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It's been a banner year for both Youth on Course and GolfNow as golf has boomed in 2020.
The two hope that a new partnership announced Dec. 1 will continue to grow the game of golf for years to come. Youth on Course, a 501(c)3 organization headquartered in Pebble Beach, Calif., will use GolfNow's technology and reach for fundraising and to make booking tee times easier for its members ages 18 and under.
GolfNow will develop a custom Youth on Course booking engine, allowing kids the ease and convenience of booking tee times online or via a mobile app. Meanwhile, the GolfNow “round-up” campaign will offer anyone booking tee times on GolfNow.com the opportunity to round up the total cost of the reservation to an even dollar figure. For example, if the cost of a tee time totals $34.65, the golfer can elect to round up the cost to $35, donating the additional $0.35 to Youth on Course.
“Growing the game of golf is part of the mission of both GolfNow and Youth on Course, so not only are we proud of this new collaboration that will help welcome more kids to our great sport, but we’re also extremely excited to be lending our industry-leading technology to help Youth on Course advance their efforts exponentially,” said Jerramy Hainline, GolfNow SVP/GM.
Additionally, each Youth on Course membership also will now include access to hundreds of hours of high-quality golf instruction thanks to a complimentary video membership through GolfPass, NBC Sports’ digital golf membership that delivers exclusive content and comprehensive benefits to golfers. GolfPass also will help develop welcome and training curriculum for Youth on Course members and affiliated golf courses, while Youth on Course will help GolfPass with content creation and distribution.
Currently, Youth on Course provides its 100,000 members with access to play thousands of courses across 37 states for $5 or less. Members also are supplied with career opportunities through caddie and internship programs and have the chance to receive college scholarships. Mutual elements of the partnership include cross-platform marketing and golf course relationship and recruitment opportunities.
“Looking back at the history of Youth on Course and the mission we set out to accomplish in 2006, joining forces with GolfNow is a valuable milestone for both organizations,” says Adam Heieck, Youth on Course CEO. “Placing access to golf content and technology in the hands of our members has been something we’ve dreamed about for a long time.”
Comments (1)
This is one of the most important articles published this year in GA.
It sounds like all of the right initiatives are now in play, and all should reap long-term benefits. Involving young people in this game is critical to both the game's immediate and long-term future.
I especially like the idea of complimentary instruction. If kids don't know how to play this confoundingly difficult game, too many will give up prematurely in frustration. Knowledge of the fundamentals is critical, especially for those who are not gifted athletes.
I still think golf course operations need to be more flexible and imaginative with delivering the game to young people, perhaps with six-hole courses (or the like) and other ways to shorten or speed up the game. Slow play is a killer for those with shorter attention spans, and this is an cellphone/videogame--or whatever--generation.
Thanks for shedding more light on one of golf's most important topics today.