After a decades-long partnership dissolved, it was time for one of the most recognized acronyms in sport to find a new home.
Agency
HUGE
Client
PGA of America
Product
Site redesign
Research
Unlike the PGA Tour’s focus on the headlines grabbed by the top players, the PGA of America’s core strategy is to grow the sport as a whole. That means bringing new players into the sport and connecting them with PGA of America-certified instructors. Most new golfers are extremely casual players who might pick up a club at a social driving range event or play one or two times per year. We focused on how to take those introductions into a lifelong passion for the sport.
Sketches
It’s going to be a long, long time before pixels are a faster ideation system than dry erase markers.
UX Design
Where to play
The first step for any golfer is finding a place to play. And location is everything
The Links
Once found, the course becomes the center of the golfer’s universe: be it the casual 9-hole course around the corner or a major destination location that inspires recreational travel. And at the center of every course, as far as PGA of America is concerned, is the certified Pro. The Pro acts as an instructor and coach that help players elevate their play regardless of whether they’re a first-timer or already hitting below par. The course detail page helps introduce the venue, but also the PGA personnel that can help elevate your game.
Events
Although PGA and PGA Tour became separate entities in the mid 1960s, PGA Tour events remain a top driver of traffic and public interest in the PGA as a whole. As a result, a key opportunity to highlight the tournament and—vitally—the hosting course were of paramount importance.
Pre-Event
In the runup to a tournament, the information is most closely tied to ticket availability; relevant news on the pros playing; and serving to highlight the course as both a PGA location and as a travel destination for spectators and players alike.
During Event
During the tournament the focus shifts to covering the events of the tournament as they happen.
Post-Event
After a tournament, the event coverage lives on as a historical document with commentary provided by the course’s PGA Pro. This ties the tournament back to the PGA’s core business of connecting new players with local PGA Certified instructors.
Event Navigation
During these phases for a particular event the most relevant page information evolves to match.
Before an event occurs, the focus might be on travel packages to attend a PGA Tour tournament.
While the tournament is underway, tickets are still available but it’s likely too late for flights and accommodations and the focus shifts to following the daily leaderboards.
When the tournament is over, it becomes an archive and location to tie local players of the course to the top echelon of professional golf.
Before the Tournament
During the Tournament
After the Tournament
After the tournament Merch Sells Out
Data
Top-tier golf tournaments must have some of the most intense data tracking of professional sports. Each shot that every player takes is annotated for where it lies; what the weather conditions are at the very moment of the shot; and often has associated media with each stroke. PGA wasn’t capitalizing on that encyclopedic catalog of information that rabid golf fans crave.
Things I learned about golf
Brand Confusion
The PGA and the PGA Tour are separate organizations that split in August of 1968. Very few casual fans know they’re not the same thing.
It’s actually pretty fun
I grew up in a house of frustrated golfers that always seemed to return from the links grumpier than they arrived. A few trips to the driving range shows me that the sport is what you make it—have fun.