Funding the next generation of golf companies from Colorado

Denver’s Old Tom Capital, one of the most active investors in the golf industry, gives a look into the golf-curious customer

By Jim Bebbington and Michael Colander

As TMRW Sports’ new simulator-based golf league plays each week on ESPN this winter, one Colorado investment fund is watching with great interest.

Colorado-based investment fund Old Tom Capital is one of TMRW Sports’ initial investors. It was a move consistent with Old Tom’s goal of investing in golf-adjacent start-up businesses that are seeking to bring the game to the growing generation of ‘golf-curious’ viewers.

Old Tom Capital is the creation of Broomfield-native Matthew Erley and his Atlanta-based partner Evan Roosevelt. Erley, 38, came to angel investing after several entrepreneurial start-ups of his own, including Drizly – the alcohol delivery service that Uber purchased in 2021 for $1.1 billion.

Now Erley and Roosevelt are taking the unusual path of creating an investment house that is specifically targeted to one deep niche product line – golf.

“We’re fundamentally optimistic about the fundamental upside in golf,” Erley said in a recent interview. “If you want to play golf anyone can play golf. There’s so many different ways to experience it. Golf is really changing and innovating and we’re interested in being at the forefront of investing in great companies.”

Old Tom Capital’s investment portfolio includes some familiar names as well as some still seeking recognition.

TMRW Sports is having its moment. Its indoor golf competition TGL (TMRW Golf League) is in the midst of its first season, and players such as Tiger Woods, Rory Mcilroy and Wyndham Clark are playing live televised matches in a state-of-the-art indoor arena.

The matches are played on fancifully-designed golf simulator holes with players hitting off real grass into 30-foot tall screens. The ratings for the matches are evolving – Tiger’s first appearance on the show drew more than 1 million viewers for ESPN at one point, better than the NBA’s Denver Nuggets game being played at the same time on TNT.

Old Tom Capital is also an investor in Sweetens Cove Spirits, a Peyton Manning-backed project that is both a 9-hole course in Tennessee as well as a whiskey distillery that produces ‘The official bourbon of golf.’

Other companies are Birdie Houses (which offers luxury short-term rentals near golf resorts), Quiet Golf golf apparel, TerraRad irrigation management, Lusso Cloud footwear, Dryveboxportable golf simulators,  as well as the Fairgame golf app.

Roosevelt said in an interview with Andrew Petcash of the sports podcast Profluence that they are less interested in golf investments into traditional courses or even golf-simulator bars, but more in the companies seeking to build products that help get the new wave of ‘golf-curious’ people deeper into the game.

The golf-curious is a broad label for the new generation of players who have been introduced to the game through simulators, facilities like TopGolf, and VR headsets. This is a group that will stick around the game for something bigger if the right tools and environment present themselves.

“If we had to pick one space that we’re interested in as investors the most … it’s that,” Erley told Petcash. “When someone goes to a TopGolf for the first time or when they pick up a Golf Plus VR headset and plays a hole … where can go after that? They’re certainly not going to an 18-hole traditional golf course and teeing off on the first tee. They’re looking for something else.”

Old Tom’s strategy is looking for companies that can grow to at least $100 million in annual revenue.

For example, with TMRW Sports’ TGL Golf League, if the broadcast product goes well it’s a very short leap to see the facility and fanciful golf holes being offered to amateur golfers – either remotely or through new facilities built nationwide.

“There’s nothing wrong with building a lifestyle business, but for us as investors, we obviously have to find stuff that has scale,” he told Colorado AvidGolfer’s Michael Colander. “So (is it) golf focused, large addressable market, great founders and a growth strategy, a growth narrative that we think they can actually get there. They can use our money, they can use capital that they’re taking to get to that next level. So if those check the boxes then we’re in.”

Erley lives in the Washington Park neighborhood of Denver with his wife Shannon and their two children. He is hoping to build his new venture while remaining in Colorado, and said the state’s growing reputation as a golf stronghold makes him optimistic he’ll be able to help lead the next generation of golf innovation from here.

“There are pockets of the golf industry  – Carlsbad, Orlando – but Denver has become a great place for a lot of founders and builders,” he said. “You have GolfTec, Pins and Aces, Edel Golf is here now. You have a lot of great golf founders and golf businesses. Colorado is actually becoming a great epicenter for the golf industry. It’s where I plan to continue.”

 


Jim Bebbington is the Director of Content at Colorado AvidGolfer and can be reached at [email protected]

Colorado AvidGolfer Magazine is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it, publishing eight issues annually and proudly delivering daily content via coloradoavidgolfer.com.

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Funding the next generation of golf companies from Colorado

Denver’s Old Tom Capital, one of the most active investors in the golf industry, gives a look into the golf-curious customer By Jim Bebbington and Michael Colander As TMRW Sports’ new simulator-based golf league plays each week on ESPN this winter, one Colorado investment fund is watching with great interest. Colorado-based investment fund Old Tom

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