Jacklin Invests In Zest.Golf In Quest For Tech Change
Tony Jacklin CBE
Tony Jacklin CBE, a pioneer throughout his esteemed career in golf, has decided to invest in a new technology company making its own bid to drive change within the golf industry.
Zest.Golf Technologies, with offices in Scotland, the ‘Home of Golf’, and tech partners in the Netherlands, has launched an equity crowdfunding campaign to help the business grow and change the face of the global online tee time marketplace for the benefit of stakeholders across the industry.
Fast tracked by Scottish Enterprise into their High Growth Programme, Zest.Golf is seeking an investment of 790,000 euros to build core infrastructure in Dundee – a world-recognised technology centre – and invest in ongoing product development and continue to drive market uptake and penetration.
Established in 2018, over 120 golf courses across five countries and 25 sales channels have registered with Zest.Golf’s Channel Manager, an industry-changing technology that allows golf courses to manage multiple tee time sales channels from one place, setting the price and availability with each separately.
The company believe their open, independent technology has the potential to revolutionise the golf industry – in much the same way channel managers have for the airline and accommodation sectors – and literally connect a golf course’s tee-sheet to the world.
Jacklin, the most successful Ryder Cup Captain of all time and British player of his generation, will participate as an investor in the crowdfund and is high up the leaderboard of golfing trailblazers. The Englishman celebrates the 50th anniversary of his Open win at Royal Lytham & St Annes this summer, his victory in 1969 the first by a British golfer in 18 years. The following year he became the first Briton to claim the US Open for 50 years. Well versed in breaking down barriers, Jacklin helped transform the Ryder Cup on and off the course and lead Europe to a first-ever victory on American soil in 1987.
Now the 74-year-old believes Zest.Golf can achieve their own form of change and said: “Golf is a global sport with innovation and technology at its very heart.
“I know that for many players booking a tee time can be a frustrating experience, as it can take extensive searching of websites and numerous phone calls to make a tee time reservation. I also know that clubs who should be making valuable income from selling tee times are, in fact, losing money.
“The system is out of date and not delivering for players or clubs. This needs to change and Zest.Golf have the answer with their new technology for the global tee time market. It makes golf tourism more accessible and the tee time industry fairer, more open and more profitable for clubs whilst providing a superior experience for the golfer. I therefore urge golf businesses and those with a passion for the game to follow me and invest in the Zest.Golf Channel Manager via their crowdfunding campaign.”
Zest.Golf was launched after industry research demonstrated a frustration among golf courses at the lack of opportunity to sell tee-times.
“Our channel manager delivers the first truly open, independent and global tee time market place that changes the way tee times are distributed and sold online across the globe, ultimately for the good of clubs, players, the industry and the game as a whole,” says Oliver Dury, Commercial Director. “Courses around the world can use the Zest.Golf channel manager to list available tee times and rates. We aggregate all the available tee times globally so that any sales channel can access the inventory and sell on to the golfer, who can then make real-time bookings.”
The golf travel industry is one of the many areas that Zest believe can be transformed through the adoption of the technology.
Dury added: “By connecting with the Zest.Golf Channel Manager, tour operators can log into multiple tee-sheets and book tee-times simultaneously. This saves a huge amount of time and resources when compared to the current requirement of emailing and calling golf courses to understand availability and make separate bookings at each course. To put the growth potential of the golf travel sector into context, there are 60m golfers worldwide (8m in Europe) and 70% of golf travellers are looking to visit a new destination when they organise a golf vacation. The latest IAGTO report states Tour Operators are reporting a year on year booking increase of 5% and we believe an incredible 90% of these bookings are still happening offline.”
Zest.Golf have already made considerable investment in research, development and testing and now wish to attract further commercial interest by opening the opportunity to the entire golf industry and lovers of the game globally.
Dury continued: “The goal is to become almost the ‘voice’ for distribution, providing one connection that can benefit courses, tee sheet providers and sales partners. We feel crowdfunding the next stage of our business fits our ethos perfectly, as it allows both golf businesses and golfers around the world, to invest and be part of changing the future of the game.”
Zest.Golf have partnered with Rotterdam-based company Lunatech Labs to develop their technology. Lunatech use the very latest tools and programming language to provide solutions for their clients, that include global car manufacturers and leading financial institutions. The company have offices in Amsterdam, Paris and Niort.
To find out more and get on board with your investment, visit the Zest.Golf pitch page at https://www.seedrs.com/zest The Zest.Golf Channel Manager has launched, and golf courses and sales partners can find out more and register at www.zest.golf Any channel or golf course can sign up and simply pay a nominal fee every time a booking is made.
