8AM Golf has been riding golf. Its CEO explains how

Golf has been booming for the past decade, and among the leaders in that investment and activity has been 8AM golf president and CEO Hoyt McGarity.

8AM Golf was founded in 2018 by Howard Milstein, and the holding company now boasts a portfolio that includes 15 businesses, including GOLF.com, GOLF. MagazineTrue Spec Golf, Miura Golf and the newly opened Bounty Club in Nashville, developed in partnership with 8AM partner Justin Timberlake.

In a recent episode of “The Deal” podcast with Jason Kelly and Alex Rodriguez, McGarity shared his insights into 8AM Golf’s business investments and strategies, and what he believes will improve the future of the game. Below, you can read 6 takeaways (slightly edited for clarity) from McGarity’s interview with Kelly and Rodriguez.

You can also listen to the podcast here.

In development of 8AM Golf…

“Today, we have about 15 golf clubs,” McGarity said. “But in 2018, 2019, we were about six years old. And we didn’t have a holding company. We were managing them individually, and we thought, ‘Okay, we need to put them somewhere.’ We also created a hosting company called 8AM Golf. And since then, we’ve been collecting best-in-class sports brands.

“I think we’re in every part of the game, right? We’ve invested in everything from hospitality to equipment to media to travel events. I mean, you name it. We’re big in everything except clothing. We sell a lot of clothing through our e-comms, but we don’t have a clothing company. I think our closest thing to that would be PAYNTR [shoes] now that we have just bought a position. So that was our way in [apparel]. But, we thought that, if you have invested one or two three, it is better to surround it with other good investments. And even if they are in different places, they can all eat each other. And I think we’ve done a great job of creating this, probably one of the first companies to own golf.”

What companies attract 8AM Golf…

“We’re trying to find these unique, high-quality products that can be superior, right? And we’re very special about that,” McGarity said. “I don’t think anyone has looked at more golf companies than we have in the last 10 years. I spend my days, going from nothing to a big, multibillion-dollar company. … We’re very selective of CEOs, on the operational side. Are we aligned? Are they aligned? We’re trying to surround our current businesses with strong businesses, right? And I think when you start seeing the same results, we’re aligned and aligned? with that, and I feel like we see it every day now.”

8AM Golf Promotes Bounty Club in Nashville…

“I never thought we’d have a golf course or build one from scratch, right? I mean, that was a dream, when you think about it, from growing up in the golf business,” McGarity said. “We just had our first member, and we’ve only been open a little over a month, and I was sitting there, like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe this actually happened.’ So this goes back to ’21. We have been in the design business. We knew a lot about the golf course, the construction. We do a lot of golf. And Nashville was hungry for golf in general, and then Justin’s [Timberlake] connection to Tennessee, we found this beautiful property off the market [2021]on Memorial Day. And now we open.

“It’s a private club. We have about 140 members right now, mostly nationally based, I’d say 100 of our members are from not Tennessee or Nashville. And we’re growing. We’ve only had a month and it’s been very successful to get to that number. I don’t know where we’re going to end it, but we love our number, only 600 a minute, from 600 in the city. And we can’t believe we’re not going to get close. Nashville is growing like crazy, and people love to go there.

With a Bounty Club vibe…

“It was interesting. Where are we lying, right? And we had to decide as a group, and it wasn’t too difficult to decide with Justin, Nashville,” said McGarity. “We thought, OK, we wanted a world-class championship golf course. But we want it to be fun, and one thing Justin always preached to us was, ‘Listen, you can have a good golf course, but a terrible hang … and a good golf course, but an amazing hang — and your people, they’re going to come there, be there, enjoy it. If you hit both, hit well,’

In the new age golf boom…

“I think with the younger generation, what you’re seeing now is like — take today, I was at T-Squared Social,” McGarity said. “And I’m just looking around at lunchtime in St. Andrews, Scotland. There’s not a lot going on, and we’ve got kids there coming out of university hitting golf balls on a simulator. They’re playing darts, they’re close to the game, they’re having fun with it in a different way, which I probably didn’t do when I was a kid, right? In a simulation golf game, and it brings a new wave, and it’s not so scary to hit a golf ball, 10 feet on a big screen, rather than chasing around the golf course, especially as a beginner I travel a lot around the world, too [see much] simulated golf. Golfzon in Korea is one of the largest golf companies in the world, and it is actually located in Korea. They have more locations than Starbucks in Korea. It’s always been in Asia, and now you’ve seen it come here, and I think it’s generating this level of interest for this new generation.”

Next up on 8AM Golf…

“We just acquired three businesses in the last four months, so we haven’t slowed down. Even though we’ve partnered with different businesses and invested. I don’t see us slowing down,” McGarity said. “As long as we’re making money and doing the right things, we’re going to keep growing. I think we’re going to bring in partners. I have no doubt in my mind that that’s the next step, but … you have to prove it first, and now we have something that we’ve proven, and I think it’s the best brand. We’re getting closer all the time, from independent brands to all the celebrities coming to us. [asking]’How do we enter this country?’ So I think I want to see growth. I have no intention of slowing down.”

Listen to McGarity’s full interview here. To learn more about 8AM Golf, click here.