The origin story of Golf Lists

Introduction

Greetings fellow golfers!

If you are reading this blog, then hopefully you are visiting golflists.com because you are interested in joining a network of British and Irish golf club members in the Golf Lists Club.

This blog tells the story of how GolfLists.com came to be—the inspiration behind it, the problem it solves, and the vision for the future.

Ultimately, it is a golfer's ambition to help other golfing obsessives with their golf adventures.

The inspiration for Golf Lists

GolfLists.com was born from a familiar frustration: planning a golf trip to Scotland meant navigating dozens of golf course websites to find the best courses, prices, availability, phone numbers, and then booking everything over the phone.

Golf travel agents could handle this, but many golfers prefer planning their own trips and selecting their own courses and accommodation. There was no single resource to facilitate trip planning and golf course comparison.

Furthermore, green fees at top golf courses had increased sharply in recent years. In Scotland, for instance, green fees had risen from £150 to over £300, making elite golf accessible only to the wealthy.

However, many golf clubs offered discounted prices for members' guests, which presented an affordable option. Playing with a member at their home club also provided a richer experience because they would serve as an unofficial course guide.

Developing the Golf Lists Idea

An idea took shape for a golf website that would provide golfers with well-organized and searchable golf club and course information.

Additionally, it would enable golf club members to connect with other golf club members, so they could play reciprocal matches at discounted rates.

The original tagline envisaged was:

One page, thousands of golf club websites!

Various names were considered—golfsearchlegend.com, golfclublist.com and comparegolf.ai—before finally settling on golflists.com.

You can see a few screenshots from some very crude designs sketched out in the beginning.

Original Design Idea 1:

Original Design Idea 2:

If it looks familiar, it may be because the inspiration was the popular flight finder app Skyscanner.

Even with a basic PowerPoint design, the ambition was clear: an intelligent golf trip planner that would help automate the golf trip planning process.

The journey to launch Golf Lists

After research and technical development, GolfLists.com was built and launched its beta (test) version in July 2023.

The site remains a work in progress—for example, the trip planning features central to the overall vision are still to come. The Scotland trip that inspired it all reinforced the need to make elite golf travel more affordable; playing Montrose with two members, at a peppercorn green fee, was one of the highlights precisely because of that connection.

GolfLists.com continues to seek early adopters to explore the site, provide feedback, and help shape its development.

The ideal Golf Lists Club Member

GolfLists has envisioned the ideal Golf Lists Club member. Do any of these attributes resonate with you?

• Golf Club Member (or future golf club member)
• Enthusiastic about their own golf club
• Enjoys sharing local club knowledge with guests
• Resides in the UK or Ireland
• Aims to expand their golf network and make new golf buddies
• Embarks on golf trips to play new courses annually
• Indulges in one or more UK & Ireland golf trips yearly
• Tracks the count of golf courses they've played
• Regards golf as a significant part of their identity and life

Conclusion

If you've made it this far, we hope Golf Lists intrigues you.

If it does, please sign up for the Golf Lists Club for free.

Share this blog with your golf club's WhatsApp group or email list.

GolfLists lacks a substantial marketing budget, so the site's success hinges on golfers deciding to share it with fellow golf enthusiasts.

If you use the site and have ideas for improvement or spot any bugs, please contribute to the Discord forum or reach out via the contact page in the footer.

Thank you for reading, and may your golfing adventures be joyful!

GolfLists.com