10K HOLES-IN-ONE, A GLOBAL SCRAMBLE AND A BETTER BUSINESS;
INTRODUCING SKYiGOLF, A GROUP THAT WILL ENERGIZE GOLF
What if golf could be a lot more fun and rewarding to those who play it, and at the same time, PGA Professionals and golf course owners could be provided tools and technology that will greatly enhance their business? SKYiGOLF is here. SKYiGOLF, a company built and staffed by PGA Professionals and driven to make the game more fun, was unveiled by Founder/CEO and visionary Rich Smith Oct. 30 at the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Fla.
Employing a nationwide staff of accomplished PGA Professionals that know the industry and its challenges as only PGA Professionals do, SKYiGOLF prides itself as a company built by PGA Pros for PGA Pros.
Smith, 48, a PGA Professional, former CEO/Executive Director of the PGA of America’s North Florida Section and an owner of two golf courses in Florida, doesn’t view SKYiGOLF as a business. He sees it as a calling, one that’s essential to bolster an industry that could use a boost.
“This is a group of like-minded PGA Professionals who share a passion for the game of golf and want to make sure this industry improves so that everyone has the opportunity to enjoy golf the way we have,” Smith said. “We’ve built a platform of amenities and resources to help everyone involved in the game. We’ve built a program where everybody wins.”
SKYiGOLF believes that golfers who pull off the game’s most amazing shot – a hole-in-one – should receive something beyond a few pats on the back at the 19th Hole. So SKYiGOLF players (registration is free at SKYiGOLF.com) who record an ace on designated par-3 holes across facilities signed on with SKYiGOLF will receive $10,000. Ten thousand dollars!! High-tech 4K cameras positioned near the tee and green will capture the moment, and the player will be given a video keepsake of lifetime special memory, his or her magical moment narrated by a well-known golf personality.
SKYiGOLF members will have the opportunity to participate in the SKYiGOLF Global Scramble Championship, with the November 2019 finals slated across three world-class courses in the Bahamas: The Ocean Club; Royal Blue; and Albany, home of Tiger Woods’ annual Hero World Challenge.
How can SKYiGOLF help increase participation and rounds played? The more that SKYiGOLF members play, the more they’ll be rewarded, with SKYiGOLF bonus bucks allotted via a points system for nine- and 18-hole rounds at SKYiGOLF facilities. (Players will receive double points at their anchor clubs.) Th SKYiGOLF bucks go directly back into the facilities.
In addition, the more a SKYiGOLF member plays, the more entries he or she will be eligible to receive into a SKYiGOLF Sweepstakes conducting monthly and year-end drawings – both regionally and nationally – for golf merchandise, cash bonanzas and life experiences such as pro-am spots and tickets to major golf events.
On the course operations side, SKYiGOLF will give PGA Professionals and course operators the tools and enhanced technology to run a better, and more efficient, business model. SKYiGOLF has partnered with software provider foreUP to build a cloud-based point of sale and tee-time booking system that can help pros learn more about their customers. SKYiGOLF also has partnered with On-Pin, an integrated golf course management system that provides course and pace-of-play monitoring both for cart-riders and walking players through intuitive tracking methods, as well as modernized GPS units in carts.
SKYiGOLF prides itself on its strong back-room support system that is attentive and responsive to the daily needs of the PGA Pro and course operators. Pros and course owners will have the ability to deliver a better product to their golfers while also reducing their expenses. SKYiGOLF wants to help to elevate an industry that has been struggling.
“It’s very important to us that the game of golf, and the golf industry, lives, survives and thrives, so that future generations can enjoy this great sport,” Smith said. “The game of golf is awesome. It’s our hope that SKYiGOLF ensures that people who play golf have way more fun doing it. That, along with the tools we’re providing golf course operators, will make the industry stronger.”
SKYiGOLF will be donating a portion of every round played at SKYiGOLF facilities to the Folds of Honor, a 501(c)(3) that provides educational scholarships to the families of wounded and fallen military members. On Nov. 10, at one of his two courses, Smith will be handing a check to the Folds of Honor for $55,000 from his first-year program at Charlotte Harbor National.
To view a recorded stream of Tuesday morning’s SKYiGOLF news conference, go to https://bit.ly/2yxWCER
For more information, or for interview opportunities with key executives at SKYiGOLF, please contact SKYiGOLF Chief Communications Officer Jeff Babineau at (407) 496-4956 or jeff.babineau@skyigolf.com.
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