carolina (Charleston) and Utah (Salt Lake City), but with investment from EP Golf Ventures, it can fuel expansion.
“Both of those checked boxes of furthering our mission while being sound financial investments,” Chowdri said. “We love it because it has an opportunity to increase golf access to places that wouldn’t be able to and create opportunities for PGA members.”
On selecting what innovative companies to invest in, Chowdri said EP Golf Ventures can not only rely on Elysian Park’s experience but on its own network that includes 41 PGA sections and its professionals for insight and ideas that are always welcome.
“It’s a combination: sometimes they come to us, certainly, but we also seek them out,” Chowdri said.
Dryvebox was an example of the latter. Using the PitchBook platform – a large financial database of private companies and venture capital – a data analysis found the investment opportunity in the mobile golf simulation startup that fit perfectly into the PGA’s mission of expanding access.
“The number one requirement is our strategic filter – does it have the opportunity to grow the game and enhance our members’ lives,” Chowdri said. “As Seth Waugh always says, we’re trying to protect the game for our kids’ kids. We’re here for the broader golf industry and how can we drive that innovation success.”
While EP Golf Ventures started with a capital fund from both the PGA of America and Elysian Park, it seeks like-minded investors to join a concept it believes in.
“Golf is one of the world’s fastest-growing sports, and there is an enormous opportunity to innovate, improve and extend the reach of the game on and beyond the course,” Jay Adya, managing director for Elysian Park Ventures, said in the announcement release. “EP Golf Ventures combines the golf industry expertise of the PGA of America with the institutional knowledge of our team at Elysian Park. Together, we believe EP Golf Ventures and the strategic investments we make will have a positive, prolonged impact on the game of golf and create real value for stakeholders.”