January 26, 2017

Wayne Law alums leading successful startup app for golfers

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Just two weeks after launching its app for golfers, Detroit-based tech startup Golfler won the Top Buyers Choice Award out of more than 200 exhibitors at the 2015 PGA Fashion & Demo Experience.

Golfler Founder, President and Chief Legal Officer Jason Pearsall, a 2013 alumnus of Wayne State University Law School and Detroit resident, said he and the other company officials at the show had no idea that would happen.

“We didn’t even know they gave out awards,” Pearsall said. “We had only launched two weeks before the PGA. We were competing against names like Titleist and Callaway. Like a lot of startups, we had a limited budget and banners we had printed from Kinko’s. They had huge, custom displays.”

The Golfler app has been drawing rave reviews ever since. It’s been the subject of tech reports in the media and in its first month was named one of Google’s Top Two Sports Apps of 2015.

The company’s app — free to golfers to download and free of advertisements — offers golfers on-course, on-demand food, beverage and equipment deliveries from a course’s clubhouse. Golfler’s database includes more than 20,000 American golf courses, with weather forecasts, a function that allows golfers to chat directly, a 3-D rangefinder, tee-time reservations and a digital scorecard. For course managers, the app monitors pace of play so that courses can identify and resolve bottlenecks that slow things down.

Golfler Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Frank Oyelade, a fourth-year student at Wayne Law, is enrolled in a dual-degree program at Wayne State, working jointly on master of business administration and law degrees.

Another Golfler official is Wayne Law 2013 alumnus Jordan Jones of Dearborn, who is an attorney at Michigan Auto Law and also senior vice president of corporate development for Golfler.

“We have a great product and a really good team behind it,” Jones said. “You have to have the right team. Plus, Jason is a brilliant guy. I met him on the very first day of law school and now he’s one of my best friends. He’s just a natural leader.”

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