Tell us about Play Today and what you offer as a business?
Play Today is the Web3 Golf company. At Play Today, we believe that Web3 has the ability to radically change our relationship with Golf by offering powerful avenues for earning rewards, building communities, driving connections that transcend geographical boundaries and creating unrivalled and novel experiences for players, clubs and associations. We believe in empowerment through data ownership and we’re doing just that by building a decentralised ecosystem for the everyday golfer.
At Play Today, we’re enabling players to own their golf data and store every moment and memory on chain for generations to come.
What recent projects have you worked on and what did they entail?
Over time, we’ll be sharing various facets of our ecosystem. From our Web3-powered digital scoring app, to our digital collectible marketplace that is re-imagining fundraising for athletes.
All this functionality comes to life in the Play Today Metaverse – an immersive virtual environment – which revolutionises how we interact with and view live sports.
What trends are you seeing in the Golf industry right now and how will these evolve?
The pandemic catalysed major shifts in Golf. Amid the chaos and uncertainty of everyday life, for the first time in years, Golf was experiencing renewed interest and incredible record-breaking growth. Seasoned golfers were playing more rounds, and Golf saw an influx and substantial retention of new golfers.
With new players from diverse backgrounds across multiple generations entering the sport, we started to observe a shift in Golf. One that retained the fundamental competitive spirit of Golf but placed greater emphasis on community and connection in a time of social isolation.
As players ourselves, we realised that the first-generation digital scoring apps were sophisticated and efficient tools for tracking our progress and performance but were not conducive to building communities or fostering meaningful connections.
You wake up in the morning — what’s the driving passion?
To make a difference with technology. Applying our passion for tech with our love of golf is truly exciting. So as software geeks and avid golfers, we decided to re-think digital golf – one with community, competition and connection at the centre of the digital golf experience.
How does Play Today differentiate itself from other competitors in this space?
We are the world’s first Web3 Golf Company, so we are building on a very new and emerging set of technologies. This differentiates us in many ways.
We believe in empowerment through data ownership, and we’re doing just that by building a decentralised ecosystem for the everyday golfer. At Play Today, we’re enabling players to own their golf data and store every moment and memory on chain for generations to come.
What specific role does customer feedback play in your efforts?
Everything we do is built around the player.We are only beginning to realise the full potential of Web3. As Web3 infrastructure develops, we will continue iterating and working collaboratively with our community to build a thriving Web3 ecosystem.
Let’s build the future of golf one block at a time.
Tell us more about Play Today plans on growth for the future?
The next iteration of the internet will transform passive audiences into proactive participants and consumers into collaborators. All this, whilst giving users more agency, control and ownership of their data.
Companies routinely tout the importance of customer service. Define the term and the approach followed at Play Today?
One made for players, by players.
Best advice you have ever received. What was it and who was it from?
Over time, I have always tried to listen to wiser people. One that I always remember is a simple quote from Steve Jobs. If you want to walk fast, walk alone but if you want to walk far, walk together.
What are the biggest challenges facing Play Today (short and long term) and how do you plan on dealing with each?
The short-term challenge is the ever changing Web3 infrastructure. It reminds me of the beginning of the Internet, when I was at Netscape building and the standards that would be used for the Internet. Today, it’s just the beginning of the decentralised world, new ways emerging to create the next generation of the Internet. We deal with this by using the best of breed as this emerges, making robust working solutions that will evolve with the technology.
Opportunity is our greatest long-term challenge. I already feel that we have to focus, yet the opportunities with this technology are truly distracting. We have to execute well and build, build and keep building.
Where do you see the overall industry heading in the next 5 to 10 years?
Very different in many ways. I envisage proactive participants and consumers being collaborators, changing everything we build and how we build things. Empowerment through data ownership, players owning their golf data, storing every moment and memory on chain for generations to come – this changes everything in this industry. These principles will not be negotiable, that’s the challenge and the opportunity.
