Published March 2003

Endorsement deals add value to Left-Tee Golf.com

By Kimberly Hilden
SCBJ Assistant Editor

Left-Tee Golf.com LLC of Everett recently reached another corporate milestone with the signing of a top PGA teaching professional and an LPGA Tour player to exclusive, multi-year endorsement deals.

In February, Left-Tee Golf.com announced that left-handed golfer Angela Buzminski and left-handed instructor Steve Anderson had agreed to represent the Web-based business, which caters to left-handed golfers.

Buzminski, a Canadian-born golfer who finished her LPGA Tour rookie season in 2002 ranked ninth in eagles and 23rd in driving distance, signed a sponsorship agreement. And Anderson, author of golf instruction book “On the Other Hand,” signed a marketing and service agreement, Left-Tee Golf.com founder Mark Johnson said.

Both deals will bring added value to the site, whether it’s online golf instruction and tips from Anderson or media exposure via Buzminski, Johnson said, thinking ahead to the day when his company’s logo shows up on a golf telecast.

“It’s pretty exciting from where we first started,” said Johnson, a former sales consultant and Microsoft manager.

That was in December 1999, when Johnson, a right-handed golfer with a so-so game, discovered there was a viable business to be had serving “lefty” golfers after listening to one bemoan the difficulties of playing golf in a right-handed world.

Such as having to reverse golf tips printed in magazines and hunting down golf gloves in sporting goods stores, Johnson was told during an afternoon conversation.

That same afternoon, Johnson registered the name Left-Tee Golf.com. A few months later, after researching the market, he and wife Beth Davis-Johnson were in business.

Johnson’s research revealed that while there were companies attempting to cater to lefties, “they were not taking a comprehensive approach,” he said, noting that in North America alone, some 25 million people golf, and of those, 10 percent are left-handed golfers.

So he decided to create a Web site that provided value-added content and value-added services, including golf tips and articles written by lefties for lefties, access to left-handed teaching pros and online classifieds for left-handed golf merchandise.

The company created strategic alliances with Expedia.com and Book4golf.com and community partnerships with Executive Women’s Golf Association, the National Golf Foundation, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Snohomish County and Junior Achievement.

The goal behind the partnerships is twofold, said the JA classroom volunteer: It’s a way to give back to the community and a way to help build the company.

In 2002, Left-Tee Golf.com focused its energies on company branding, selling golf shirts, towels and gloves sporting the company logo, and providing more merchandise, such as golf books, videos and other training aids. In November, the company launched its Women’s Shop, complete with video and book offerings as well as apparel.

And now there are the endorsement deals, with Buzminski signed on to wear the Left-Tee logo, make personal appearances for the company and share tips online, while Johnson, who has earned the PGA’s Advanced Certification in Instruction, will provide online tips and chats.

Left-Tee Golf.com’s mix of merchandise and value-added content appears to be paying off as more people are visiting — and buying — from all over the world.

Nowadays, the Web site averages 15,000 visits and 83,000 page views per month, up more than 30 percent from the company’s first year of operation, Johnson said, noting that purchase orders come in from New Zealand, Norway, Canada, Britain and beyond.

“That’s the beauty of the Internet,” he said.

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