Opinion & Analysis

What does GolfTEC understand that most instructors don’t?

Published

9 years ago

May 20, 2017

Right now, GolfTEC is dominating the instruction market. Last year, the company had nearly $100 million in sales, and it now controls 25 percent of the golf lesson industry.

A big reason for their success can be explained by their structure:

GolfTEC advertises to golfers online.
Golfers learn about what GolfTEC does on its website.
Golfers schedule and pay for lessons on GolfTEC’s website.

The structure allows GolfTEC instructors to do what they do best — give lessons — while GolfTEC invests into growing its business.

GolfTEC has proven what works to dominate the market, and there is a lot to be learned for golf instructors who have their own teaching businesses. Even if you don’t see GolfTEC as your competitor, it’s clear that they didn’t become a force in the industry by accident. Implementing GolfTEC’s methods in your business can in many cases help golf instructors accomplish their goals much faster and easier than they might have otherwise.

The Changing Consumer

GolfTEC understands where golfers are and how to reach them. The company knows that consumers want to research, schedule lessons and checkout right from their computer or mobile device. And right now, 85 percent of consumers research a business online before committing to any kind purchase.

Things were far simpler 10 years ago. Instructors didn’t have to worry about having a website that sells, being active on social media, running advertisements, or finding ways to reach more customers online. But now they do, because golfers are going digital, and that’s even if you rely on word of mouth.

In today’s world, being online is seen as a necessity. But before diving into the web, you should ask yourself, “Why does it matter?” Well, because when you do it right, it works.

Picture an online system that gets new customers in the door and allows them to book a lesson online. Wouldn’t that free up more time for you so you can focus on learning and teaching. Sounds great, right?

Don’t see getting online as a chore. Instead, see it as way to dramatically improve how you do business. You’ll spend less time selling, scheduling, and managing, and more time with your clients.

In a Golfer’s Shoes

Let’s think about this from a golfer’s perspective. Let’s say you’re a golfer looking for golf lessons, and you don’t know any instructors. More likely than not, you turn to Google as most of us do anytime we need to find something.

This is exactly what golfers are doing today. In fact, the PGA has seen a 43 percent year-over-year increase of millennials (golfers ages 20-34) searching for golf online. They expect to go to your website, learn about you, read reviews, and schedule a lesson. Surprisingly, very few instructors are taking advantage of this very natural behavior.

Let’s compare what GolfTEC is doing vs. the average golf instructor. Here’s a simple breakdown.

GolfTEC

Shows up across Google for any search terms related to golf lessons.
Uses smart, online advertising across the web.
Has a website that builds trust and sells its benefits to golfers.
Conveniently allows golfers to schedule and pay for lessons on its website.
Engages with customers after they book a lesson through email marketing and social media.

Most Golf Instructors

Are not visible on Google Search results related to golf lessons.
Rely primarily on word of mouth and print advertising.
Don’t have a personal website (only 3 percent of instructors do).
Are not building trust with potential customers online.
Require golfers to pick up the phone or write an email to book a lesson.
Accept payment by cash or check.
Are not engaging current or past customers online.

Now, we’ve seen what makes the difference. If you are an instructor, the question becomes: what will you do about it? We’re sitting at a turning point for the future success of your golf lesson business. Consumers will continue to move online. The golf instructors that meet them there will thrive.

To learn more about my company that helps golf instructors get online, click here.

Related Topics:

Up Next

Is The Future Of Golf Hiding In Trackman’s Code?

Don't Miss

5 Reasons You Won’t Improve This Golf Season

Derek Larson

Derek Larson is a student at Northwestern and the co-founder of Dotbound. His goal is to help golf instructors take advantage of the web to run their business more effectively, and recently wrote an eBook about it. Derek is an avid golfer and traveler.

25 Comments

Someone

May 22, 2017 at 10:38 pm

This article is garbage. Title misleads thinking that it was going to explain how golftec is somehow better at improving your game over golf pros. Instead it’s about business? This is a GOLF site…not a damn forbes “how we made our millions” business column. I could give two craps about golftecs advertising or how they reach their customers. What I do care about is the service that golftec offers and how good it is compared to other pros and instructors. What a HUGE waste of time…article is worthless to golfers that actually want to know about GOLF, not the “business” of golf. Has GOLFWRX lost its direction? Do they let anyone write now? Geez…where is the quality control…

Reply Report comment
Jim

May 22, 2017 at 6:12 pm

I have to admit they were very honest about the commitment needed by the client and the time it would take to make various was longer for some issues than others.

We were never told to lie or sell quick fixes… quite the contrary, to explain WHY it will probably take 40 weeks or even a full year to make these changes and habe them

Reply Report comment
- Jim
  
  May 22, 2017 at 6:21 pm
  
  …it ate half the comment…
  
  And HAVE THEM take hold on the course, which any real instructor knows is true if say a solid 18 decides he wants to do this, and get to a 7 or 8…
  
  It’s the “quality & experience” of the instructors that’s BS. Sure, folks get better with time, and learn from the more experienced ones at the center they’ll go to, but I had 2 cats in my 10 person GT ‘U’ class that had virtually NO lesson experience AT ALL, and 2 who had done ‘ a few lessons’ or the jr clinic… they don’t care WHAT’s actually taught – as long as they use people’s biomeasurements and get them into ‘positions’…
  
  Reply Report comment
- Jim
  
  May 23, 2017 at 1:59 am
  
  They were selling franchises – which is what I was interested in. Great national exposure, net presence etc.
  
  I would’ve MOST DEFINITELY RUN IT MY WAY, and hired & trained my staff personally but they aren’t looking to bounce. They believe, and they have significant $$$ invested.
  
  They’re just total users, dishonest, and have NO quality control other than occasional ‘peer reviews’ where coaches are periodically supposed to randomly review the lesson recap a client recieves and rate it….
  
  I’m offended anytime I see any promo for them, as the skeleton is definitely there to actually be really good. And there are indeed good coaches in there…but it is NO WAY honorable, honest or consistent….
  
  A shame…
  
  Reply Report comment
- TeeBone
  
  May 24, 2017 at 5:18 pm
  
  GolfTEC’s been around for over 15 years, and last year was their best ever. Pay attention. Your rambling, incoherent posts make no sense. The only consistency is your negativity towards any instruction that doesn’t conform to your schizophrenic system. You’re clearly not a professional instructor, so stop acting as though you you have any idea what the hell you’re talking about.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Jim
    
    Jun 2, 2017 at 10:44 am
    
    Obviously you can’t read. Nothing to do with disagreeing with any ‘system’. Actually agree with them on the fact there are no quick fixes and they are honest about that.
    
    Their boiler room complete disregard for their pros and complete lack of any instructional belief ot other than to contort every body type into the same positions. … bite me
    
    Reply Report comment
    - stephenf
      
      Jun 2, 2017 at 5:15 pm
      
      If I understood your earlier comments, you’re a PGA member. Is that right? I’m just getting at the “clearly not a professional instructor” allegation.
      
      Either way, I don’t see the point in worrying about someone who thinks 15 years in the business and a great year last year are proof of good business practices and good golf instruction. Just dumb.
      
      Reply Report comment
Chris Cruz

May 22, 2017 at 4:32 pm

Derek,
If you are reading the comments to this article, I commend you, your insight, and initiative. I own a small web production and strategy shop, and I think your assessments are correct.

The only feedback I would give is that the headline is a bit misleading and polarizing. The polarizing part is good to a degree, but not when it misleads the user from content they would expect to see when they click on the article. Or when it stirs up undesired predispositions in the user thats about to view your content. As this headline did.

Many folks read the headline and the rest of your story didnt matter to them, they were too focused on a headline that reads positively for golf tec instruction which your story doesnt even really talk about.

Something more accurate to description would be something like “How GolfTec’s Digital efforts attribute to their success and how you (the instructor) can benefit” Obviously thats too long I’m no copywriter. But you get the point, anyway, applaud you for your initiative even as a student, and just trying to provide some constructive feedback for you.

However, I agree with other WRXers on this thread. Golf wrx doing all this advertorial is kind of a bummer, but i get it. It’s a business and you need revenue, still a bummer.

Reply Report comment
Kenn

May 22, 2017 at 12:36 pm

Okay, after one lesson at GolfTec they isolate several swing faults that must be remedied. What happens next? Simply identifying your swing faults is surely not enough, and then practicing on your own is futile because you don’t know if you are doing the changes correctly. Must you return to GolfTec on a regular basis to check out what’s happening to your swing? How do you eliminate your swing faults after the Golftec session?

Reply Report comment
Steve S

May 22, 2017 at 8:47 am

Basically this is a very nice ad for the author’s company Dotbound. The website states “We help teaching professionals sell more lessons while making life easier.”

So another ad disguised as a legitimate article. GolfWRX should have charged him for the space.

Reply Report comment
Judge Smells

May 22, 2017 at 7:09 am

The only difference is Golftec has more overhead costs than your local pro

Reply Report comment
Alex Jackson

May 21, 2017 at 9:31 am

All you guys bashing GolfTec obviously didn’t read the article. It has nothing to do with their method/how they teach. The article is about how they market themselves and make it easy for the student to book and pay for lessons.

Reply Report comment
- Greg
  
  May 21, 2017 at 10:39 am
  
  Exactly, the author (Derek) seems to be a very enterprising young man and I’m impressed with his insight and initiative. His premise of the trend does seem to be true base on the number of instructors we see that are taking advantage of websites, YouTube, online lessons, online memberships, blogs, forums, etc. Think of Shawn Clements, Clay Ballard, Monte, etc…etc. I would agree with Derek, that instructors not expanding their marketing/product to fully use the “internet” run the risk of being marginalized even if they do have a club (private or public). I’m not an instructor, but I fit the golfing consumer profile Derek described.
  
  Reply Report comment
- TR1PTIK
  
  May 22, 2017 at 12:10 pm
  
  Agreed. I don’t care for GolfTec’s instruction (based on reviews, I’ve never been), but I still enjoyed the article and thought it was completely relevant. The author wasn’t trying to sell anyone on anything. To sum it up, the article suggests that teaching pros could learn a thing or two about online presence from GolfTec (i.e. SEO, e-commerce, etc.). After reading, my first thought was to share with my course pro to pick his brain and suggest some new ways for him to generate business at his course.
  
  Reply Report comment
larry

May 21, 2017 at 7:51 am

Anyone going to golf tec is an absolute idiot, find a teaching pro at a private club there always the best.

Reply Report comment
- setter02
  
  May 22, 2017 at 7:10 am
  
  About as solid a statement as can be said for someone who knows nothing, congrats!!! Very good blanket statement, you should feel proud of how hard it would be to pick this one apart…
  
  Reply Report comment
- Judge Smells
  
  May 22, 2017 at 1:13 pm
  
  I could not agree more, Golf is played outside on grass not inside on a computer screen
  
  Reply Report comment
Mat

May 20, 2017 at 7:18 pm

GolfTec is only doing one thing right. They are commoditising a business that had been traditionally attached to golf facilities. The rest of it is scale, and they’ve been able to build scale because they are not attached to single facilities.

It doesn’t make the instruction any better; if anything, it makes it worse.

Reply Report comment
Billy

May 20, 2017 at 5:48 pm

I visit golftec once. They got gc2 so I asked if they have hmt. Well.. the instructor didn’t even know what’s hmt

Reply Report comment
Dat

May 20, 2017 at 4:39 pm

Golf tec singlehandedly ruined my swing for a month after I went for a free consult I won. Never again.

Reply Report comment
- Mat
  
  May 20, 2017 at 7:21 pm
  
  Yep. They fit you into their one swing, on carpet. Having said that, they’re like half the instructors out there anyhow; they have “the book” on a swing, and try to get you to emulate it. They should be helping you find the most repeatable action for your body, but just as in equipment, distance sells. So the generic lesson gets the yardage number up as the main success metric. Not healthy.
  
  Reply Report comment
Caleb

May 20, 2017 at 2:04 pm

I’d take this a lot more seriously if there wasn’t a GolfTec ad right next to the article.

Reply Report comment
- Zak Kozuchowski
  
  May 20, 2017 at 6:18 pm
  
  Caleb,
  
  That ad you’re seeing is a third-party ad based on your search history. GolfTEC is not a GolfWRX sponsor.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - setter02
    
    May 20, 2017 at 9:54 pm
    
    And all the ads are ruining the site!
    
    Reply Report comment
    - The dude
      
      May 23, 2017 at 4:54 am
      
      ….another one who doesn’t understand..
      
      Reply Report comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Opinion & Analysis

AVL: My U.S. Amateur local qualifying experience

Published

6 days ago

Jun 5, 2026

Andrew Von Lossow

This past Monday, I played in the U.S. Amateur local qualifier at Rock Creek Country Club in Portland, Oregon. A full tee sheet from 7:30 a.m. to 1:55 p.m., the top 11 scores would make it to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying.

I teed off at 10:48 a.m.. With the 7:30 am tee time, you can get a feel for the leaders’ pace, and they were off and running on the challenging setup at Rock Creek.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx)

Getting to the highlight of the round on the par five 17th, a drive up the left side and 212 yards left to the front hole location. I took out a 5-iron with plans of middle of the green. The ball ended up 8 feet left of the hole, pin high. A slight downhill putt dropped in for an eagle 3 on the 17th. With the cut line looking to be anywhere from -2 to even par. This was the boost I had been waiting for all day.

With making par from the trees on 18, it was time to wait for a potential playoff with a posted score of one under par 71.

Three hours later, it was playoff time. 8 players for 6 spots. I made par on the playoff hole, which was good enough to advance to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying in July. USGA qualifiers sure deliver on all of the emotions in golf!

Club Junkie

Building my 2026 gamer WITB: Ranking the contenders and new putter projects – Club Junkie Podcast

Published

7 days ago

Jun 4, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

The annual What’s In The Bag build is underway, and on this episode of Club Junkie, Brian breaks down the clubs currently leading the race for a spot in his 2026 gamer setup. From drivers and fairway woods to irons, wedges, and shafts, he ranks the equipment that’s performing best and explains what’s separating the front runners from the rest of the field.

Brian also heads into the workshop to discuss several putter projects currently on the bench. From head options and shaft choices to build ideas and testing plans, he shares what he’s working on and which putters could become serious contenders for the bag this season.

If you’re a gear junkie who loves equipment testing, club building, and the never-ending pursuit of the perfect setup, this episode is for you.

Follow Club Junkie:
Instagram: @clubjunkiepod
TikTok: @clubjunkiepod
Threads: @clubjunkiepod
X: @ClubJunkiePod

Club Junkie

Tour Edge Exotics mini driver review + TaylorMade Spider ZT Max first look – Club Junkie

Published

2 weeks ago

May 28, 2026

Brian Knudson

On this episode of Club Junkie, I put the new Tour Edge Exotics Mini Driver to the test and break down the performance, forgiveness, distance, and where it fits compared to a traditional driver or strong fairway wood. If you have been curious about adding a mini driver to the bag, this one is worth a look.

I also dive into the new TaylorMade Spider ZT Max putter that was recently spotted and discuss the growing zero torque putter trend. Plus, there is a closer look at the new Project X Titan Yellow shaft showing up on the PGA Tour and what makes it different from other profiles currently out there.