Screenshot from golfstatus.com
As even the most avid navigator of golf links can attest, getting out and swinging the sticks can, at times, be an up-and-down adventure. It’s with that in mind that Ryan Cooper has created GolfStatus, a location-based mobile platform that rewards golfers for their on-course achievements, brand and course loyalty and influence within golf circles. (Cooper, left, photo from twittter.com)
Cooper recognizes there are plenty of mobile golf apps on the market, but he says GolfStatus’ incentive-focused approach sets it apart. With GolfStatus, players check in at courses and log their on-course achievements to accumulate points, bag tags and GolfStatus cash. Eventually, players can earn real-world rewards for what they accrue. Think of it as the golf app that’s less stick, more carrot.
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“We’re focused on rewarding people for their accomplishments on the golf course and their loyalty to golf courses and brands and their influence in the industry,” Cooper said. “The other applications that are game improvement applications tend to alienate most golfers because most of us aren’t very good. So we don’t really care if we have a bunch of greens in regulation, and we don’t care how many fairways we hit necessarily. We just want to have fun.
“This application is designed to enhance the fun.”
(Left: The GolfStatus iPhone app includes a “tour card” that gauges a golfers’ loyalty, achievement and social sway. Image courtesy of Ryan Cooper.)
A transplanted Coloradoan who came to Lincoln in 2006 to attend law school at the University of Nebraska, Cooper now works as an attorney. He came up with the idea for GolfStatus shortly after he moved to Lincoln because, as an out-of-towner, he was out of the loop on potential instructors and playing partners.
“I started just thinking about how would you sort of quantify what a golfer is,” said Cooper (below, photo from twittter.com), “and how would you know form the start what kind of a golfer somebody is if you just met them.”
That vision has since morphed. With the help of a technical team that includes Jake Stutzman and Adam Jahnke of Elevate Visual Communications, Robert Evans of Code Wranglers and a handful of other contributors scattered across the country, GolfStatus now hangs its hat on delivering rewards and brining a more social element to the game.
“A lot of what it’s become has been influenced by technology and the advancements in a lot of areas,” Cooper said of GolfStatus, which has Facebook and Twitter integrations. “The Foursquares, the Gowallas, the Klouts, the Twitters, the Facebooks of the world have certainly opened up the doors to provide a really cool niche service in the golf industry, and I’m hoping to take advantage of that.”
GolfStatus is currently in private beta with its iPhone app, working with two courses — Firethorn Golf Club in Lincoln and Lake Valley Golf Club in Longmont, Colo. — and other individual users. Cooper said he’s targeting an August public launch for the iPhone app, with an android App scheduled to follow shortly thereafter.
The app itself will be free, but Cooper said it will generate revenue with the sale of virtual currency called “StatusCash.” Other revenue streams include in-app sponsorship and branding and general web and mobile advertising. The GolfStatus team is also building tools and analytics to help businesses and courses create a full range of customizable mobile specials, loyalty rewards and discounts. Those will be available in free and premium tiers.
Ironically, what began as an idea to help Cooper immerse himself in the local golf scene may now be putting a dent in some of the time he’d otherwise be spending on the course. Not that he seems to mind much.
“It’s certainly a lot of work,” said Cooper, who has funded most of the project himself, with the help of some funds from family and friends and a cash-for-equity arrangement with one of his developers. “Starting a business is not easy, and it’s an emotional roller coaster but you’ve gotta try.”
In fact, listen to Cooper long enough, and the experience of creating GolfStatus begins to sound a lot like the game upon which it’s based.
“It’s just something that not a lot of people can do,” he said, “and if you can do it, it’s going to be a huge sense of satisfaction.”
