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Conversations with the smartest people in the golf business to get the inside stories and strategies driving the business of golf forward. Hosted by former PGA Tour player Roberto Castro.
[00:00:00] Roberto Castro:
I’m Roberto Castro, and this is The Course Record. Show the trends, technology, and strategy driving the business of golf.
[00:00:13] Roberto Castro:
Welcome back to The Course Record show. Today we have a Quick Nine with Jason Etzen. He is the Chief Business Officer of the American Junior Golf Association, the AJGA. Scoop, thanks for being here.
[00:00:24] Jason Etzen:
Oh, thanks, Roberto. Thanks for having me.
[00:00:26] Roberto Castro:
Alright, it’s right there in your title. Let’s start with the business. AJGA is a nonprofit; the tax return is public. I did a little reading, and what jumped off the page to me was that of your entire budget, the members’ families—junior golfers—they’re only contributing about a third of that. Two thirds of it is Pro Am fundraising, corporate sponsors, and donations. I think that’s so impressive because junior golf and families put a lot into it, but you guys are doing everything you can to make it accessible.
[00:00:59] Jason Etzen:
Thank you. It’s a topic of discussion at the board level, at the officer level. And that’s one thing that, among many, really excites me about AJGA—we’re an organization that’s always chosen to go in kind of the opposite direction of what you see.
You know, in a lot of travel sports today, when we meet and try to constantly innovate and improve, we’re always talking about how can we make everything more affordable, how can we make everything more accessible. We’re a membership driven organization.
We have player reps on our board of directors. So when you look at the decisions we make—if it’s expansion, taking down fees, what have you—that’s what’s in our minds. And we’re very lucky. Our top five partners of AJGA, through recent extensions, just the top five alone will be with us 197 years.
[00:01:58] Roberto Castro:
Forty years apiece for those partners.
[00:02:00] Jason Etzen:
It’s incredible, and they’ve all grown as we’ve grown. We’ve always wanted to be more than just running great golf tournaments.
We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit—same mission statement we’ve had since 1978. And part of that is to be not only a great exposure vehicle for college golf scholarships, but to help develop players on and off the course. So we do a lot in that regard.
[00:02:28] Roberto Castro:
The news cycle has picked up a lot of this private equity in youth sports story, and it’s valid. I imagine it would be easy from a PR perspective for you guys to get caught up in that. Two things can be true: you can be doing everything you can for affordability and accessibility, and it’s still expensive to play golf. That’s just the fact.
Sticking to that mission statement has really served you well—from a public relations standpoint and otherwise. There’s a reason those partners have been with you for 40 years. Tell me about the grants. That was another thing that jumped off the page. You guys are almost distributing as much in grants as you’re taking in in entry fees. That was very impressive to me.
[00:03:31] Jason Etzen:
Thank you. We started a program called the Liberty National ACE Grant when Stephen Hamlin, our Executive Director—who I’ve been with for 30 years—came back from a First Tee announcement and said, “Hey, there are going to be a lot of kids coming into the sport. We’ve got to be ready with a program.”
The Fireman family—Paul Fireman, Dan Fireman—and Liberty National Golf Club got behind it. Now, when you look at it, we’ve given back over $9 million to 3,700 players. That’ll be well over $10 million next year. And those players are going to earn about $16–17 million in college golf scholarships.
It’s a program all of our partners have gotten behind, and there are now some Tour players on both sides who have come through and have endowed Liberty National ACE Grants in their names. It’s a very cool program to administer.
[00:04:40] Roberto Castro:
That’s awesome. Let’s talk about the tournaments. Fundamentally, AJGA’s mission is to give high level golfers a vehicle to access college golf and to grow young men and women through tournaments. You have over 150 events. Give people an idea of what they’d see if they showed up at an AJGA tournament.
[00:05:08] Jason Etzen:
It’s about 11,000 members this year from all 50 states and probably about 60 foreign countries. We try to run the best junior golf tournaments in the world.
Between 75 full time staff members, we’ll hire well over 100 interns. Every AJGA event has 10 to 12 staff members conducting the tournament. We want that experience—whether a player plays once or many times—to be meaningful.
We take pace of play very seriously. We track every round. Our average is always sub 4:30. We also have 1,400 college coaches who are free members of AJGA. They receive full tournament data—green speed, weather, setup—so scores truly mean something.
[00:07:00] Roberto Castro:
That’s really cool. I want to come back to the college piece, but one thing I want to ask you about—if you play or attend an AJGA event, you guys are very focused on the culture. You said growing young men and women.
When you walk inside to register at an AJGA event, the first thing they’ll ask the young guys to do is take their hats off. That’s a rule at every AJGA tournament. Code of conduct is a big deal. I had a temper as a kid—I think most junior golfers do, especially good players. You guys are very stringent on code of conduct and pace of play. Why is that so important, and what gives you the conviction to say, “We do not wear hats inside”?
[00:07:53] Jason Etzen:
We still have an event at Bay Hill, and that really came from Mr. Palmer years ago—even before I started with AJGA. It’s stayed. Shirts tucked in, hats on forward, hats off indoors.
After every round of golf, once players sign their scorecard in the scoring tent, we have them write a handwritten thank you note—either to the sponsor, the head professional, or a committee member—to thank those folks for making the tournament happen.
All players carry sand bottles. We want to leave the course in better shape than when we arrived. Sometimes we even have divot parties. It’s everything we can do to develop young people and conduct a proper golf tournament, and really prepare them for college—and for life beyond.
[00:08:51] Roberto Castro:
That’s awesome. I think it’s great. You can debate it, but if you’re going to play in our tournament, this is the standard we expect.
Jumping into the college coaches piece—recruiting—how has that changed since I played in AJGA? What’s different about the platform and exposure you’re giving junior players, while also serving 1,400 coaches?
[00:09:21] Jason Etzen:
It’s constant innovation and constant adapting. Budgets at most levels of college golf are getting a little tighter. So we’re asking, what can we do to help from a recruiting standpoint if a coach can’t attend?
When you look at player profiles and our partnership with FlightScope, the data and analytics—that’s part of it. Even back when you played, before our partnership with the GCAA and WGCA, we had a separate college coaching membership.
[00:09:57] Roberto Castro:
Yeah.
[00:09:57] Jason Etzen:
It was a significant line item for a nonprofit, but we got together and said, “Not everyone is Division I.” There’s Division II, Division III, JUCO, NAIA. Let’s open this up. Through those partnerships, that was a game changer.
[00:10:25] Roberto Castro:
I have to follow up on the data question. You mentioned FlightScope. If I’m playing in an AJGA tournament, do you help capture data and create a profile? Can I go to the range and hit shots so coaches can see swing speed or launch? How does that work?
[00:10:44] Jason Etzen:
It’s a combination. We do have an elevated AJGA membership that focuses on that, but at every AJGA tournament you have the opportunity to do that on the driving range.
Some of the next conversations we’re having are around real time data—swing speeds and things like that—how we can incorporate it into competition without impeding play. It’s about serving college coaches better with technology, but also helping players understand their own stats.
[00:11:32] Roberto Castro:
Yeah.
[00:11:32] Jason Etzen:
Technology changes quickly. We want to be leaders here, just as we’ve been leaders with initiatives like the Liberty National ACE Grant, pace of play, and stipends.
[00:11:49] Roberto Castro:
I remember when I played in invitationals, AJGA helped with flights and hotels, which was a huge help for my family—before college teams could help with USGA travel. I’m glad junior golf hasn’t gone the route of charging parents just to watch their kids play.
[00:12:37] Jason Etzen:
That’s always part of our thought process—how much more affordable and accessible can we make this? That’s why I’ve stayed at AJGA for 30 years. We’re not where we want to be yet, but we’re making good strides.
[00:12:52] Roberto Castro:
Let’s talk leadership. You’ve had incredible tenure—Stephen for 40 years, you for 30. How do you keep the mission the same? How do you say no and avoid losing focus?
[00:13:23] Jason Etzen:
Board continuity is huge. We’ve had long tenured board members, and we’ve had the same mission since day one. There’s a reason we focus on tournaments and don’t do camps or clinics.
The leadership team works together to constantly improve. I heard a quote recently—“If it ain’t broke, fix it anyway.” We’ve never run a perfect golf tournament. There’s always something to improve.
[00:14:51] Roberto Castro:
That’s great.
[00:14:52] Jason Etzen:
Constantly.
[00:15:39] Jason Etzen:
Our board deserves credit too. We bring ideas to them, and they help guide decisions. I remember you, Roberto, as a former player rep on our board.
You once said that from a player perspective, you really care about two things: good greens and free food. That resonated. That’s why having junior representatives on the board is so important—they keep us grounded.
[00:17:19] Roberto Castro:
That’s great. Governance matters. Leadership matters.
Let’s close with the Junior Presidents Cup. Great event. Matt Kuchar as captain—do you guys know what you’re getting into?
[00:17:48] Jason Etzen:
It’s been really neat. Kuchar has been very involved, and you look at leaders like C.T. Pan as well. The PGA TOUR does a great job integrating the Presidents Cup and Junior Presidents Cup. Team events are special.
[00:18:24] Roberto Castro:
I can attest to that. Those events stick with you for life.
[00:18:56] Roberto Castro:
Jason Etzen, Chief Business Officer of the AJGA—better known as Scoop—thanks so much for joining.
[00:19:01] Jason Etzen:
Thank you so much, Roberto. It was a lot of fun.