CaddySpace helps golf courses boost revenue without raising tee time fees
CaddySpace, helps golf courses generate new income by placing rotating, location-based advertisements on the digital GPS screens already installed in many golf carts.
The sport of golf has experienced a surge in popularity since the pandemic. With golf being a socially acceptable way to maintain distance, it was difficult to secure a tee time at some courses in late 2020 due to the sheer number of people eager to play another 18 holes.
The momentum behind the sport has only grown since. A total of 47.2 million Americans over the age of six played golf in 2024.
So, it might come as a surprise that nearly half of golf courses—primarily public ones—lose money.
Jake Fishman learned this on an annual golf trip with his father and brother.
“The price of the rounds kept going up. But the pro shop worker shared that the golf course still wasn’t making much money. He said that most of the time, the course was operating at a loss,” Fishman recalled. “The cost of maintaining the fairways and greens also keeps going up.”
That conversation stuck with Fishman for the remainder of his trip.
How do mobile games make money? How do professional golfers make money? How do you generate cash flow without betting everything on the next big thing?
Fishman said the answer was remarkably simple: advertising.
“This would give courses another option—one that doesn’t involve raising costs for players,” he said.
Background in Branding
Fishman’s background is in celebrity branding and endorsements. For example, when a celebrity launched a new cologne, secured a brand deal with a global apparel company, or became the face of an advocacy movement, Fishman was one of the strategic minds behind it.
He lived in California for several years, working in the industry. It was his wife’s career that brought them to Chattanooga—she’s currently completing a family medicine residency.
“I took a remote role with a gaming company, where we worked with major brands and entertainment properties to design in-game experiences and marketing activations,” he said. “It was creative and fast-paced, but I kept feeling the pull to build something of my own.”
The Founding of CaddySpace
Some would say that the stars aligned when Fishman met Jay Shaffer at a Founders Forum meeting in Chattanooga.
“Meeting Jay and being around other people building things, encouraged me to be more entrepreneurial and finally take the leap on an idea I’d been sitting on,” Fishman said. “After that, I called two of my college friends and asked them to help me build it.”
He added that Chattanooga felt like a surprisingly supportive place to launch. “I hadn’t realized how big the entrepreneurial community was in the region.”
It’s been a year since then, and Fishman’s “idea” has turned into a fully-formed start-up with revenue.
His company, CaddySpace, helps golf courses generate new income by placing rotating, location-based advertisements on the digital GPS screens already installed in many golf carts.
“Golf tournaments are covered in sponsorships,” Fishman said. “Why aren’t local courses tapping into that kind of advertising every day with the 200-plus people coming through their property?”
At first, the company focused on the ~75 percent of U.S. golf courses without built-in GPS screens. Fishman would provide the equipment and the ads. But after receiving calls from courses that already had the technology, he shifted strategies.
“We realized we didn’t need to install anything new,” he said. “We could partner with courses that already had the equipment and just run our ad software through their systems.”
CaddySpace is now focused on scaling through those partnerships. For the past year, he has been piloting the tech at a golf course in Florida.
Now, CaddySpace is in talks with its first major course group in Tennessee. They have already generated interest from national and local advertisers to target golfers with geolocated campaigns after the course.
Proof of Concept
During the Florida pilot, Fishman got a glimpse of just how effective the digital ads could be.
He partnered with a local brewery near the course to run a promotion on the screens: a free beer for anyone who brought in their scorecard.
“A few weeks later, the brewery owner called me. He asked us to take the advertisement down, because he had given away too many free beers,” Fishman said. “So, I worked with him on a campaign pivot – buy one, get one free. And that was a better move for his business.”
This situation showed Fishman that the concept was effective, and the captive-golfer audience was paying attention to the advertisements in front of them.
With golf’s popularity growing and course operators under pressure to maintain affordability, CaddySpace is offering a new path that could help keep the game within reach for the next generation of players.
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