April 7, 2015

2015 Masters Tournament

Here we go - the the first major of the new golf season.  James is busy being busy at his new GolfNow job, so I'm here to help out.


The 2015 Masters Tournament will be the 79th edition of the Masters Tournament and the first of golf's four major championships to be held in 2015. It will be held from April 9–12 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.

If you haven't already, I strongly recommend that you check out www.masters.com. Talk about an event and its organizers that take full advantage of every media platform available. The coverage, IMO, is unmatched. I'm sure it will be must see TV on Sunday.

Obligatory picture of last years winner, Jack Swagger aka Bubba Watson:



And here's a snippet of the final leaderboard:




Now onto the fantasy side of things.  Our last event, the 96th PGA Championship, was won by yours truly and here's the final leaderboard:

Bill: -28
Cbell: -19
Beck: -16
Adam: -12
Jeremy: -11
Paul: -10
Dan: -7
Sean: +4
James: +5
Abe: +25

Too easy :)


Rules:

The final score of all the players on each team will be added up and the lowest cumulative score wins. Each team will have 4 golfers.

+5 will be added to any players score who misses the cut

-10 will be deducted from the score of the team who picks the Champion

If there is a WD, that player will be given a score of the worst round from that day. And then a one time penalty of +5 (the same penalty a player who misses the cut would get.)

The draft order will be the reverse final standings of the previous major


Draft:

Round 1:

Abe: Bubba Watson
James: Jordan Spieth
Sean: Rory McIlroy
Dan: Adam Scott
Paul: Jason Day
Jeremy: Dustin Johnson
Adam: Patrick Reed
Beck: Rickie Fowler
Cbell: Henrik Stenson
Bill: Matt Kuchar

Round 2:

Bill: Jimmy Walker
Cbell: Phil Mickelson
Beck: Justin Rose
Adam: Tiger Woods
Jeremy: Hideki Matsuyama
Paul: Lee Westwood
Dan: Louis Oosthuizen
Sean: Jim Furyk
James: Billy Horschel
Abe: Martin Kaymer

Round 3:

Abe: J.B. Holmes
James: Brandt Snedeker
Sean: Jonas Blixt
Dan: Sergio Garcia
Paul: Angel Cabrera
Jeremy: Keegan Bradley
Adam: Ian Poulter
Beck: Zach Johnson
Cbell: Paul Casey
Bill: Bill Haas

Round 4:

Bill: Fred Couples
Cbell: Gary Woodland
Beck: Luke Donald
Adam: Victor Dubuisson
Jeremy: Brooks Kopeka
Paul: Kevin Na
Dan: Trevor Immelman
Sean: Jason Dufner
James: Branden Grace
Abe: Ryan Moore




The Teams:

Team Newport: Watson, Kaymer, Holmes, Moore

Team GolfNow, WorkLater: Spieth, Horschel, Snedeker, Grace

Team MBGlitterBug: McIlroy, Furyk, Blixt, Dufner

Team South Africa: Scott, Oosthuizen, Garcia, Immelman

Team FinNa: Day, Westwood, Cabrera, Na

Team Jeremy: D. Johnson, Matsuyama, Bradley, Kopeka

Team Adam: Reed, Woods, Poulter, Dubuisson

Team Beck: Fowler, Rose, Z. Johnson, Donald

Team Cbell: Stenson, Mickelson, Casey, Woodland

Team Bill: Kuchar, Walker, Haas, Couples


The Scores (final):

Jeremy : -22
Beck : -21
Cbell : -19
Paul : -7
Adam : -6
James : -3
Sean : -1
Dan : +6
Bill : +11
Abe : + 13

Duke 2015 National champs


Tonight I watched the NCAA national championship basketball game with a couple new friends from GolfNow ... And it turned out to be a sports moment I'll never forget:



At the bar it was about 200 vs 1 .... My buddy Jack, a Duke alum, pictured above. Literally 0 people rooting for Duke besides Jack,  Ryan, and I.

Most of my readers know my personal motto... Haters fuel me. They just do. It was a GREAT game and the "bad guys" came out on top. Again. Great time.




April 4, 2015

What exactly is GolfNow?




I've recently accepted a position as Market Sales Manger in New England for GolfNow. What exactly is GolfNow? I'm glad you asked.

GolfNow is a technology company specializing in golf related products and services with the most powerful distribution platform in golf. Founded in 2001 and backed by Golf Channel and Comcast, GolfNow.com currently has nearly 3 million bookers and over 8,000 course partners in 9 countries around the globe. Last year, 13.4 million rounds of golf were booked through GolfNow. Simply put, we help courses sell more rounds and grow revenue with the golfer's best interest in mind. Our "big hairy audacious goal" is to facilitate every booking of every round of golf, everywhere!


 (video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLVzdQ5srw4)

Each year, GolfNow runs over 10,000 TV spots across the Comcast/ NBC Sports family of networks- including the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Kentucky Derby, and even the Super Bowl! You've probably heard or seen the commercials, where we encourage golfers to get off the couch and Go Play! We are one of the most recognized brands in golf, and the exposure and reach we provide for our course partners is unmatched. We have over 1,000 affiliates that help us book rounds including Southwest Airlines, GolfSmith, and most recently, Yelp!



GolfNow is also the #1 tee sheet, point of sale, web site, and booking engine provider in the industry! We make it easy for golfers to book rounds at the right price for them. Much like the sports, hotel, airline, and transportation (Uber) industries, GolfNow encourages revenue management using dynamic pricing for our course partners. This year our goal is to book 15 million rounds of golf through our platform.

I've personally been a user and fan of GolfNow for a few years. I've booked many rounds on GolfNow in the past, but the reason why I wanted this job so badly is because New England is one of the more underdeveloped markets in the country and I strongly believe in the value of GolfNow. It's no secret the golf industry has been in decline since economic depression around 2008. In most areas, including New England, supply has exceeded demand- mostly due to the astronomical amount of golf courses that were built during the "Tiger Boom" of the early 2000s. The two main reasons people don't golf more often are time and cost. GolfNow is addressing these issues by launching initiatives such as "Play 9" and "Play Fast." In 2014, Play 9 helped participating courses book over 500,000+ nine hole rounds, generating millions in revenue.




To stay competitive in today's mobile, on line world, it's important for golf courses to provide the ability to book tee times on line 24/7/365. Today's consumer is savvy; 81% of all shoppers conduct online research before buying. I know I do. It's very important for any company to provide an easy and enjoyable experience on line, across every platform (not just desktop websites.) Golf courses are always looking for new customers and on average, the GolfNow user plays 6 new courses every year! Nearly 40% of reviewers (on an amazing site we own, golfadvisor.com have indicated that the round they booked through GolfNow was the first time they have ever played that course.  I'm so excited to help introduce area courses to a whole universe of golfers who may not even know they exist. We have some BEAUTIFUL courses in New England, and GolfNow gives everyone a chance to play these tracks at the right price for them. So....family, friends, fellow golfers, get out there and Go Play!