In the era of prodigious purses and savvy strategic thinking, pro golfers are making it their business to be in business outside of their sport, while show-biz stalwarts and superstar athletes like Steph Curry, Peyton Manning and Andy Roddick are discovering that the smart money is in golf itself. In our Golf & Business package (which you can also find in the Jan/Feb 2022 issue of GOLF Magazine), we’ll go inside their wallets.
Part 1: Why Abraham Ancer and Mark Wahlberg teamed up in the tequila business
Part 2: Bubba Watson the businessman is a lot like Bubba the golfer
Part 3: How ascendant attire brand Johnnie-O made a splash on the golf course
Part 4: Why Peyton Manning is making cold calls about this 9-hole golf course
Part 5: Jason Kokrak’s passion is collecting. The payoff is a houseful of liquid gold
Part 6: On the course, Stephen Curry is scoring just about everywhere
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The future of golf-instruction technology is coming, and when it arrives, it’ll fit neatly in the pocket of your everyday trousers. All it needs are your driving-range videos.
Backed by a who’s who of swing instructors — including Sean Foley, David Leadbetter and Mike Adams — and GOLF Top 100 Teachers, the Sportsbox AI smartphone app uses motion-analysis kinetic software to convert those videos of your swing into 3D models to provide real-time, corrective feedback — as though you’re a character in a video game.
“Our mission is to help people achieve their goals in sports and fitness, and we believe 3D motion and biomechanical analysis is the best approach for that,” says the company’s cofounder, former LPGA pro Jeehae Lee. “We are going to make that technology available and put it right into people’s hands.”
Who are the “we” Lee is referring to? In addition to the aforementioned golf-instruction royals, some particularly eager top-tier players. LPGA pro Marina Alex came onboard as a Sportsbox AI investor in mid-November. “I was blown away and knew I wanted to be involved in some capacity,” she said. Alex followed major champion Michelle Wie West, who signed on as an investor and active advisor in October, when the app, scheduled for release this spring, was first made available on an invite-only basis.
“Learning about Jeehae and her vision, I invested in her and the product,” Foley says. “There are other companies and products in this area, but as soon as I saw Sportsbox AI it was like the difference between Harvard and kindergarten.”
