Golf legend Jack Nicklaus
Golfgraffix, a Dublin-based golf marketing company, has signed a multi-year deal with golf legend Jack Nicklaus’s company Nicklaus Design to bring its interactive digital marketing products to the US and China.
Golfgraffix employs five staff and has recently moved into new offices at the Guinness Enterprise Centre in Dublin city centre.
The company, which managing director John Aherne set up in 2009, supplies 3D graphics and interactive models to golf courses and TV sports broadcasters around the world.
As a result of the new deal, the company, which has been supported by Fingal County Enterprise Board, is planning to take on five new employees over the next 12 months.
Golfgraffix course content has been broadcast live to 36 countries and was seen on The Golf Channel in the US and on Sky Sports in Europe. Golfgraffix expects to provide graphics for 30 live golf events in 2014, helping it exceed the €1m sales threshold for the first time next year.
More than half of the company’s sales, from its 3D digital flybys, smartphone apps and 3D course guides, now come from distributors in the UK, the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand.
Household name
Pictured: Bobby Root, Manager of Technical Applications with Nicklaus Design and John Aherne, Managing Director of Golfgraffix Ltd
“Jack Nicklaus is a household name, renowned and respected throughout the world of sport,” said Aherne.
“Through Jack Nicklaus Digital Course Solutions, Golfgraffix is well-placed to grow sales in the influential North American and Chinese markets in particular next year.”
Aherne is now seeking investment from private investors under the Employment Investment Incentive Scheme (EIIS), pointing out that private investment may also qualify for the EII tax relief scheme, under the Finance Act 2013.
To help the company get ‘investor-ready’, Paul Monahan, owner of Monarch Properties and Castleknock Golf Club, joined the Golfgraffix team as a business partner in the summer.
Aherne said: “We’ve had an exceptional year in business in 2013 and with strong, strategic partnerships now in place throughout the golf industry, we are ready to welcome private investment, to help us accelerate growth in key markets.”
