As the 2023 golf season wraps up, Rick is joined this week, by Greg Wires, the owner and publisher of Golf Minnesota.
Golf Minnesota 2023 Digital lists all public golf courses in Minnesota, the Twin Cities and featured courses in western Wisconsin. It provides a wealth of golf resources. The handy directory contains maps and phone numbers to find your golf retreat and reserve your tee time.
This is our 28th Edition as they celebrate our partners through the years. Enjoy the reading.
The leader in golf simulation technologies has just unveiled an exclusive limited-time promotion aimed at making golf more accessible and enjoyable for enthusiasts of all levels with their MORE GOLF campaign. Uneekor is offering discounts on their full lineup of launch monitors with savings up to $3000!
“EVN More Golf!” along with the release of the groundbreaking Balance Optix® hitting mat and some incredible promotional offers.
As part of this campaign, from today until November 8, 2023, customers can elevate their golf experience with the EYE XO2 + NEW Performance Optix Bundle. With the purchase of an EYE XO2 or EYE XO2 SimKit, receive the Performance Optix bundle worth $2,700. This package includes two Swing Optix cameras and the revolutionary Balance Optix mat, which measures weight distribution and shift throughout your swing. Also part of this campaign, take advantage of an exclusive $500 promotional code for use at Evnroll Putters with the purchase of select launch monitors.
Greg Sabella started on May 22, 2023 as the new Vice President of Marketing. Greg started his career with Callaway Golf where he spent 17 years in sales and marketing, including roles as Director of Marketing for Metal Woods and Odyssey Putters. Before joining Uneekor, he led Sales & Marketing for Blast Motion (Golf) in Carlsbad, California. Greg will lead Uneekor’s strategic efforts in Marketing, continue to build out the marketing team and work closely with the Sales team and other departments. Greg lives in Carlsbad, CA with his family.
Jeehae Lee is a former professional golfer on the LPGA Tour and an executive in the sports media entertainment industry. As the Founder & CEO of Sportsbox.ai, Jeehae is building products using 3D motion analysis technology that will transform the way people learn and improve skills in sports, starting with golf.
Prior to founding Sportsbox, she led strategy and new business development for various divisions at Topgolf, including Toptracer. Jeehae has a BA in Economics from Yale and an MBA from The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania.
She won two Ivy League championships at Yale, earned her LPGA Tour card on her first try, served as Michelle Wie West’s business manager, earned an MBA from Wharton and led business development and growth for Topgolf’s Toptracer brand.
In late 2020, Lee left Topgolf to become CEO and co-founder of Sportsbox AI, a company that uses a single smartphone video to provide golfers with 3D motion capture data. The startup recently raised a $5.5 million seed round and attracted a host of world-renowned coaches as advisers and investors, including David Leadbetter, Sean Foley, Mike Adams and Terry Rowles. “Jeehae is incredibly impressive,” said Foley, an instructor who coaches Justin Rose.
Sports and technology are fields historically dominated by men. Though Lee acknowledged that she has benefited from the credibility of having been a pro athlete, she still recalled attending “so many meetings” at which she was the only woman and the only person under the age of 50. At Sportsbox, however, women make up half of the cap table, including Wie West, fellow LPGA Tour players Marina Alex and Mel Reid, and media entrepreneur Randi Zuckerberg.
The return of PGA Tour 2K23 is right around the corner and media got a taste of this new video game at the Tour Championship in Atlanta.
Rick talks to Shaun West, one of the developers of PGA Tour 2K23.
PGA TOUR 2K23 will feature PGA TOUR icon and all-time sports great Tiger Woods as the cover athlete. PGA TOUR 2K23 celebrates Tiger’s legacy by introducing him as both a playable in-game pro and an Executive Director advising the game development team.
PGA TOUR 2K23 Deluxe Edition and PGA TOUR 2K23 Tiger Woods Edition are scheduled for worldwide release on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, followed by PGA TOUR 2K23 Standard Edition on Friday, October 14, 2022. Featuring PGA TOUR icon and all-time sports great Tiger Woods as the cover athlete, PGA TOUR 2K23 celebrates Woods’ legacy by introducing him as both a playable in-game pro and an Executive Director advising the game development team.
West gives insight to the new game and what his main duties were. Also a little inside information on developing what is sure to be a hit game.
Just days before the 2022 Masters Tournament, Atlanta entrepreneur Edgar Evans Jr. happily released his signature golf shoe, “The Edgar 1’s.”
The shoe was created to inspire the world and provide the youth of underserved communities with golf resources.
Evans joins Rick this week to talk about his shoes, golf and more!
A native of Augusta, Georgia, Evans learned the game of golf by watching the Golf Channel and reading Golf Digest. He continued to work hard and received a golf scholarship from Southern University A&M College. Today, Evans is a professional golf instructor and host of the Saturday Foursome television show.
This shows that early inspiration fuels desire to encourage others.
The concept of the Edgar 1’s started early when Evans was just 11 years old and practiced his golf swing in his grandma’s backyard while wearing a pair of Scottie
Pippen II’s. Evans has gone on to be a golf professional and someone young golfers can look up to as their careers take flight.
Note: The Edgar 1’s are the signature shoe by Edgar Evans Jr. They are at the heart of everyone striving to chart their own success. These shoes are available FOR ONE WEEK ONLY April 2nd-10th. After midnight on April 10th they will never be sold in this color way ever again. After you place your order YOU WILL RECIEVE YOUR SHOES 15 weeks after April 10th. Please checkout the frequently asked question below. If you have any further questions please email us at edgar1s@gmail.com.
Rick is joined this week on ‘Tech of Sports’ by Kyle Groth, CEO of Whiskers.
Whiskers’ Made-in-the-USA golf laces coordinate in style and color with the footwear and apparel brands PGA Tour players and amateur golfers’ wear. Crafted with ultra-durable poly-nylon tech weave and high-grade aglets, they are available in multiple styles, flat and oval shapes, and 30- to 45-inch lengths. Best sellers include navy and light blue, orange and white, berry and black, green and blue, and purple and pink. They also come in color palettes of college and professional sports teams.
“PGA Tour players and golfers worldwide are paying more attention to how they look. As an accent brand, Whiskers subtly adds to their unique personalities without being too loud.”
“Whiskers is reimagining a category that’s been long overlooked yet is now becoming an essential part of premium wardrobes,” says Groth. “Tour players are taking charge by personalizing and dressing up their shoes in fashionable and fun ways.”
The company plans to similarly outfit caddies, LPGA Tour players and social media influencers. Customizing laces is also on Whiskers’ roadmap.
In November, 2021 Whiskers entered the $84B annual golf economy that saw rounds climb more than 10% over 2020 with millennials – who especially relish self-expression that Whiskers laces promote – representing one of the fastest growing golf segments. Sales of golf equipment, apparel and accessories measurably rose in 2021.
In addition to golf, Whiskers designs and manufactures laces for dress and casual shoes, sneakers and boots. Overall, the company is creating a movement in becoming the world’s most iconic, inspirational, aspirational and ubiquitous premium footwear accessory.
