Patrick Shea’s million-dollar idea came to him in a place know for its ability to inspired creativity: a bar. The Los Gatos resident decided to try to "shoot" a round of golf using dice. He made up some basic rules and shared his invention with friends, including the bartender.
"Next thing I know, everyone is playing," said Shea, 37.
Shea, a PGA pro at Santa Clara Golf and Tennis Club, spent 1999 developing the idea and came up with the highly entertaining – and addictive- game of GOLO. He gathered some friends back at the bar and assembled the first 2500 units of the game. In January 2000, Shea hit the road to try and sell his idea.
He sold out in less than four months.
Now instead of his brother’s garage and the trunk of his car, Shea has a warehouse in Milpitas, an office in Los Gatos and distributors in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom.
"I think a lot of people who start companies have no idea what they’re getting into," said Shea, who earned a marketing degree from Santa Clara University, where he also played on the golf team. "I was definitely one of those people."
Shea said his company, Front9, has sold almost 300,000 units of GOLO and has already made a successful online version of the game (www.iGOLO.com) with over 250,000 games played in less than 5 months.
"It’s been a blast," Shea said. "It’s bigger than me. It’s taken a like of its own. Now there’s even a GOLO TOUR (a series of indoor GOLO tournaments) played all over the U.S."
Eric Pinkela
SJ Mercury
With a suggested retail price is $19.95, GOLO is available at select national retail stores, including Steinmart, Golf Galaxy, Golf Smith, Austads, Toy-R-Us, as well as pro shops, sporting goods stores and game stores.
For more information on the game visit the website at www.iGOLO.com. For more information on the GOLO Tour, visit www.GOLOTOUR.com .
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