How Do We Get More Younger Golfers Playing Golf?

Posted on November 18, 2013 by Zeb Welborn

How do we get more younger golfers playing golf?

One of the biggest reasons why the golf industry has been struggling in current years is because we’ve become complacent and lacked innovation. Our times have changed over the past couple of decades and the golf industry, as a whole, has been slow to adapt.

Junior golfers are an important component toward growing the game. As older golfers leave the sport, we need to be inspiring more younger golfers to take up the game to fill in the gaps. In order to do this we need to communicate with a younger generation . . . the way they prefer to communicate.

Traditional media like magazines, newspapers and television ads are not viable options in todays internet and social media age. Young people are using platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vine, YouTube videos and a variety of other to connect and communicate with one another. They are also using those mediums to connect with their passions.

We are not giving young golfers the opportunity to connect with local golf courses and people in the golf community because, for the most part, local golf courses are not socially active online.

We’re missing out on the biggest opportunity of our time and are giving it up to other recreational sports and activities that are seizing this opportunity. If we are to grow golf, we need to connect with younger golfers and speak their language using social media.

At 19th Hole Media, we’re helping to get the word out about social media and the impact it can have on the future of the golf course industry. Please contact us to learn more about how we can get younger golfers playing at your golf course . . . Or, just to connect with us!

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Team 19th Hole Media Wins Bunkers Paradise Charity Golf Tournament

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Zeb Welborn

Team 19th Hole Media, comprised of Gary Christman, Kenny Donovan, Mike Quiroz and myself, Zeb Welborn won the first ever Bunkers Paradise Charity Golf Tournament for the Special Olympics of Southern California on Sunday, October 13.

Team 19th Hole Media

Roughly 50 golfers competed in the event held at San Dimas Canyon Golf Course. The event started at 1pm and ended at dusk with the raffling off of some great golf prizes for the golfers that attended.

Our group was the first to tee off and had someone in our group poised to win all of the closest to the pin and long drive contests, but none of us won. We did; however, shoot a 14-under par 58 to tie for the low score.

The round was filled with great drives by Mike Quiroz, great approach shots by Kenny Donovan, a great short game from Gary Christman and I helped out a little bit to fill in the gaps. It also helped that we all made a lot of long putts.

We couldn’t be happier to have entered the contest and had such a great time, with a great group of golfers for a great cause.

I have known the tournament organizer and Editor-in-Chief at Bunkers Paradise, Ken Lee, for some time now. Ken introduced me to Kate Hughes, who also competed and Gary Lee, who owns Lakers Nation and Bunkers Paradise.

I’d also like to say thanks to San Dimas Canyon Golf Course. Ken and I became acquainted through Twitter and when I signed on to manage social media at San Dimas Canyon Golf Course, Ken wanted to make the course the home course for Bunkers Paradise to which General Manager Trip Stevens agreed. Just a few months afterwards, Bunkers Paradise was holding their first ever golf tournament bringing 50 golfers to the course.

Thank you San Dimas Canyon Golf Course and Trip Stevens for working with me and Bunkers Paradise to help get this tournament off the ground and thank you Bunkers Paradise for choosing San Dimas Canyon Golf Course to host your tournament!

: Team 19th Hole Media

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Social Media Golf Marketing Outperforms Newspapers and Golf Magazines

Posted on July 5, 2013 by Zeb Welborn

As the golf industry has declined so have the budgets of golf courses trying to reach new customers. It’s an endless downward cycle resulting in fewer rounds being played at golf courses and fewer people taking up the game. Social media golf marketing outperforms newspapers and golf magazines in reaching more golfers, in targeting golfers and in engaging golfers more often.

Golf has been slow to react to the wave of new technology that other industries have been jumping on. Social media is one area in particular where golf courses at the local level are lacking which is failing to encourage new golfers to take up and play the game because they can get more added value from other, more socially active activities.

To grow golf, it is essential to continue to promote the game at the local level. Golf courses in every community should be working hard to encourage the members of their community to take up golf. As people who love the game it should be our duty to share the love we have with the game with so many others.

But, it needs to be affordable, it needs to be easy, and it needs to have an impact. Social media outperforms magazine and newspaper marketing in every imaginable category and the more time invested into a social media golf marketing campaign, the more impact your golf course will have on golfers.

Lets compare:

A local daily newspaper has a circulation of 119,000 people. The cost for a 3 x 5 ad is $340. To have your ad show up every day you would be $2,380 per week. The cost per thousand impressions is $2.86.

It does not target your market
There is no opportunity for follow up
Circulations are declining

A local golf magazine has a circulation of 50,000 people. The cost for an ad is $1,700. The magazine goes out once a month. The cost per thousand impressions is $13.60.

Targets golfers, some within your geographical region and some outside of your geographical region
There is no opportunity for follow up
Circulations are declining

19th Hole Media (Welborn Media) worked with a local golf course in Southern California for 18 months. At the end of our tenure we were reaching 77,136 people every week. We were being paid less than $250 per week. We were posting daily to their Facebook and Twitter pages and created blog posts and videos at sporadic intervals. The cost per thousand impressions was $0.88.

Targeted golfers within 50 miles of the golf course
Connections can last a lifetime
Number of impressions increases at a constant rate

Social Media Golf Marketing is better than golf magazine ads or newspaper ads. Welborn Social Media 19th Hole Media

Golf Magazine vs. Newspaper vs. Welborn Social Media (19th Hole Media)

In a side by side comparison of the advantages of social media marketing versus any other form of marketing, 19th Hole Media blows them out of the water. We reach more golfers, we cost less and we reach your golfers more often.

Let us show you what a social media golf marketing campaign can do for your golf course. Contact Zeb Welborn today at Zeb@WelbornMedia.com to schedule a free consultation for your golf course.

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Bunkers Paradise – An Online Golfing Community

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Zeb Welborn

For those of you that don’t know, I’m the host of the Defining Success Podcast, an online, interview-style radio show that aims to interview people from all walks of life to determine what it means to be successful. In Episode 9, we talked with Ken Lee, the Editor-in-Chief at Bunkers Paradise, an online golfing community devoted to everything golf.

In the interview with Ken we discussed a variety of topics, but mainly focused on the impact social media has had on growing Bunkers Paradise and how he’s effectively managed to grow an online golfing community.

Ken Lee

The online golfing community is set up to give golfers the ability to learn from other golfers who enjoy and love the great game of golf.

Ken, and the people at Bunkers Paradise like to have fun. They make unique golfing videos, they review golf equipment and all in all just have a great time connecting with other golfers.

Social media has been critical to the success of Bunkers Paradise. Their enthusiasm using social networks has encouraged more and more golfers to partake in online golfing activities, connect with other golfers and play more golf.

“Social media has been our forum for success,” Ken said.

Bunkers Paradise

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Building an Online Golfing Community

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Zeb Welborn

We met Ken Lee from Bunkers Paradise while we were managing the Twitter account for Los Serranos Country Club in 2012. Ken is helping to build an online golfing community at Bunkers Paradise to help promote the game of golf and encourage more golfers to take up the game.

At the time, Bunkers Paradise had just begun to develop its online following and had really just started utilizing social media. Today, Bunkers Paradise is now getting recognized by almost every single major golf company. Everyone is interested in having the Editor in Chief of Bunkers Paradise try out there products and share their findings with their following.

In the following interview with Ken Lee, we learn how he was able to build a strong golfing community and how he’s used that to reach more golfers and generate value for his organization. By building and managing his following online Ken Lee has created a resource where golfers feel comfortable connecting with one another and sharing their ideas and opinions. And, as a business, Bunkers Paradise has prospered.

The previous interview was taken from the Defining Success Podcast, managed by myself and is devoted towards changing the way we view success. The podcast features interviews from people who love what they do, are good at it and are using their skills to help others.

We can help you build an online golfing community at your local golf course. Ken Lee discusses the importance of quality over quantity and we couldn’t agree more. We can help your golf course reach more customers, encourage golfers to play more rounds and generate more sales for your golf course. If you’d like to find out more about what we do or how we’ve been able to help golf courses across Southern California, please contact Zeb Welborn by email at Zeb@WelbornMedia.com or by phone at (909) 973 – 9089.

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