Updated 2/10/2024
With so many people interested in golf, it can be a great place to think about starting a business. One of every 3 Americans over the age of 6 played golf (on-course or off-course), followed golf on television or online, read about the game, or listened to a golf-related podcast in 2021. (Credit - National Golf Foundation)
The golf industry is worth $84 billion and has grown by 22% over the last decade.
Whether you are looking for a new career in golf or a golf side hustle, we've got you covered. We’ve compiled a list of 31 of the best businesses to start in golf. With each business we’ve categorized it as full or part time and the general investment needed to get started. We've gone deeper with our golf simulator franchise review.
The golf industry is worth $84 billion and has grown by 22% over the last decade.
Whether you are looking for a new career in golf or a golf side hustle, we've got you covered. We’ve compiled a list of 31 of the best businesses to start in golf. With each business we’ve categorized it as full or part time and the general investment needed to get started. We've gone deeper with our golf simulator franchise review.
Best Golf Business Ideas
Golf Simulator Business
(Full time income / meaningful investment)
A golf simulator business is an entertainment focused business where golfers can hit golf balls into a simulated golf course projected on a screen. Launch monitors use technology to track the physics of the golf ball and project the ball into the virtual image. These businesses can generate significant revenue by renting the simulators, by providing food and beverages to patrons, selling merchandise and providing lessons.
Often called indoor golf, these businesses generally have in the range of 4 to 8 simulators. The typical simulator rate is in the $35-$50 an hour range. Depending on what else you offer, food and beverage income for an indoor golf center can be substantial.
Check out our indoor golf revenue estimator and indoor golf business plan.
A golf simulator business is an entertainment focused business where golfers can hit golf balls into a simulated golf course projected on a screen. Launch monitors use technology to track the physics of the golf ball and project the ball into the virtual image. These businesses can generate significant revenue by renting the simulators, by providing food and beverages to patrons, selling merchandise and providing lessons.
Often called indoor golf, these businesses generally have in the range of 4 to 8 simulators. The typical simulator rate is in the $35-$50 an hour range. Depending on what else you offer, food and beverage income for an indoor golf center can be substantial.
Check out our indoor golf revenue estimator and indoor golf business plan.
Start a Golf Affiliate Website
There are many great golf affiliate programs available to you if you have a website or social account with a good number of followers. This would make for a good golf side hustle.
On of the best golf affiliate programs is the one from Dynamic Brands (BagBoy, Datrek, Burton and more). It offers a 10% commission and a 45 day referral period - that is tops when it comes to golf programs.
On of the best golf affiliate programs is the one from Dynamic Brands (BagBoy, Datrek, Burton and more). It offers a 10% commission and a 45 day referral period - that is tops when it comes to golf programs.
Become a Golf Tournament Consultant and Event Planner
There are over 500,000 Golf Outings in the US annually. They all need help. The GTAA offers an opportunity to start your own business helping others with their golf outings. We offer complete training, marketing and promotions, credibility and networking with other pros around the country. This could also be a great side hustle.
Open a Mini Golf Business
(Full time income / meaningful investment)
Miniature golf or putt putt is an entertainment business that anyone enjoy. The power of a mini golf business is the simplicity of running one. Once the facility is built, there is generally a low need for staff to sell rounds, provide putters and balls. If well designed, a mini golf course is easy to maintain and lasts many years. You should also see good repeat visits from customers.
By putting together a good marketing plan and managing your expenses, mini golf can be a very profitable endeavor. Do the math, based on a 12 hour day and at maximum capacity: 18 holes with 4 players each = 72 players per hour Calculation: $6 per game X 72 players = $432 per hour, 12 hours x $432 per hour = $5,184 per day of potential revenue.
Harris Golf reports more than 130 million people of all age groups are playing miniature golf every year, with an excess of $1 billion in industry revenues annually.
Miniature golf or putt putt is an entertainment business that anyone enjoy. The power of a mini golf business is the simplicity of running one. Once the facility is built, there is generally a low need for staff to sell rounds, provide putters and balls. If well designed, a mini golf course is easy to maintain and lasts many years. You should also see good repeat visits from customers.
By putting together a good marketing plan and managing your expenses, mini golf can be a very profitable endeavor. Do the math, based on a 12 hour day and at maximum capacity: 18 holes with 4 players each = 72 players per hour Calculation: $6 per game X 72 players = $432 per hour, 12 hours x $432 per hour = $5,184 per day of potential revenue.
Harris Golf reports more than 130 million people of all age groups are playing miniature golf every year, with an excess of $1 billion in industry revenues annually.
Open a Driving Range
(Full time income / meaningful investment)
A driving range business can come in a wide variety of forms. There are very high tech urban facilities and some low tech rural ones. An indoor facility with full-service restaurant and rental space in a high-traffic urban environment can see a net profit up to a couple million dollars per year. However, if you have a low-tech field in the country, you could see an income as low as $40,000 a year.
A driving range will typically require a couple hundred thousand to open depending on how the land is acquired or rented and what sort of facilities are included. You'll need durable hitting mats and good golf balls. These may also be combined with miniature or indoor golf businesses as well. The most important factor for a profitable driving range business is location as golfers will generally not want to travel far to hit golf balls.
Driving ranges attract a wide range of customers, from families wanting a fun leisure activity to serious golfers refining their technique. Determine who will be your main customers and be sure to offer services targeting their needs (I.e. do they want a locker room to change their shoes).
Golf Course Maintenance Business
(Full time income / meaningful investment)
Every golf course needs maintenance on a regular basis. The golf course maintenance involves repairing and replacing club assets, mowing and treating turf, eliminating ball marks, and removing debris to ensure enhanced playing conditions. Starting a golf course maintenance business is both fun and a rewarding experience.
To get into golf course maintenance, you’ll need specialized equipment. Mowing a green is not the same as mowing a lawn. The equipment and precision differ greatly. The specialized equipment will be a large expense and you’ll need to carefully train staff to do the job well. You may also deal with the challenges of a seasonal business and hourly staff that may be challenging to manage.
Golf Franchises
(Full time income / meaningful investment)
There are many different types of golf franchises available. Some are retail focused on things like clubs and clothes, while others focus on entertainment such as miniature golf. Starting a franchise can provide the benefits of a proven model and a known brand, but come at the cost of additional purchase expenses and ongoing fees.
Doing your research is critical. There are a host of companies that will help you start your own golf franchise, but you will still have to be prepared to pay a minimum franchise fee as well as injecting your own capital. You will need to research which franchises are willing to open a store in your area, then choose the one with whom you wish to go into business.
Make sure to get all the franchise disclosure documents up front and talk to 3-5 different owners to see how their experience has been with the franchise.
A driving range business can come in a wide variety of forms. There are very high tech urban facilities and some low tech rural ones. An indoor facility with full-service restaurant and rental space in a high-traffic urban environment can see a net profit up to a couple million dollars per year. However, if you have a low-tech field in the country, you could see an income as low as $40,000 a year.
A driving range will typically require a couple hundred thousand to open depending on how the land is acquired or rented and what sort of facilities are included. You'll need durable hitting mats and good golf balls. These may also be combined with miniature or indoor golf businesses as well. The most important factor for a profitable driving range business is location as golfers will generally not want to travel far to hit golf balls.
Driving ranges attract a wide range of customers, from families wanting a fun leisure activity to serious golfers refining their technique. Determine who will be your main customers and be sure to offer services targeting their needs (I.e. do they want a locker room to change their shoes).
Golf Course Maintenance Business
(Full time income / meaningful investment)
Every golf course needs maintenance on a regular basis. The golf course maintenance involves repairing and replacing club assets, mowing and treating turf, eliminating ball marks, and removing debris to ensure enhanced playing conditions. Starting a golf course maintenance business is both fun and a rewarding experience.
To get into golf course maintenance, you’ll need specialized equipment. Mowing a green is not the same as mowing a lawn. The equipment and precision differ greatly. The specialized equipment will be a large expense and you’ll need to carefully train staff to do the job well. You may also deal with the challenges of a seasonal business and hourly staff that may be challenging to manage.
Golf Franchises
(Full time income / meaningful investment)
There are many different types of golf franchises available. Some are retail focused on things like clubs and clothes, while others focus on entertainment such as miniature golf. Starting a franchise can provide the benefits of a proven model and a known brand, but come at the cost of additional purchase expenses and ongoing fees.
Doing your research is critical. There are a host of companies that will help you start your own golf franchise, but you will still have to be prepared to pay a minimum franchise fee as well as injecting your own capital. You will need to research which franchises are willing to open a store in your area, then choose the one with whom you wish to go into business.
Make sure to get all the franchise disclosure documents up front and talk to 3-5 different owners to see how their experience has been with the franchise.
Install Backyard Putting Greens
(Full time income / meaningful investment)
More and more golfers are looking for ways to practice and enjoy golf at home. Installing putting greens and practice areas can be a lucrative way to cash in on this trend. This might pair well with someone already in the landscaping or patio business. Some of the equipment and permitting processes (not to mention dealing with the HOA) are already things they have to do.
A subset of this space would be to do the design, but not the install. If you have good design skills you could partner with an install service. A number of the artificial putting green manufacturers have programs that allow you to be a dealer for them in your area.
Sell Golf Carts
(Full time income / meaningful investment)
There were approximately 100,000 golf carts sold last year and that is growing at a rate of about 4-5% a year. They are sold for more than just golf. They are sold as transportation within a community, on a large property, or at resorts. As a dealer, you can sell a golf cart between $6,000 and $18,000 depending on the model and options. Because they can come at a decent price tag, there is room to profit by being the retail seller.
There is also a market for used golf carts. If you are mechanical you can buy used carts, fix them and flip them for a profit. A guy on reddit is reporting $800 - $2,000 in profit for every golf cart he flips. You can also sell golf cart covers for additional profit.
Golf Instructor
(Part to Full time income / some investment)
The best golf instructors have formal training and have worked under a more experienced professional. That is the best way to get into becoming an instructor.
In a formal golf educational program, you will avail yourself of training and instruction from expert golf professionals who have experience in the field and classroom. You will learn all facets of the golf industry and if teaching the game is of special interest, you will build a foundation of coaching and teaching that propels you into the golf instruction market with the tools to be successful.
You may also choose to specialize in part of the game such as the full swing, the short game, or the game strategy. The average cost of a golf lesson is anywhere from $25 - $60 for a 30 or 45-minute lesson and around $75 - $100 an hour (or more) for an hour-long lesson.
Aside from the training, being a successful instructor comes down to attracting and retaining students.
Online Golf Video Instruction Business
(Part to Full time income / some investment)
While sounding similar to being a golf instructor, an online instruction business is a different animal. Instead of hour long lessons, you’d be creating short video segments to coach a specific technique. While you still need to have a solid understanding of the golf swing, being a PGA certified instructor isn’t as critical to your success (though it helps)
You’ll also need to be good at creating videos on different skills and golf drills. You’ll be creating content that you monetize either by selling the content itself or by putting advertising on the page where the content is consumed. If you have these skills, this could be a great side hustle for you.
Many beginner golfers want to learn how to play golf, but may not be ready to commit to a class or a lesson. Learning golf online may suit them better or help them get started.
Start A Golf Advertising Agency or a Golf Promotions Business
(Part to Full time income / low to moderate investment)
If you are a marketing pro, you could decide to tailor your offerings to golf. You can get into local promotion to help clubs grow, offer services to online brands, or compete for money from the big national advertisers. The key to success is to understand your customers and to pick a niche (or several) where you can help them.
Golf Club Repair
(Part to Full time income / low investment)
With an expected annual sales of $15 billion, there are a lot of clubs out there. Over time they wear down, break, or get blemished. This is where a club repair business comes in. You can change grips, fix lofts, re-chrome irons, repaint woods, replace shafts and more.
This is a great side or part time business as there are over 1,000 searches a month on golf club repair in Google alone. Since the biggest asset is your time and skill, investment can be low. You will be competing with golf stores and pro shops, so building a network of golfers who know your skills is a key to success.
Golf Club Fitting Business
(Part to Full time income / moderate investment)
Similar to the golf club repair business, this one will be driven by your knowledge and skills. You’ll be helping golfers pick the clubs best suited to their skills. You’ll likely need some sort of launch monitor to evaluate shots and an inventory of demo clubs, shafts, and grips to get started. You’ll also need space to do the fittings. This is often combined with either instruction or repair businesses.
Golf Mobile App
(Part to Full time income / low to high investment)
Today people always have their phones on them and there is a huge market for good mobile apps. If you are a software developer and creative, a unique mobile app dealing with golf-related activities can provide a decent income. There are many apps around booking tee times, golf reviews, GPS tracking, shot tracking, scoring, and more. If you get creative, there might be room in here for a new one from you.
Open A Golf School / Golf Academy
(Full time income / moderate investment)
Opening a golf training academy can be one of the most rewarding ways to run a business in golf. You get to help golfers improve and achieve their goals. Like many businesses, this one requires a good set of processes and organizational skills. If you can pair that with great instruction, you could have a solid business for many years to come.
Purchasing A Golf Resort
(Full time income / high investment)
Along with manufacturing golf clubs, this would be one of the higher initial entry costs on our list. Buying or starting a private golf resort is likely to be pretty expensive. That said, if you know real estate and can run a business, this one has the potential for very high income. People love to travel and play golf, putting them together can be a profitable model.
It will require having a great team around you and a solid capital base to be successful.
Golf Course Construction
(Full time income / high investment)
If you are in the landscaping business and have the equipment to move dirt, this might be an interesting expansion to your business. It will require full time attention, expensive equipment, large staff, good accounting, insurance, and cash-flow management. You’ll also likely need to be able to work all over the country as building course after course doesn’t typically happen all in the same place.
Online Gear Store / Discount Golf Equipment Business
(Part to Full time income / Low to Moderate investment)
The demand for golf equipment online is on the rise. You can create an online store and sell golf gear online. You can create your own products to sell online. You could also get into drop shipping or FBA (fulfilled by Amazon) and only really have to focus on finding good products and marketing them.
You can look for a niche like ultralight golf bags or kids clubs to help stand out from the competition. If you are just beginning or if you have a low budget, start with a couple items and learn how it works. Once you get some sales and have some profits, you can use that money to grow your product line.
You don’t need to know how to code to start a website as services like WooCommerce and Shopify make it easy to get an online store started.
Personal Trainer, Gym, Golf Fitness
(Full time income / Moderate Investment)
I’ve personally benefited from using a trainer. My trainer helped me better prepare my body to play good golf and keep from getting hurt. He had a TPI certification and put me through a program to test my strength and flexibility as it related to golf.
Being a trainer would require some knowledge of golf and physiology. You’ll also likely need some equipment for the session with the client and a facility to train them. A personal training session will run in the $50-$75 range while a physical therapy session can run up to $400. I paid $275 for two one-hour sessions with a TPI certified trainer.
A slightly different take would be to open a gym for golfers. Most golfers look for fitness instructors to keep their bodies fit and fine. Starting a gym specifically designed for golfers can be a lucrative golf-related business. Pair it with a golf simulator and track stats to see how they improve and use it to market your gym.
Golf Club or Golf Ball Manufacturing Company
(Full time income / meaningful investment)
According to Straits Research, the Golf Equipment Market Size is projected to reach $15.44 Billion by 2030, growing at 4.21% annually. Within that total, there are many segments and products and new ones come along all the time. If you have a background in engineering, design, and/or manufacturing, building clubs might be a good business for you.
To be successful, being a club manufacturer will require good products and great marketing. Find a niche and a good way to satisfy it and perhaps you’ll be at the PGA show next year.
Golf Vacations
(Part to Full time income / Low to Moderate Investment)
As evidence of the many travelers who enjoy golf vacations, there are over 1,600 searches a month on Google for “golf vacation”. As a golf vacation planner, your job will be to plan vacations with travel arrangements, hotel accommodations, food, gear equipment rental, and scheduling golf camp trips. Ideally you would know the area, courses, and accommodations that you recommend. If you are well traveled or enjoy the research side of vacation planning, this could be a great business for you.
The investment to start is low in that you merely need to set up a website and start finding clients. Do some research to see how to price your service by calling other planners to see what they’d charge you for the service.
Golf Training Aids
(Part to Full time income / Moderate to High Investment)
Golf training aids are searched over 3,600 times a month on Google. Golfers spend big money to improve their scores each and every year. Just look at the variety of alignment sticks on the market. If you have a unique idea on how to help ingrain a good technique or solve a problem, you may have a good training aid to sell.
You’ll need to develop a prototype and find someone to manufacture it at a reasonable cost. One way many training aids have launched is via a kickstarter campaign. They use it to get funding for the first production run and use cash from sales to find future production runs.
Golf Blog
(Part to Full time income / Low Investment)
People start blogs for all kinds of reasons. Some start them to share their opinions, passions, or glimpses into their lives. Others start them to teach others what they know. All have a couple things in common, they focus on a niche, they need an online platform, and they need a way to monetize their content.
To earn income, you can sell products from your blog, sell advertising on your blog, or use your blog to build a email list you can use to sell products. It is pretty easy to start a blog and the investment is minimal, but the competition is pretty high.
Golf Podcast
(Part to Full time income / Low Investment)
Similar in many respects to the blog, a podcast is a way to get your story out and create content. In recent times podcasting is becoming more and more popular all around the globe. If you are able to tell a good story or have a good network of folks you can interview, a podcast might be a good fit for you. Podcasts with a good following can earn a lot of money through sponsorships or by selling their own products, training aids or other content.
Golf Youtube Channel
(Part to Full time income / Low Investment)
Youtube is another platform that can be explored for making money. There is a good search looking to learn golf skills in the YouTube space. You can have something like a podcast format, or you can use it to demo products (that you also sell), or you can use it as a forum for teaching.
Money from YouTube is via advertising or from links to products you sell or endorse. Growing your viewer and subscriber traffic is the key to growing your income on YouTube. This is often combined with one or more of the business above as a marketing tool.
Golf Apparel Brand or Store
(Part to Full time income / Moderate Investment)
There are a number of compelling new golf brands on the rise. True, Rhoback, Zero Restriction, Link Soul are a few that come to mind. They’ve crafted a unique brand story and carved out a place in the industry to sell their apparel. Maybe go super-nice and target something like golf gloves and grips for sweaty hands.
One angle brands take is to find common apparel items and customize it for golf either through your marketing or physical changes. The golf apparels are more costly than normal apparel. For example, if a normal t-shirt costs $20, the price rises to $60 if a golf logo is embroidered on the same shirt. Hence provide a much higher profit margin to sellers.
Golf Sports Management / Talent Agency
(Part to Full time income / Moderate Investment)
Sports agents help ensure their clients enter into contracts that are going to help them achieve their goals. They attempt to ensure fairness and achieve the best income possible. Because of this, it is important to understand the client, the business, and contract language.
It can be an exciting career with free tickets, famous contacts, and big incomes. It can also be brutally competitive and it is important to find ways to stand out.
Sports agents must become qualified by passing the sports agency exam. Passing this exam is of great importance to attract professional clients to your establishment.
Passing the exam is a clear indication to prospective customers that you can handle all business requirements efficiently. High level of competence is required in this field since you will represent professional players and directly impact on their successes. The sports agency exam is proof of your abilities to perform at the highest level.
Golf Television Channel / Show
(Part to Full time income / Moderate to High Investment)
Many people don’t realize that there are channels available for lease by everyday people. Under federal law, any cable operator that maintains at least 36 channels must reserve a group of channels for leased access. You can rent one of these channels for a monthly price that’s determined largely by the number of subscribers and channels – the larger the company, the more you will pay.
With the growth in golf and all the places that need content, creating a golf show could be a fun and lucrative venture. To do this, you will need to create a premise for your show, develop a format, find a way to get it funded, and find a way to distribute the show. Collaborating with others will help widen your network of resources and ways you can market the show.
Golf Coupon Book
(Part time income / Low to Moderate Investment)
If you enjoy negotiating, making sales and helping people save money, starting a coupon-book business may be for you. It has low start-up costs and requires negotiating skills and some work upfront. But with more people trying to save money whenever and wherever possible, it can be a lucrative business.
You could take these skills to talk to all the golf businesses in your area. You’ll charge them some sort of fee to be included in the book (the more you can distribute the more these are worth). Developing a good design, selling to golf businesses, having a good printing relationship, and good marketing are the keys to success.
Golf Event Catering
(Part to Full time income / Low to Moderate Investment)
Catering companies in the US raked in a total of $11 billion revenue in 2019. And if you run a catering business, you can expect to make $30,000 – $80,000 annually. Going into a catering business means you’ll have to determine what type of food will you serve, what types of functions you will cater, what is your capacity and who is going to do the work of cooking and serving the food.
With those things in mind, you can research the competition and build a compelling offering to golf courses and driving ranges.
Ebook On Golf Skills
(Part time income / Low to Moderate Investment)
Online learning continues to boom and ebooks are a big part of that domain. Demand for content that teaches golf continues to grow. Before new golfers buy clubs, go to a course or book a lesson, they read about golf. Having a good ebook marketed to new golfers is a good avenue for part to full time income.
If you are an expert golfer and have golf skills, curate your knowledge into a good ebook and you can earn a good side income selling an ebook online. It will be less expensive than publishing a physical book, leaving more margin for the author.
Golf Photography
(Part to Full time income / Low to Moderate Investment)
Golf is a very photogenic sport. The landscapes can be quite pretty and lend themselves to photography. If you are an experienced photographer, there are a number of ways to make money photographing golf. You can make money by covering golf events as a licensed golf photographer and selling exclusive pictures taken from the event. You can work the first hole of a resort and take pictures of groups. You may also specialize in landscapes and sell your work to golf enthusiasts via a website.
Starting your own photography business is a great way to add a second income or a main income, if you work hard. While the photography market is competitive, many photography business owners have been able to find their niche and build a sustainable career. Like most creative endeavors, you need to balance your passion for photography with real business skills in order to be successful.
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Advice on Any Business You start
With any business you start, there are some fundamentals
Conduct market research. Market research will tell you if there's an opportunity to turn your idea into a successful business. Look for a niche in the market you can use to differentiate your business and to figure out the key levers for success.
Write your business plan so you know what you are doing. Focus on what it costs to run a business, how to manage cash flow, how you will market, how you will hire and retain employees.
Fund your business. Figure out if you will use debt or fund the business out of savings. See if there are ways to leverage assets to get financing.
Pick your business location. Location is a critical aspect of your business. Look for a location that is convenient for customers, doesn’t cost more than you can afford and is a reasonable commute from your home.
Choose a business structure. The type of business entity you choose will depend on three primary factors: liability, taxation and record-keeping. A sole proprietorship is the most common form of business organization.
Choose your business name. Follow any state business naming guidelines and pick a name that is easy to pronounce and spell. Pick a name that evokes what you do or customers you serve.
Register your business. Typically done through your state corporation commission. Contact them or visit their website for specific instructions
Get federal and state tax IDs. Apply for an EIN with the IRS assistance tool. It will guide you through questions and ask for your name, social security number, address, and your "doing business as" (DBA) name. Your nine-digit federal tax ID becomes available immediately upon verification.
Get Insurance for your business. For most small businesses, general liability insurance is recommended. Beyond that, it depends on your unique situation.
Staff your business. Determine what work you will do and where you need help.
Create a job description and determine compensation and place an ad for the role. Follow legal practices when interviewing candidates.
Market your business. This is a deep topic. Get a website, register for Google local. Build a plan to get the word out about your venture.
More and more golfers are looking for ways to practice and enjoy golf at home. Installing putting greens and practice areas can be a lucrative way to cash in on this trend. This might pair well with someone already in the landscaping or patio business. Some of the equipment and permitting processes (not to mention dealing with the HOA) are already things they have to do.
A subset of this space would be to do the design, but not the install. If you have good design skills you could partner with an install service. A number of the artificial putting green manufacturers have programs that allow you to be a dealer for them in your area.
Sell Golf Carts
(Full time income / meaningful investment)
There were approximately 100,000 golf carts sold last year and that is growing at a rate of about 4-5% a year. They are sold for more than just golf. They are sold as transportation within a community, on a large property, or at resorts. As a dealer, you can sell a golf cart between $6,000 and $18,000 depending on the model and options. Because they can come at a decent price tag, there is room to profit by being the retail seller.
There is also a market for used golf carts. If you are mechanical you can buy used carts, fix them and flip them for a profit. A guy on reddit is reporting $800 - $2,000 in profit for every golf cart he flips. You can also sell golf cart covers for additional profit.
Golf Instructor
(Part to Full time income / some investment)
The best golf instructors have formal training and have worked under a more experienced professional. That is the best way to get into becoming an instructor.
In a formal golf educational program, you will avail yourself of training and instruction from expert golf professionals who have experience in the field and classroom. You will learn all facets of the golf industry and if teaching the game is of special interest, you will build a foundation of coaching and teaching that propels you into the golf instruction market with the tools to be successful.
You may also choose to specialize in part of the game such as the full swing, the short game, or the game strategy. The average cost of a golf lesson is anywhere from $25 - $60 for a 30 or 45-minute lesson and around $75 - $100 an hour (or more) for an hour-long lesson.
Aside from the training, being a successful instructor comes down to attracting and retaining students.
Online Golf Video Instruction Business
(Part to Full time income / some investment)
While sounding similar to being a golf instructor, an online instruction business is a different animal. Instead of hour long lessons, you’d be creating short video segments to coach a specific technique. While you still need to have a solid understanding of the golf swing, being a PGA certified instructor isn’t as critical to your success (though it helps)
You’ll also need to be good at creating videos on different skills and golf drills. You’ll be creating content that you monetize either by selling the content itself or by putting advertising on the page where the content is consumed. If you have these skills, this could be a great side hustle for you.
Many beginner golfers want to learn how to play golf, but may not be ready to commit to a class or a lesson. Learning golf online may suit them better or help them get started.
Start A Golf Advertising Agency or a Golf Promotions Business
(Part to Full time income / low to moderate investment)
If you are a marketing pro, you could decide to tailor your offerings to golf. You can get into local promotion to help clubs grow, offer services to online brands, or compete for money from the big national advertisers. The key to success is to understand your customers and to pick a niche (or several) where you can help them.
- Social Media Marketing – Focused on marketing through social media
- Email Marketing – Email-based marketing
- Brand Management – Building a brand through a variety of techniques
- Content Management – Managing the flow of content
- Copywriting – Writing about products, services, tutorials, or website wording
- Product Marketing – Focused on analyzing interest in a product then selling the product
- Marketing Analysis – Analyzing how to improve through meeting market demand
- Growth Marketing – Focused on increasing the market share through marketing
- PR/Communications – Communicating with external stakeholders
- Event Marketing – Marketing events like concerts or business conferences
- SEO/SEM – Improving organic search results or paid search results
- E-Commerce – Marketing products sold online
Golf Club Repair
(Part to Full time income / low investment)
With an expected annual sales of $15 billion, there are a lot of clubs out there. Over time they wear down, break, or get blemished. This is where a club repair business comes in. You can change grips, fix lofts, re-chrome irons, repaint woods, replace shafts and more.
This is a great side or part time business as there are over 1,000 searches a month on golf club repair in Google alone. Since the biggest asset is your time and skill, investment can be low. You will be competing with golf stores and pro shops, so building a network of golfers who know your skills is a key to success.
Golf Club Fitting Business
(Part to Full time income / moderate investment)
Similar to the golf club repair business, this one will be driven by your knowledge and skills. You’ll be helping golfers pick the clubs best suited to their skills. You’ll likely need some sort of launch monitor to evaluate shots and an inventory of demo clubs, shafts, and grips to get started. You’ll also need space to do the fittings. This is often combined with either instruction or repair businesses.
Golf Mobile App
(Part to Full time income / low to high investment)
Today people always have their phones on them and there is a huge market for good mobile apps. If you are a software developer and creative, a unique mobile app dealing with golf-related activities can provide a decent income. There are many apps around booking tee times, golf reviews, GPS tracking, shot tracking, scoring, and more. If you get creative, there might be room in here for a new one from you.
Open A Golf School / Golf Academy
(Full time income / moderate investment)
Opening a golf training academy can be one of the most rewarding ways to run a business in golf. You get to help golfers improve and achieve their goals. Like many businesses, this one requires a good set of processes and organizational skills. If you can pair that with great instruction, you could have a solid business for many years to come.
Purchasing A Golf Resort
(Full time income / high investment)
Along with manufacturing golf clubs, this would be one of the higher initial entry costs on our list. Buying or starting a private golf resort is likely to be pretty expensive. That said, if you know real estate and can run a business, this one has the potential for very high income. People love to travel and play golf, putting them together can be a profitable model.
It will require having a great team around you and a solid capital base to be successful.
Golf Course Construction
(Full time income / high investment)
If you are in the landscaping business and have the equipment to move dirt, this might be an interesting expansion to your business. It will require full time attention, expensive equipment, large staff, good accounting, insurance, and cash-flow management. You’ll also likely need to be able to work all over the country as building course after course doesn’t typically happen all in the same place.
Online Gear Store / Discount Golf Equipment Business
(Part to Full time income / Low to Moderate investment)
The demand for golf equipment online is on the rise. You can create an online store and sell golf gear online. You can create your own products to sell online. You could also get into drop shipping or FBA (fulfilled by Amazon) and only really have to focus on finding good products and marketing them.
You can look for a niche like ultralight golf bags or kids clubs to help stand out from the competition. If you are just beginning or if you have a low budget, start with a couple items and learn how it works. Once you get some sales and have some profits, you can use that money to grow your product line.
You don’t need to know how to code to start a website as services like WooCommerce and Shopify make it easy to get an online store started.
Personal Trainer, Gym, Golf Fitness
(Full time income / Moderate Investment)
I’ve personally benefited from using a trainer. My trainer helped me better prepare my body to play good golf and keep from getting hurt. He had a TPI certification and put me through a program to test my strength and flexibility as it related to golf.
Being a trainer would require some knowledge of golf and physiology. You’ll also likely need some equipment for the session with the client and a facility to train them. A personal training session will run in the $50-$75 range while a physical therapy session can run up to $400. I paid $275 for two one-hour sessions with a TPI certified trainer.
A slightly different take would be to open a gym for golfers. Most golfers look for fitness instructors to keep their bodies fit and fine. Starting a gym specifically designed for golfers can be a lucrative golf-related business. Pair it with a golf simulator and track stats to see how they improve and use it to market your gym.
Golf Club or Golf Ball Manufacturing Company
(Full time income / meaningful investment)
According to Straits Research, the Golf Equipment Market Size is projected to reach $15.44 Billion by 2030, growing at 4.21% annually. Within that total, there are many segments and products and new ones come along all the time. If you have a background in engineering, design, and/or manufacturing, building clubs might be a good business for you.
To be successful, being a club manufacturer will require good products and great marketing. Find a niche and a good way to satisfy it and perhaps you’ll be at the PGA show next year.
Golf Vacations
(Part to Full time income / Low to Moderate Investment)
As evidence of the many travelers who enjoy golf vacations, there are over 1,600 searches a month on Google for “golf vacation”. As a golf vacation planner, your job will be to plan vacations with travel arrangements, hotel accommodations, food, gear equipment rental, and scheduling golf camp trips. Ideally you would know the area, courses, and accommodations that you recommend. If you are well traveled or enjoy the research side of vacation planning, this could be a great business for you.
The investment to start is low in that you merely need to set up a website and start finding clients. Do some research to see how to price your service by calling other planners to see what they’d charge you for the service.
Golf Training Aids
(Part to Full time income / Moderate to High Investment)
Golf training aids are searched over 3,600 times a month on Google. Golfers spend big money to improve their scores each and every year. Just look at the variety of alignment sticks on the market. If you have a unique idea on how to help ingrain a good technique or solve a problem, you may have a good training aid to sell.
You’ll need to develop a prototype and find someone to manufacture it at a reasonable cost. One way many training aids have launched is via a kickstarter campaign. They use it to get funding for the first production run and use cash from sales to find future production runs.
Golf Blog
(Part to Full time income / Low Investment)
People start blogs for all kinds of reasons. Some start them to share their opinions, passions, or glimpses into their lives. Others start them to teach others what they know. All have a couple things in common, they focus on a niche, they need an online platform, and they need a way to monetize their content.
To earn income, you can sell products from your blog, sell advertising on your blog, or use your blog to build a email list you can use to sell products. It is pretty easy to start a blog and the investment is minimal, but the competition is pretty high.
Golf Podcast
(Part to Full time income / Low Investment)
Similar in many respects to the blog, a podcast is a way to get your story out and create content. In recent times podcasting is becoming more and more popular all around the globe. If you are able to tell a good story or have a good network of folks you can interview, a podcast might be a good fit for you. Podcasts with a good following can earn a lot of money through sponsorships or by selling their own products, training aids or other content.
Golf Youtube Channel
(Part to Full time income / Low Investment)
Youtube is another platform that can be explored for making money. There is a good search looking to learn golf skills in the YouTube space. You can have something like a podcast format, or you can use it to demo products (that you also sell), or you can use it as a forum for teaching.
Money from YouTube is via advertising or from links to products you sell or endorse. Growing your viewer and subscriber traffic is the key to growing your income on YouTube. This is often combined with one or more of the business above as a marketing tool.
Golf Apparel Brand or Store
(Part to Full time income / Moderate Investment)
There are a number of compelling new golf brands on the rise. True, Rhoback, Zero Restriction, Link Soul are a few that come to mind. They’ve crafted a unique brand story and carved out a place in the industry to sell their apparel. Maybe go super-nice and target something like golf gloves and grips for sweaty hands.
One angle brands take is to find common apparel items and customize it for golf either through your marketing or physical changes. The golf apparels are more costly than normal apparel. For example, if a normal t-shirt costs $20, the price rises to $60 if a golf logo is embroidered on the same shirt. Hence provide a much higher profit margin to sellers.
Golf Sports Management / Talent Agency
(Part to Full time income / Moderate Investment)
Sports agents help ensure their clients enter into contracts that are going to help them achieve their goals. They attempt to ensure fairness and achieve the best income possible. Because of this, it is important to understand the client, the business, and contract language.
It can be an exciting career with free tickets, famous contacts, and big incomes. It can also be brutally competitive and it is important to find ways to stand out.
Sports agents must become qualified by passing the sports agency exam. Passing this exam is of great importance to attract professional clients to your establishment.
Passing the exam is a clear indication to prospective customers that you can handle all business requirements efficiently. High level of competence is required in this field since you will represent professional players and directly impact on their successes. The sports agency exam is proof of your abilities to perform at the highest level.
Golf Television Channel / Show
(Part to Full time income / Moderate to High Investment)
Many people don’t realize that there are channels available for lease by everyday people. Under federal law, any cable operator that maintains at least 36 channels must reserve a group of channels for leased access. You can rent one of these channels for a monthly price that’s determined largely by the number of subscribers and channels – the larger the company, the more you will pay.
With the growth in golf and all the places that need content, creating a golf show could be a fun and lucrative venture. To do this, you will need to create a premise for your show, develop a format, find a way to get it funded, and find a way to distribute the show. Collaborating with others will help widen your network of resources and ways you can market the show.
Golf Coupon Book
(Part time income / Low to Moderate Investment)
If you enjoy negotiating, making sales and helping people save money, starting a coupon-book business may be for you. It has low start-up costs and requires negotiating skills and some work upfront. But with more people trying to save money whenever and wherever possible, it can be a lucrative business.
You could take these skills to talk to all the golf businesses in your area. You’ll charge them some sort of fee to be included in the book (the more you can distribute the more these are worth). Developing a good design, selling to golf businesses, having a good printing relationship, and good marketing are the keys to success.
Golf Event Catering
(Part to Full time income / Low to Moderate Investment)
Catering companies in the US raked in a total of $11 billion revenue in 2019. And if you run a catering business, you can expect to make $30,000 – $80,000 annually. Going into a catering business means you’ll have to determine what type of food will you serve, what types of functions you will cater, what is your capacity and who is going to do the work of cooking and serving the food.
With those things in mind, you can research the competition and build a compelling offering to golf courses and driving ranges.
Ebook On Golf Skills
(Part time income / Low to Moderate Investment)
Online learning continues to boom and ebooks are a big part of that domain. Demand for content that teaches golf continues to grow. Before new golfers buy clubs, go to a course or book a lesson, they read about golf. Having a good ebook marketed to new golfers is a good avenue for part to full time income.
If you are an expert golfer and have golf skills, curate your knowledge into a good ebook and you can earn a good side income selling an ebook online. It will be less expensive than publishing a physical book, leaving more margin for the author.
Golf Photography
(Part to Full time income / Low to Moderate Investment)
Golf is a very photogenic sport. The landscapes can be quite pretty and lend themselves to photography. If you are an experienced photographer, there are a number of ways to make money photographing golf. You can make money by covering golf events as a licensed golf photographer and selling exclusive pictures taken from the event. You can work the first hole of a resort and take pictures of groups. You may also specialize in landscapes and sell your work to golf enthusiasts via a website.
Starting your own photography business is a great way to add a second income or a main income, if you work hard. While the photography market is competitive, many photography business owners have been able to find their niche and build a sustainable career. Like most creative endeavors, you need to balance your passion for photography with real business skills in order to be successful.
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Advice on Any Business You start
With any business you start, there are some fundamentals
Conduct market research. Market research will tell you if there's an opportunity to turn your idea into a successful business. Look for a niche in the market you can use to differentiate your business and to figure out the key levers for success.
Write your business plan so you know what you are doing. Focus on what it costs to run a business, how to manage cash flow, how you will market, how you will hire and retain employees.
Fund your business. Figure out if you will use debt or fund the business out of savings. See if there are ways to leverage assets to get financing.
Pick your business location. Location is a critical aspect of your business. Look for a location that is convenient for customers, doesn’t cost more than you can afford and is a reasonable commute from your home.
Choose a business structure. The type of business entity you choose will depend on three primary factors: liability, taxation and record-keeping. A sole proprietorship is the most common form of business organization.
Choose your business name. Follow any state business naming guidelines and pick a name that is easy to pronounce and spell. Pick a name that evokes what you do or customers you serve.
Register your business. Typically done through your state corporation commission. Contact them or visit their website for specific instructions
Get federal and state tax IDs. Apply for an EIN with the IRS assistance tool. It will guide you through questions and ask for your name, social security number, address, and your "doing business as" (DBA) name. Your nine-digit federal tax ID becomes available immediately upon verification.
Get Insurance for your business. For most small businesses, general liability insurance is recommended. Beyond that, it depends on your unique situation.
Staff your business. Determine what work you will do and where you need help.
Create a job description and determine compensation and place an ad for the role. Follow legal practices when interviewing candidates.
Market your business. This is a deep topic. Get a website, register for Google local. Build a plan to get the word out about your venture.
