PGA Tour Buys In To TeeOff.com

The PGA Tour is officially in the discount tee time game.

The PGA Tour and EZLinks Golf, Inc. have partnered to form a new company, EZLinks Golf LLC.  EZLinks Golf, based in Chicago, is the owner of TeeOff.com, a discount tee time booking website.

TeeOff.com by PGA TOUR, as it will be branded, will be integrated into the current PGA marketing machine.  It will receive endorsements on television coverage, radio coverage, and will have a permanent link on the Tour’s website.

The new company will retain its current staff of approximately 100 employees.  CEO Gary Cohen commented:

“We are proud to bring the power of the PGA TOUR brand and massive audience to golf courses across North America.”

You can check out the PGA’s release here.

TeeOff.com Vs. GolfNow.com.  PGA Tour Vs. Golf Channel

Golf Channel's GolfNow leads the online tee time market by a wide margin.
Golf Channel’s GolfNow leads the online tee time market by a wide margin.

TeeOff.com is the second largest tee time retailer in the country and will surely get a boost from brandishing the PGA Tour logo.  They are second only to GolfNow.com, owned by NBCUniversal and managed by Golf Channel.  Golf Now has over 5,000 affiliate golf courses and booked over 11 million tee times in 2013.

Does the casual golfer win?

We are all about discount golf here at 3 Jack.  I’ve personally used both TeeOff and Golf Now within the last ten days and I’m a huge fan of both sites.  I played 18 holes with a cart on one of my favorite local courses for $13 when the people in front of me in line were shelling out $40 on a Saturday.

From my experience, Tee Off has a limited number of courses, but will offer two legitimate deals each day per course.

Golf Now has an excellent selection of available courses, but the deeper discounts can be more difficult to find.  You’ll save more money if you are flexible with your starting time and are willing to wait until the day before to book it.  Once inside of 24 hours, Golf Now will slash their rates on their hot deals.

A side benefit of the Recession and the drop in golf participation over the last several years has been cheap golf for the hackers that remain.  If Tee Off can close the gap behind Golf Now, the winner in this deal could be us, the casual golfer.  A little competition between two giants in the industry could save us even more money.

Chris Racic

Chris Racic lives and plays in NE Ohio. He works full time in the Financial Services industry and owns an absolutely horrendous short game. Chris chipped in for an eagle at Seven Hills Country Club in Hartville the day before his oldest daughter was born and is positive it’s some sort of sign.