Golfers like Ryne Higgins know what it feels like to be teed-off. And out of tees.
The Con-Agra Foods business systems analyst was in the middle of a round of golf in Omaha when he reached into his bag and came up empty. He had to run to a sporting goods store in the middle of his game to stock up.
“I just thought, ‘This is ridiculous. Why do I have to make a trip every single time I need tees?’” Higgins said.
He shot a text to his friend and business partner, Jake Richard. A few days earlier, Richard had spent 75 cents per tee at the clubhouse when he ran out on the greens.
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The shared frustration was enough for the pair to found Bag of Tees, which launched on June 28. It’s a subscription service for tees, which the company hopes will save golfers money and trips to the sporting goods store.
Higgins (left) and Richard (right) say golf is a sport that presents a unique problem to players: the regular need for new equipment.
“A baseball glove isn’t something you’ll be replacing every month,” Richard said.
And something as small as a tee can be easy to forget for casual golfers. For $5 a month, customers can get 50, 3 ¼ inch bamboo tees shipped to their homes. The site offers higher rates for more avid golfers, in a business model reminiscent of other niche subscription companies.
“Subscription-based service with regularly needed products … we could see them becoming more of a trend,” said Higgins. “And we figured, ‘Let’s try applying it to something we were looking for and affects our monthly lives.’”
Right now, the bootstrapped project is a part-time gig for Higgins and Richard, a business analyst at Hayneedle. The duo admits that tees represent a limited market, so they’re using the early phase of the business to test the waters.
“We wanted to get it out there, get it to the customer and develop from there,” Higgins said.
So far, the company has submitted their concept to golf blogs and Reddit. The feedback? More stuff! Bag of Tees plans to offer golf balls, gloves and other necessities to provide a more all-encompassing subscription service.
And while Higgins and Richard love to play, their game may be more similar to Carl Spackler than Tiger Woods. What are their handicaps?
“Not good,” Richard said.
“We’re somewhere between casual and amateur golfers,” Higgins joked.
Credits: Photos and logos courtesy Ryne Higgins.
