Welcome to Issue #51
“I am a millionaire today and my wife deserves all of the credit. Before I met her, I was a multi-millionaire.”
Chi Chi Rodríguez
What’s on my mind this week
Vijay Singh's caddie firing him during tournament week, only for Singh to go and win on Sunday. A night out in Ibiza nearly ending with Charley Hull getting a tattoo across her forehead. 588 yards, that's how far Kyle Berkshire hit a golf ball in Wyoming, and he still wasn't satisfied. Spending five minutes looking for a ball you didn't particularly want to find anyway. John Daly moving his Masters week residency from Hooters to Topgolf, with two signature cocktails thrown into the deal. A $50 million golf course in Texas that almost nobody gets to play. Carlota Ciganda's slow-play penalty costing her more than $56,000 in Shanghai. Falling into a creek, getting soaked and still making par, fair play to college golfer Cooper Watson. Baby-care brand Coterie advertising in Golf Digest with Max Homa, an unexpected place to find a nappy advert.
In the news
Why it matters: Performance Golf founder Brixton Albert is stepping aside as CEO, with marketing specialist Todd Brown taking over. The company reports more than $125 million in annual revenue and 1.4 million golfers served, achieved without outside investment.
Our Take: Performance Golf might be one of the biggest golf businesses you've barely heard of. Founded in 2016, it has built a reported nine-figure revenue business around a simple proposition: helping everyday golfers get better. What started with online instruction has expanded into equipment, training aids, coaching experiences and AI-powered technology. The interesting part is how it has grown. Rather than relying on outside investment or traditional retail distribution, Performance Golf has used direct-response marketing to acquire customers and build relationships it can monetise across multiple products and services. The appointment of Todd Brown, a specialist in customer acquisition and profitable growth who has advised the business for years, suggests that approach will remain central to its strategy. Meanwhile, Albert will concentrate on product innovation and partnerships. There's a lesson here for the wider golf industry. Golfers spend considerable money trying to improve, and the businesses that understand those customers, maintain direct relationships and offer them reasons to keep coming back can build substantial businesses.
Why it matters: The NFL's investment arm, 32 Equity, has partnered with General Atlantic to pursue investments across sports, media, technology and fan engagement. The league's 32 franchises approved the agreement, with financial terms undisclosed.
Our Take: The NFL has been investing in businesses beyond American football for more than a decade. Its investment vehicle, 32 Equity, was established in 2013 with $1 million from each franchise and has since backed companies including Fanatics, On Location and Clear. The new partnership with General Atlantic, which manages approximately $130 billion in assets, could take that strategy considerably further. The commercial logic is compelling. The NFL has an enormous audience, valuable commercial relationships and considerable influence across the sports industry. By investing in businesses that can benefit from those assets, it can participate in their financial growth rather than simply collecting sponsorship or licensing fees. Golf is already moving in a similar direction. The PGA Tour has taken equity stakes in businesses including Arccos, Pro Shop and TGL, recognising that its commercial value extends beyond professional tournaments. But there's an important difference. The NFL has 32 franchises investing collectively, giving it considerable capital, commercial influence and a coordinated approach. Golf's major organisations operate independently, often with competing interests. That raises an interesting question about how far golf's investment ambitions can go, and whether its leading organisations can turn their commercial influence into meaningful returns from the businesses shaping the industry's future.
Why it matters: British sportswear brand Castore is in talks with Chinese giants Anta and Li-Ning, alongside potential US investors, over a possible sale or strategic partnership. The company was valued at £950 million in 2023, although no deal has been agreed.
Our Take: Castore has built a sizeable sportswear business in just ten years, using high-profile sponsorship agreements with football clubs, Formula 1 teams and other sporting organisations to establish its brand. But rapid growth hasn't translated into profitability. The company reported revenue of £334.6 million and a pre-tax loss of £40.8 million in the 18 months to August 2025. Now, with some existing investors looking for an exit, its founders are exploring partners who could help accelerate international expansion. The interest from Anta and Li-Ning is particularly interesting. Chinese sportswear companies are increasingly looking beyond their domestic market, and Anta has already demonstrated its ambitions through investments in international brands including those within Amer Sports. Castore could offer another route into Western markets, bringing established sponsorship relationships, distribution and brand recognition. For golf's emerging apparel businesses, there's an interesting lesson in how sportswear brands create value. Building awareness through athlete and team partnerships is one part of the equation. Developing a profitable business, and potentially becoming an attractive acquisition target for a larger international group, is another.
Brixton Albert. Pic from Inc.com
Worth your time
Watch: More shameless self-promotion. I joined Grapes & Greens to talk Business in Golf and what golf can learn from other industries
Listen: Nelly Korda joins the Jonas Brothers to talk golf, sibling rivalries and Lego. Quite the crossover
Read: Arabian Business on why global brands are investing in the DP World Tour, and what they're getting in return
Feature Story
Dryvebox's big bet on mobile golf
Stephen White and Rob Dargue had a problem.
They had secured the rights to bring Dryvebox, an American mobile golf simulator business, to Britain. They had found a manufacturer, invested significant capital and started booking events.
But their first UK-built simulator weighed more than five tonnes.
In America, where large pickup trucks can tow the original Dryvebox trailers, that wasn't necessarily a problem. In Britain, it meant using specialist transport or a low-loader, an expensive and impractical solution for a business built around mobility.
They managed to deliver their initial events, then paused commercial development while they worked out how to make the product viable.
"We got our first box and we were excited to get going. However, it was over five tonnes and we therefore needed to get IVA (HGV) road approval," Stephen recalls. "We'd had a couple of events committed, so we did those, but moving the box around was hard. It wasn't towing, we had to use a low-loader."
The first fully operational lightweight unit arrived in February 2026. Dryvebox UK now has four operational simulators, with a fifth expected in November.
Its growing client list includes the Premier League, the FA, HSBC, Adidas, BMW and the Kate & Justin Rose Foundation.
Getting the equipment onto British roads was only the first challenge. Stephen and Rob now have to prove they can build a profitable business around it.
From finance to fairways
Stephen and Rob have known each other for approximately 15 years.
Stephen worked in banking, while Rob was CFO of an education business. They met professionally, developed a friendship through sport and eventually began investing together.
Both enjoyed their careers, but shared an ambition to build something of their own.
"We did quite a bit of angel investing together, which was really interesting and enjoyable," Stephen recalls. "But you were still one step removed. You're putting your money into something and watching entrepreneurs take the risk and build something, we wanted to do that."
Golf wasn't necessarily the original plan.
The opportunity emerged through Pedro Lemos, a golf professional Rob had been taking lessons with at Foxhills in Surrey.
Pedro had discovered Dryvebox, which began in San Francisco in 2020 after founder Adeel Yang wanted a golf simulator at home but didn't have the space. His solution was to put one in a trailer.
What began as a personal project developed into a business taking simulators to events and customers across America.
Pedro approached the American founders about bringing the concept to Europe. They weren't interested in establishing a single unit overseas.
Stephen and Rob saw a bigger opportunity.
Within weeks, they were on a plane with Pedro to San Francisco.
"We looked at a lot of videos and pictures of Dryvebox and thought they looked pretty cool," Stephen says. "Then we got out there and thought, wow, these things are a lot bigger than we thought."
The negotiations took approximately nine months.
Rather than operating as a conventional franchise, Stephen and Rob secured a perpetual licence, with royalties payable to Dryvebox USA and the American company retaining a minority stake.
The arrangement gave them control over manufacturing, marketing and how they approached the British market, while continuing to benefit from the experience of the American business.
Five tonnes of trouble
The original American trailers weighed approximately five tonnes. Stephen and Rob needed to get below 3.5 tonnes to avoid more demanding transport requirements in Britain.
Their first attempt with a UK manufacturer failed to meet that requirement. The first fully operational lightweight unit finally entered service in February 2026.
The delay was frustrating and expensive.
Stephen and Rob have invested approximately £500,000 of their own money, with additional third-party funding taking the total investment into the high six figures.
But the work has given the British team a lighter version of a product already operating across America.
"They're still amazed we can do 3.5 tonnes and below," Stephen says of the American founders.
The lighter design could eventually benefit the US business too, making its trailers easier and more cost-effective to transport.
From simulators to recurring revenue
The American Dryvebox business serves a mix of private parties, events and commercial customers, including partnerships with the PGA of America and TGL.
Stephen and Rob quickly concluded that the British opportunity would be more heavily weighted towards business-to-business customers.
"I think the main shift we had was going from, okay, this is a golf simulator business, to this is an events and activations business," Rob explains.
Then came another realisation.
Individual events could generate revenue, but every booking required scheduling, transport, setup and staffing. Relying on one-off customers would also mean continually having to find new business.
The more attractive opportunity was to develop relationships with customers who might use Dryvebox 10, 20 or more times a year.
As Rob puts it, the objective is to build "a repeatable events and activations business, building long term relationships with blue chip clients, as opposed to starting the year and hoping to see what comes in".
A private customer hiring a simulator for a party is buying entertainment for a few hours.
A corporate customer might be paying for an activation that attracts visitors, captures customer information, supports hospitality and creates a memorable brand experience over several days.
The equipment may be identical, but the commercial value is different.
The economics of utilisation
Stephen and Rob say their financial plan assumes approximately 75 to 100 booked days per simulator annually.
At those levels, they project a payback period of around two years on an individual Dryvebox.
But there are important qualifications.
Those figures are business-plan assumptions rather than demonstrated returns. The company also needs a central operation capable of delivering the service expected by major corporate clients, adding costs beyond the individual simulator.
And utilisation isn't simply about filling the calendar.
A simulator booked for several consecutive days in one location can be more efficient than the same number of days spread across separate events around the country.
That's one reason longer-term partnerships and multi-day activations are so attractive.
The founders are already applying that thinking to their schools programme with the Kate & Justin Rose Foundation.
Initially, schools could choose their preferred dates, potentially requiring lengthy journeys between individual visits.
Now the team looks to group nearby schools together, allowing a simulator to serve several locations during the same week.
It's a relatively simple operational improvement, but an important one when you're moving expensive equipment around the country.
Since introducing its lightweight simulators in February, Dryvebox UK says it has delivered more than 70 event days across the business over eight months.
That's encouraging early traction, although it represents total activity rather than 70 days per simulator. With four operational units now in the fleet, the challenge is building towards the company's target of 75 to 100 booked days annually for each unit.
What customers are really buying
Dryvebox's mobility is its most obvious selling point.
At the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, the company positioned a simulator beside the fifth green, allowing spectators to play a virtual version of the hole while watching the professionals compete.
It's an experience that would be difficult to replicate with a conventional indoor simulator.
But for corporate customers, the appeal goes beyond the technology.
Organisers want an activation that runs smoothly, requires minimal supervision and delivers an engaging experience for their guests.
Dryvebox says its units can be operational in approximately 30 minutes.
"We roll up, press the button, it levels the legs, the sides open, power up and we're up and running in 30 minutes," Rob explains.
At one activation, Dryvebox staff ended up taking responsibility for welcoming guests and collecting participant information after the organiser saw how effectively they were managing the experience.
For the customer, it meant a more complete service.
"People think they're just hiring a simulator," Rob says. "They're actually hiring a package of customer engagement."
There's also some early evidence of repeat demand.
All three events delivered in 2025, using the original five-tonne simulator, were rebooked for 2026.
For a young business, that's encouraging, even if the sample remains small.
A market beyond corporate events
One of Dryvebox UK's most interesting partnerships is with the Kate & Justin Rose Foundation, bringing golf into schools through mobile simulators.
Following a pilot involving 25 schools in south-east England, the programme is expanding into Manchester and Scotland, with the latter scheduled to begin in January 2027.
According to the founders, the programme has already reached more than 4,500 pupils.
Schools don't need a driving range or permanent simulator installation. Dryvebox brings the experience to them.
The multi-year agreement also provides the type of longer-term customer relationship the business wants to build.
Golf clubs represent another potential market.
A club considering installing an indoor simulator could hire a Dryvebox for the winter, test member demand and then decide whether to invest in a permanent facility.
Several clubs have approached the company about temporary installations, with initial winter pilots being agreed at two locations.
It's an interesting proposition for clubs that want to explore indoor golf without immediately committing significant capital.
But these opportunities also introduce another challenge.
Every new simulator requires investment, and committing a unit to a school programme or seasonal club arrangement means it isn't available for corporate events elsewhere.
As the fleet grows, deciding where and how to deploy each unit will become increasingly important.
The next stage
Stephen and Rob have begun stepping back from personally attending every event, allowing their team to take greater responsibility.
It's an important development for a business looking to scale.
Dryvebox UK has moved beyond its initial engineering challenge, established a fleet, secured recognisable corporate customers and begun developing longer-term partnerships.
But the economics of the business will ultimately depend on how consistently it can turn those relationships into bookings, and how efficiently it can deliver them.
Each additional simulator brings more capacity, but also more capital tied up in equipment, transport and people.
The first challenge was getting Dryvebox onto British roads.
The next is getting enough customers through its doors, often enough, to justify putting more of them on the road.
One thing from history
Could you stay another week?
Pic from South China Morning Post
In 1958, Hong Kong Golf Club member Kim Hall had an idea.
A group of Australian professionals were travelling to Manila for the Philippine Open. Hall wondered whether he could persuade them to stay in Asia a little longer and play another tournament.
So he wrote to Australian professional Eric Cremin.
Hall then approached the South China Morning Post, which agreed to put up £1,000 in prize money. In February 1959, the first Hong Kong Open was played at Fanling. Taiwan's Lu Liang-Huan won.
What started as a practical solution to getting international players to Hong Kong helped establish something much bigger.
Singapore launched its own Open in 1961, followed by Malaysia and Japan in 1962. The tournaments became part of the emerging Far East Circuit, creating a more connected schedule for professional golfers travelling across Asia.
Sixty-seven years later, the Hong Kong Open is still being played at Fanling.
This week's edition carries a $2 million purse, with the winner earning a place at the 2027 Masters. Next year, the tournament returns to the DP World Tour calendar for the first time since 2019.
Modern golf tours spend considerable time organising international schedules, coordinating events and persuading players to travel.
In 1958, Kim Hall helped get the ball rolling with a letter and a simple question.
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Have a good week. Until next Friday,
David