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
Brewkery closing its North KC kombucha taproom as ‘Lucky Elixir’ production heats up
Five years after opening its popular North Kansas City hot spot, the Brewkery — home of Lucky Elixir Kombucha — is moving and closing its taproom, co-founder Amy Goldman shared. With its lease about to end and rent increasing substantially, Goldman said, the move makes sense for the growing kombucha business. Although it’s bittersweet to…
Variety entertainer’s magic trick: Knowing whether his audience wants a clown (or Ruby in drag)
Dennis Porter’s success as a performer is scripted by the North Kansas City native’s talent at reading a room — adapting his jokes and wide variety of entertainment styles to fit the audience. If he’s doing it right, one of Porter’s characters brings a healthy grin to their happy faces, he said. “I am over-blessed…
Broadband internet is no longer a luxury; meet a group bringing access to KC’s most underserved children, families
Editor’s note: The following is the second in a series of stories focused on digital inclusion efforts in Kansas City, and is presented by Google Fiber. Those seeking change and equity in a rapidly evolving world of tech access must go directly to the people in need if they wish to truly eradicate the digital…
GIFT hopes NFL Draft visitors touch down at Saturday’s Black Business Market; nonprofit passes $1M in grants given
Packed streets for the NFL Draft around Union Station and downtown this week could mean added traffic to Saturday’s Black Business Market on Kansas City’s east side, said Brandon Calloway. “We’re gonna drive as many people over here so they see the vibrancy that can happen on Prospect, as well as exposing a lot of…