The Swing Path to World Domination

In 20 years, GolfTEC has gone from a basement operation to a global force for golf.

When Joe Assell graduated from Mississippi State’s Professional Golf Management Program in December of 1994, he seriously considered forsaking a career in the golf industry. “I was more intrigued by the business world,” he says.


Luckily for golfers, he got into both.


After consulting with Cherry Hills Country Club Head PGA Professional Clayton Cole, for whom he had interned the previous summer, Assell became more intrigued by the potential of the high-tech but seldom-used Swing Motion Trainer in the basement of the Cherry Hills pro shop. The two decided to bring the SMT to the public, with Assell opening the one-bay shop, called Driving Obsession, in the Denver Tech Center on April 10, 1995. It was such a hit that Mike Clinton, a fellow MSU PGM alum and former Cherry Hills apprentice, joined him later that year.


Twenty years, one name change and more than 5 million lessons later, GolfTEC has become the largest golf instruction provider in the world. With Assell as president and CEO, the Centennial-headquartered company now has nearly 200 improvement centers in the U.S., Canada, Japan and South Korea. It employs in excess of 700 people worldwide, including 650 PGA Professionals in the U.S.—far more than any other employer.


Last year, according to Assell, “we gave roughly 25 percent of all private golf lessons in America. We don’t think we have a competitor with even a one-percent market share. There’s a big gap there.”


How GolfTEC created that gap—and intends to widen it—hinges largely on its ever-evolving proprietary technology and award-winning teachers. Beyond that, however, it revolves around what Assell calls “a culture of excellence that permeates everything we do.”


And so, as the company turns 20, herewith 20 examples of GolfTEC excellence.

1. Intelligent capitalization. After the dot-com crash and 9/11, GolfTEC’s funding shriveled. In late 2001, an investment group led by members of Colorado’s Gart family bought into the business as a substantial partner, injecting operational funding and accelerating the company’s expansion. “They continue to be great partners,” Assell says.
   
2. Strategic positioning. In 2004, GolfTEC partnered with Golfsmith, the world’s largest golf retailer, to open in their stores. Currently 82 GolfTEC locations—slightly fewer than half of those in the U.S.—exist in a Golfsmith.

3. Creative expansion. In 2003, GolfTEC began offering franchises, ultimately selling 130. While existing franchisees continued to open learning centers, the company three years ago started buying back franchises and building new locations. Forty former franchises are now under corporate ownership. As of June, GolfTEC owns 85 of its 175 U.S. locations. Assell wants to buy back the remaining 90 and open another 175: “The franchisees all know we want to buy them back. They’re building good businesses, and I’m their exit strategy.”

4. It’s TEC, not TECH. The company’s last three letters suggest technology but don’t abbreviate it. “The T is Technique. The E is Equipment. The C is your conditioning—your body, nutrition, vision, mind, strength, flexibility and stamina,” says Assell, who admits to having only the “T” and “E” boxes checked—so far. The C currently gets subcontracted, but within a few years the company expects to have its own robust product. “There’s a lot of thought behind that name, and we’re working to bring that to life.”

5. Going all in. GolfTEC instructors ask every new client about their goals and how committed he or she is to achieving them.   “We’re very candid with people about whether it will take five, 10, 20 or 40 lessons to get there,” says VP of Instruction and Education Andy Hilts, a GolfTEC employee of 16 years who remembers handing clients VHS tapes of every lesson. “We get their commitment to get better and then we fully commit to helping them get better. That kind of seems like common sense, but the thoroughness with which we approach teaching distinguishes us.”

6. Tech Yeah! Although every instructor these days makes use of video and/or launch monitors, none integrates technology to the level of GolfTEC. In 1998, the rapidly growing company began investing in its own proprietary instruction software and it hasn’t stopped since. “Nobody has all components we have: tour pro averages, biofeedback zones, motion measurement. State-of-the-art motion monitors, web lessons, online scheduling. There’s even a “GolfTEC To Go” mobile app that allows you to submit your swing to your instructor between lessons from a smartphone or tablet and get feedback.

7. Convenience. Swing speed isn’t the only data the company tracks. GolfTEC Improvement Centers tactically open within a 60-second drive of areas with high office density. Instead of driving 30 minutes to a suburban course on your lunch break, you can leave your office at 11, knock out a lesson and be back before 12.  

8. Schooling = Scalability. Before they are allowed to teach in a GolfTEC Learning Center, all instructors must go to GolfTEC University, a month-long education process most graduates consider more sophisticated than what they went through to become a PGA pro. In addition to the process, methodology, technology and data involved, instructors learn the GolfTEC approach to customer relationship management, club-fitting and more. This indoctrination, combined with continuing ed via webinars, allows replication because the method is information-dependent, not teacher-dependent. “Great teachers like Butch Harmon or Hank Haney can’t replicate themselves,” explains Assell. “They can’t get 600 guys around the country to think like they think, so they can’t have a scalable model. By replicating the collection and use of data and the measurement against it, we have infinite scalability.”

9. One size doesn’t fit all. “Some people say we’re too techy and create cookie-cutter swings,” says Hilts. Nothing could be farther from the truth. “Technology will just optimize what you have. We work off of a statistically based model that gets you closer to a good golf swing. There’s no one swing. We just use that as a guide that backs the research. By analyzing data of your swing, we can see where deficiencies lie and how to correct them in a way that’s doable and repeatable for you. Often it’s the arrows and not the Indian. Optimizing your equipment can also make a huge difference.”

10. Golf isn’t an indoor sport. Every GolfTEC has a relationship with a nearby course. During the warmer months, the company mandates instructors spend at least one day giving playing lessons, helping students with uneven lies, sand shots and shots from the rough.

11. Brand standards. Where there’s a GolfTEC, there’s bound to be an operations team member making sure the instructors’ shoes are shined, khakis creased, shirt logoed, and facility spotless.  

12. Technology isn’t just for teaching. GolfTEC has created its own back-office ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system for running the company. The software schedules appointments, records and manages client lessons, and tracks the production of instructors. Today all 650 coaches can see where they rank in order of production—how many lessons given and on the books, sales made, referrals earned. It flags teachers who fall short. “We’ve built a transparent scorecard so they can see how they’re doing relative to each other,” Assell explains. “They make side bets as to who can give the most lessons. But lessons are how we take care of our customers. Each center should average a minimum of two active lessons booked per client. You can’t make somebody better if they’re not coming in.”

13. Many happy returnees. Orthopedic surgeon Roger Greenberg has had a biweekly appointment at the GolfTEC in Marina Square since the day after the company opened its doors. “They succeeded where others failed,” says Greenburg, a 68-year-old former 19 handicap who now plays to a 9 at Colorado Golf Club. “I have a very fast tempo and they broke down my swing so I could see what I was doing wrong.” He credits Ty Walker, GolfTEC’s regional manager and the DTC’s director of instruction, with helping him accommodate changes brought on by age and injury.

14. Client reliant. “They give so many lessons, yet they still give personal attention,” marvels Bob Hartman, a 55-year-old tech consultant who has taken lessons at the DTC center for as long as it’s been open. “They never just march you through.” This doesn’t surprise Assell: “Everything our coaches live and breathe is about taking care of the clients. We measure it and reward you for it.”

15. Referral madness. Hartman says the biofeedback sensors that buzzed when he turned too far helped get him from a 9.8 index to a 5. After recently playing nine holes with Gary Bomgaards, a 71-year-old who had trouble breaking 60, Hartman recommended GolfTEC. “The first time I saw my swing on the video, I was surprised people weren’t laughing at me,” Bomgaards says. “But after a month of working with instructor Will Ultowski and doing the drills, I shot a 50.”

16. GBOSH. That’s the name of GolfTEC’s annual conference. The acronym for “Go Big Or Stay Home,” reflects the aspirational attitude of management and the uncompromising culture it promotes. 

17. GolfTEC is growing. But is it “growing the game”? Assell admits, “We’re not as good as initiatives, like Get Golf Ready, at bringing new people into the game.” But GolfTEC does offer an across-the-board 30 percent discount to kids, with whom the videogame-like technology resonates. Plus, Assell says, “The National Golf Foundation has correlated handicap to spending. The lower your handicap, the more you spend on golf.  Last year, the average handicap improvement among GolfTEC customers was seven shots. So what am I doing to grow the game? I’m lowering the handicaps of tens of thousands of people who statistically should be spending more money on golf.”

18. Winners, all. GolfTEC produced numerous state high school champions across the country last year, and instructors regularly receive Sectional PGA awards. Every center celebrates member accomplishments—a tournament victory, hole-in-one, personal best round—on its Wall of Fame.

19. Success breeds loyalty. Walker, Hilts and Vice President of Business Development Steve Bauerle have all worked at GolfTEC for at least 16 years. “It’s not like we’re this old mature company, which is what we should be considered at 20,” says Assell. “We have a today-is-the-beginning-of-the-next-20-years attitude. There’s a ton of energy and passion.” 

20. Only 600 more stores to go. With 175 stores in the U.S., Assell thinks GolfTEC is halfway to U.S. capacity. “And then the world can hold another 400 to 450. So collectively, we’re at about 200 of 800. We’re big, but we’re only at about 25 percent of what we think we can do.”

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