The GolfN rewards and digital caddie app has already become a thriving success among golfers since its debut in 2023. Golfers can earn rewards points for playing rounds of golf, and for also doing virtually anything golf-related in their daily life. The app’s new Daily Grind feature lets them check in at golf-related businesses and locations, to earn even more rewards points in an inclusive, accessible way that fits their lifestyle and schedule. They’re also building a growing community of players who appreciate getting rewards back for the time they invest in the game they love.
GolfN’s growth is becoming harder and harder to ignore. The app-based community recently surpassed some telling milestones: more than 100,000 rewards-eligible golf rounds have been logged on the app and more than $500,000 in rewards (golf equipment) have been redeemed by GolfN members who now total 100,000 golfers from around the globe.
We caught up with Founder and CEO Jared Phillips, to get the latest moves this fast-paced golf tech company is making.
The GolfN app already had loyal users. What led you to add the Daily Grind so members can earn points by doing basically anything golf-related?
When we started GolfN, it was always about how golfers can get something back for the value they create. Golfers should share in the value they create. And it doesn't feel like that happens in a lot of places. Since COVID, golfers have been playing golf very differently. When I grew up, I went to a course with my dad and we hit balls and there was an intimidating factor. And that's what you had to do – learn your way up or take lessons. But now you have all these other areas off-course where people are starting their journey and love of the game. So why did we start it? Because golf doesn't work the same way today as it did 20 years ago. There's a different path. Ignoring that as something people should get credit for, that should be a part of what they're doing, we wanted to do. No one's ever tried this before. And we're seeing pretty incredible results. Why only reward people for things they do on course when all of us do a lot more than just that?
How quickly can someone earn a top-brand driver, L.A.B. putter, or wedge set? What would they have to do?
With Daily Grind, it really depends on where you're going and what you're doing – just like with anything. You go and check in, we're gonna give you points. There's X amount for checking in, for spending time, for uploading photos in a review. If you're spending money with our partners, such as Topgolf and get lunch and hit some balls, you get more when you upload receipts. It can happen pretty quickly. And again, none of this is feature gated inside of our apps. So if you're a free user, you can come in and do this. And that's perfectly fine by us. So, if it's 30 check-ins over the course of the summer, you're pretty close to getting one of those items – that’s realistic.
How do you think Daily Grind will expand the GolfN ecosystem for golfers and for the golf businesses that members frequent?
We're already seeing it. If you're involved in the game, even if you're a club fitter operating out of your basement, you deserve to have the same ability to communicate with people who want your services, even if you don't have a Dick Sporting Goods budget. So I think that how this is going to grow will be this self-service awareness platform for businesses. We're trying to connect people – whether you're a mom-and-pop shop that just got started or a family heritage that’s been around for 30 years – it's going to open your eyes to a lot of new businesses. We're going to reward you for going in and learning about them. And I think that's a win for everybody.
Being this is a first-of-its-kind rewards app in the golf space, what excites you about the ways people use your app to stay more engaged in the game?
The exciting thing for me is we're people telling us what they think, as they're doing things. Their behavior's changing too. People using the app are playing golf 40 percent more than those who don't. They’re having fun, earning towards these things that maybe they thought were out of reach. They’re playing more, checking in at more places. We're asking our users for feedback on our app, on the courses they play, on the shops they stop into. What's crazy to me is we're getting incredibly good first-party reviews from people just talking what they think. “I like their food, it was overpriced, but a really good place. I'll come back.” It’s nice to hear and see those things. We're very open about not having figured everything out yet. And if they have a suggestion, let us know and we will pay them in our rewards points for telling us what they don't like and what we can do better. And we’ve gotten just for Daily Grind, which has been out for a little over a month, 1,300 people suggesting tweaks or asking to add their driving range down the street, or a really great shop that we don’t have in there yet. What really gets me fired up is seeing behavior change. It's almost like our users are taking ownership of the app and helping to make it better. That’s extremely rewarding and it really makes me excited about the future.
Why did you start GolfN, and what's in it for you if golfers get all the rewards and the golf companies and venues get all the exposure?
We're filling this middle ground between the two parties. And I don't feel that anyone's done it well, where golfers didn't feel like they were being marketed too aggressively. You're forced into a place that isn't exactly great. On the other side, businesses are fighting for exposure, but don't have the budget to overpower people that do have the budget. So being that connection in the middle is why we started GolfN – we think there's a place where we become Meta and Google for golf on the front end and then have an Amazon-type fulfillment on the back end with our equipment partners. We have margin, we make money there. But I think that creating an ecosystem no one's done before creates a lot of value for all parties. Ultimately, it’s about providing a useful product that doesn't currently exist.
With Daily Grind, have you started seeing trends in geographical regions where some venues or parts of the country are more active and engaged than others?
It's golf season in North America right now, and yet we're talking about things that are off the golf course. We knew that going in, we wanted to put some things out there, test and refine, and continue to get better because really Q3, Q4 are going to be huge as the weather starts to turn and people move their golf habit indoors instead of outdoors. But I cannot believe the adoption of the United Kingdom, and how often people there are checking in and leaving reviews. They love this concept. We didn't promote it all over there. We just turned it on and they discovered it. And their check-ins per day are almost that of the United States. And as you know, there's a lot more people in the United States. So we're seeing some funny, different actions, but the New York tri-state area has been big, Florida has been big, and we're just starting to get these partnerships where we're pushing a few notifications of our partners in regions and people are responding. It's still growing and developing, but we like what we're seeing so far.
What have you learned about golfers’ behavior when they're motivated to earn points for great golf products?
It's crazy. Our average user who plays golf is logging into our app over 75 times a month – over two times a day. It has that addictive, want to do more factor. We get questions all the time on how to do things. We're seeing activity increase on the course. We're seeing new things that we're putting out there immediately adopting. We had on our app a feature called Pressure Look, where you can come in every day and try to spin to win – 28,000 people do that a day. We just rolled that out one day, didn't even promote it. And now 28,000 people do it every single day. That's crazy.
You've recently reached milestones of 100,000 rounds logged, $500,000+ in rewards (golf equipment) redeemed, and 100,000 users. With Daily Grind opening up exponentially more ways to earn rewards, how do you see GolfN growing in the next two years?
This opens up something that's never been done before, because this internal currency we have changes behavior. So if you have this really cool product, but you can't get someone through the door, GolfN can do that. We've already shown we can. Now, whether or not your product is good, whether or not people like what you do, that's up to you. But we can get people through the door. And so I think that’s very promising for where we can go because we’ve effectively done what Niantic did with Pokemon Go – drive people through the doors of new places.
You seem like you could have applied these talents and expertise to any golf or tech company. Why is GolfN the place where you put your ideas and passions?
The first year we were at the PGA Show, and I was pitching the idea. People looked at me like I had three heads. It sounded ridiculous. There's no one who would have funded this. to try somewhere else because we had to prove that it could work. I didn't grow up with money. It was hard for me to play golf more than once a year – usually with my dad on Father's Day. As soon as I was old enough to have a job, I got one at a golf course, because I could play for free. So it always felt like this thing I had to grind towards just to be able to try to play more. And GolfN started with the idea of, let's make it a little easier for people to get new equipment, to get on the course and play more often. And that's really where we operate from. It’s making a lot of sense for both businesses and golfers.
Tell me about some of the great sweepstakes and winners you've had in the GolfN community.
We're doing an inside-the-ropes sweepstakes with Emiliano Grillo, who we sponsored on tour. I just spoke with this gentleman yesterday who lives in the Bay Area. His dad is in Ohio. They love doing stuff like this together but it’s hard to make it happen. We're flying him in for a tour event, and he's going to walk inside the ropes and go all 4 days with his dad. It’s something they haven't been able to do forever. And now they're going to do this as an experience. He just joined the app 50 days ago, and he's now being flown out to spend a week with his dad. I’m glad we get to bring a father and son together to do this super cool thing that you can't even buy. The other one that sticks out is this young man, Tyler Fields, who won a fitting day with Cobra. He's in his 20s, has small kids, and works in the oil fields. He put a couple of entries in to win this contest and had a .049 percent chance of winning – and he won. We flew him to Carlsbad, Calif. and put him up in a hotel on the water. He texted me the first night and said he’d never been in a hotel this nice. It was something that he would never ordinarily do, and he got to do something that Ricky Fowler and Gary Woodland have done, and meet with their pro club fitter, get into a set of 3D-printed irons that cost more than he's ever spent his entire life on golf. You can see how thankful and happy he was, and that meant a lot to me.
What do you say to people who are confused or skeptical to try GolfN?
We've given away over $500,000 in items since we started. You can find people posting about it on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and YouTube. We genuinely believe that golfers should share in the value they create. It's fun. Go play a round of golf and see for yourself. We've seen people saying why wouldn't they give this a shot? Why would you not use a credit card points system when you get incredible points versus using cash? Do you want the free things or not? It's as simple as that.