Golf is Hard Enough, Finding Tee Times Shouldn’t Be

Putting it Close’s inspiring beginnings

By Kyle Simonett

Kyle Simonett and Travis Landauer grew up together in the Vail Valley, where their parents instilled their love of golf.  But life has a way of taking people in different directions. In 2013, Kyle left to serve as a Helicopter Rescue Swimmer in the United States Navy, based out of Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, serving for 6 years.  Meanwhile, Travis spent time at school in Pennsylvania, worked in Michigan, and they both eventually landed back home.  Golf became a way for them to reconnect during the pandemic. The two quickly became regular playing partners, booking rounds across Colorado’s front range and organizing annual golf trips that became a highlight of their year. They encountered a few recurring problems: booking tee times was tedious, and finding the right ones was a genuine headache.

“I was constantly searching across five or six different websites, trying to find the right tee times that everyone could make.”

• Kyle Simonett, Co-Founder & CEO

Enter Cory Boone, a native of Atlanta, Georgia. Cory grew up around the game and worked at a local course during high school. After relocating to Colorado, Cory found his way into Kyle and Travis’s circle through adult league hockey in Denver.  One evening after a game, the three started talking about golf. The complaints were familiar: too many sites to check, prime weekend slots booked, and no way to know when last minute tee times became available; the whole process just felt harder than it needed to be.

“It’s so hard to find good tee times without being on the computer constantly refreshing the tee sheets.”

• Cory, Co-Founder & CTO

And just like that, Putting It Close was born.

The three began collecting data, stress-testing the concept, and developed a test application. It turned out the idea wasn’t just good, it was needed. Putting It Close does exactly what that night’s conversation imagined: sending users real-time alerts and notifications when tee times become available at their favorite courses, eliminating the endless tab-switching and manual searching that has plagued recreational golfers for years. Users select their preferred courses, set their preferences, and let Putting It Close do the watching. When a slot opens up, they are the first to know.

THE LAUNCH

This past spring, Putting It Close launched at the Colorado Golf Expo. They’ve onboarded over 300+ courses nationwide. Putting It Close is actively building a community of golfers to help them get on the course, without the hassle of searching.

For Kyle, Travis, and Cory, this is personal. They are the everyday golfer. They know what it feels like to want a Saturday morning tee time at a course you love and come up empty, they built the solution they wished existed and are excited to share it with you.

Putting It Close is available now at puttingitclose.com. Memberships start at $6.99/month with a 7-day free trial.