One of the surprises we saw as a result of the lockdowns around Asia was a growing interest in golf. According to recent research, there was a surge in interest in Asia in 2021 and that showed in many places within the region.
This was a great sign for the sport in general and companies that work in the industry like Deemples. This golfing startup has been helping connect Southeast Asian golfers to one another for years and the pandemic was a blow to the entire industry.
READ MORE: How Chery Ng from Lemi plans to boost the travel industry
We spoke to co-founder and CEO, David Wong about his journey and overcoming the restriction of travel and golf. As we slowly move past the lockdowns and golf courses continue to open up, David has been seeing a significant increase in usage and has ambitious plans for the business.
Here’s what he had to share.
Can you share how you came up with the concept of Deemples?
I didn’t come from a golfing family or had any friends who golfed, so no one really introduced me to the game. I have always been a sporty person playing badminton, bowling, rock climbing, and other sports, but golf always intrigued me. I always thought that golf would be hard based on what I understood, the long club, the small ball, the small hole so far away. I mean, why? But it sounds cool when you tell people, “Hey, I play golf”, so I went to cure my curiosity.
I found out that playing at the driving range was only RM10 (approx USD 2.5) for 100 balls, so I got a few friends and borrowed a friend’s golf set, then we all went to the driving range. We even got a few lessons in so that we didn’t screw up our swings.
Finally, when we were all done with the lessons and were ready to go out on our own, I realised my friends weren’t as enthusiastic as me. I had to beg them to go to the golf course with me, and if they didn’t, then I didn’t have anyone else to go with. Didn’t help that most Malaysian golf courses don’t allow singles out, which made me beg harder.
The easy thing for me to do was to just quit golf and do other sports that my friends did, that way I’d always have people to do it with, but I didn’t spend money on lessons and golf clubs just to quit it now. I was determined to find friends to play with.
At that time when online forums still existed, I went on one of Malaysia’s golf forums and made friends there. Eventually, Whatsapp came about and everyone got into different golfing WhatsApp group chats to arrange games. I was in quite a few myself, but when you put a bunch of golfers together in a group chat, the banter and spam happen. Tons of older people send good morning videos daily, talking about everything under the sun, but when it came to organising games, it was so hard. I would ask if anyone wanted to play at a specific time and place, and it’ll get drowned out by all the spam.
I thought there had to be a better way – I didn’t really care about playing with specific people, I just wanted ANYone to play with. At that time, the Ubers of the world just started where you could get strangers to pick you up, send you somewhere, bring food to you, go on dates with you, etc. so I tried to search for a platform that could link you up with golfers, but there weren’t any.
I mean there were a few in the US, Australia, UK, but nothing over here in Malaysia that was of any use. I loved golf and I hated organising and thought how awesome it would be if in the future, I could go anywhere in the world, and just jumped into a game via a platform. So I worked out a plan, a business model, and then Deemples was born.
Today, just in Malaysia, I can hop into a game at any time with over 2000 games to choose from at any time. If none of the 2000 games fit me, I can just create my own and other golfers can join in too! Problem solved!
Travel has certainly evolved in the last two years. Could you enlighten us about your most unforgettable golfing experience while travelling?
Well, there has not been any travel in the last 2 years, let alone golf travel.
One of my most unforgettable golf travel experiences was probably my first one. It was to Hua Hin, Thailand, to some of the best golf courses I’ve ever played on. Thinking back, it was probably waste at that time since I was so shit. We played at courses like Black Mountain, Banyan, and Springfield. The conditions of the golf course were so nice I almost dared not hit down on the grass!
It was with some of my early golf buddies with whom I no longer play as frequently, but it was a fun experience.
The pandemic has wreaked havoc on the travel industry. Has this impacted your business as well?
Travelling golf is definitely a big segment of the golf industry. However, we’re still very much a local play when it comes to Deemples. The mobile app is super useful for the foreigners and expats who live and visit Malaysia because they can get a game easily. But it’s useful only because we’ve focused on the local strategy. The local golfers have to be using the app a ton so that playing volume is there on the app, which makes it useful to other golfers. It’s a snowball effect.
We’re only predominantly focusing on 1 country at the moment = Malaysia. But even if we expanded to more countries, the strategy will always be local, because that’s the bulk of the golfing volume of most countries.
Do you see travelling for golf growing as we slowly open up the borders around Asia? What can we expect?
100%. Golfers are definitely not a poor bunch so the pandemic didn’t give them issues of putting food on the table or surviving. If anything, the lack of travel gave golfers more money, more time, and huge pent-up demand for travelling, so much so that as soon as international borders open, we’d 100% see a surge of international travel for golf happen not just around Asia, but maybe even further, to Dubai, Australia, and even Europe and USA.
What’s next for the company?
In 2022, fingers crossed there aren’t any more lockdowns, we’ll double down on our efforts in Malaysia, increasing both golf course variety on the platform, and also run more golfer acquisition campaigns. With lockdowns out of the way, we’re full steam ahead and look to grow rounds and transactions for golf courses by 2-4x.
Also, a USA launch is in the plans, since we’ve secured a working partner there via Southern California!
