Indoor golf concept shoots past the rough with tech driver, hooking franchise success across US
July 19, 2025 | Nikki Overfelt Chifalu
Lenexa-based indoor golf concept GolfTRK is teeing off into the world of franchising, said Matt Williams, scoring big wins from coast to coast as demand to expand access to “golf light” soars.
The modern training and performance facility — a Trackman Preferred Franchise Partner with locations in Lenexa and Overland Park — now has 11 franchises and roughly 30 in the pipeline, explained Williams.
“When we started the first location, we didn’t know if it would be a single unit,” said Williams, who launched GolfTRK in August 2023 with co-founders Alex Reed, Sam Collins, and Paul Buonopane. “I’ve joked about this in the past: we weren’t sure if we were tricking our wives into buying ourselves our own TrackMan units, disguised as a business. And then if it doesn’t go well, then we each get our own unit to bring home.”
“But obviously, it went well,” he added. “We got a lot of people with unsolicited requests that said, ‘Hey, is this a franchise? Are you franchising?’ And that gave us the idea that this actually has more legs than just one or two units owned by us.”
What followed as basic outreach on LinkedIn — the co-founders are handling all their own lead generation and sales — quickly turned into franchise locations in Dallas; San Antonio; Tampa, Florida; Eugene, Oregon; and Omaha, Nebraska; plus plans for locations in St. Louis and more in the Kansas City metro area.
“We made the investment thinking, if we sold a couple of these, it would pan out,” Williams said. “It’s turned out indoor golf is honestly one of the fastest-growing franchise brands right now. So it’s a good space to be in.”
GolfTRK co-founders: Matt Williams, Alex Reed, and Sam Collins; Not pictured, Paul Buonopane; photo courtesy of GolfTRK, Albatross Golf
GolfTRK locations also serve as an incubator space for tech from Kansas City-built Noonan — a patent-pending digital caddie platform that uses simulator data to deliver intelligent shot recommendations and help golfers lower their scores. The GolfTRK co-founders launched the tech piece to complement their performance facilities, Williams shared.
“It creates a really nice flywheel,” he said of the Noonan and GolfTRK, sibling brands under their Albatross Golf company. “Noonan helps create safety nets for the franchise. The franchise is generating leads for Noonan.”
Golf is seeing a 40-percent increase in participation right now, he continued, but it’s expensive, golf course supply is stagnant, 65 percent of golf courses operate at capacity, and players can’t just hit the green whenever they want.
Innovation swing
On top of franchising, the GolfTRK co-founders are also working with the Kansas State University Technology Development Institute to develop a new long-lasting screen prototype as their current facility screens — which sustain golf ball hits — only last three months, Matt Williams said. The K-State team has finished the design and is working on building out the MVP.
“All of that demand has to go somewhere and facilities like ours are bridging the gap,” Williams explained. “There’s a concept people are talking about right now: ‘golf light,’ which is not hardcore golf but not entertainment. It sits in the middle. It appeals to more of those avid golfers. That’s definitely where we sit.”
GolfTRK offers memberships, lessons, and club fittings, which — offered all in one unit — is unique, Williams noted. Each location has a PGA instructor on staff as either the owner or general manager.
“If they’re struggling, they have somebody they can talk to, as opposed to just banging balls and trying to guess,” he added. “So I think that’s really powerful.”
Franchising opportunities through GolfTRK are catered to PGA instructors, who are often capped in their earning potential, Williams said.
“They’re locked into a facility,” he explained. “We’re giving these PGA instructors a way to spend more time with their kids, while also having kind of more control over the future through revenue sharing and opening a real career path.”
If an instructor also is the owner and operator, Williams continued, they won’t have much overhead since they can do all the onboarding and lessons themselves, plus they often have instant revenue with their current lesson list.
“The unit economics are really, really attractive,” he added.
Featured Business
2025 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Resource revival: Digital Inclusion Fund relaunches with initial grants focused on devices
Kansas Citians can’t upgrade skills or devices they don’t already have, said organizers of a newly relaunched Digital Inclusion Fund — emphasizing a need to attack the metro’s digital divide at the infrastructure level. The fund is set to award up to $250,000 to 501(c)(3) public charities (including schools and churches) or governmental entities across…
New deal with lightwell keeps WeWork in Kansas City after closing Corrigan Station space
A freshly negotiated lease agreement with the developer behind the lightwell building in downtown Kansas City means WeWork will continue its two-floor coworking and flexible office space operation in the heart of the city’s central business district. WeWork has officially completed its lease rationalization with the assumption of its lightwell location contract, the company said…
Meet the founder distilling greatness (and fusion flavors) into Kansas’ first Black-owned vodka brand
Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. WICHITA — Greatness isn’t given; it’s earned, said Troy Brooks. But it comes one step at a time, and not without its challenges, he said. The entrepreneur behind Kansas’ first Black-owned…
Startup gives fans real ownership in emerging athletes; investing in talent before they make it big
Just as investors can put their money in Google or Apple, Parker Graham wants sports enthusiasts to invest in the next Patrick Mahomes or Travis Kelce, he shared. Along with co-founder and fellow Oklahoma State football alum Yves Batoba, the Kansas City-based serial entrepreneur, Pipeline fellow, and founder of Finotta has now launched Vestible —…