Somewhere between miniature golf and traditional golf lies RYZ Golf, the brainchild of Daniels College of Business MBA program alumnus Ned Lockwood.
“I describe it as the pickleball of golf—just as pickleball is the middle ground between ping-pong and traditional tennis,” said Lockwood, 34, who completed his MBA in 2024. “The objective is familiar—go from the tee to the green and put the ball in the hole—but RYZ Golf is specifically for par-threes and other short courses. It uses oversized clubs, a larger ball and a lightweight carry bag, and the idea is to create a faster, more social, more approachable round.”
An entrepreneur is born
The concept was born in an entrepreneurship class during Lockwood’s MBA program, where the students all pitched a business idea on day one. Lockwood’s was voted one of the most promising, and a team of MBA students formed to bring the idea to life.
“It started off as a problem to solve,” Lockwood said. “That class focused on design thinking and finding problems to solve, and my original problem to solve was time. I thought time was the biggest problem with golf, but as I spoke to more people and got more feedback, I realized the biggest problem really was the intimidation factor and the approachability of golf. So that’s what this game looks to address. It removes a lot of barriers, including intimidation, time and cost, which are traditionally the biggest friction points in golf.”
Accelerating the idea
RYZ Golf was further refined in Entrepreneurship@DU’s BASE Camp summer accelerator, a program for undergraduate and graduate students who have business ideas with which they need help.
“It brings in a lot of different speakers and offers a lot of helping structure, depending on where you are in your entrepreneurial journey,” Lockwood said. “It can help you whether it’s an idea or a fully fleshed-out prototype, or if you have products already for sale, and you’re looking to scale your business. It offers mentorship in many different areas, whether it’s practicing a pitch or networking and talking to industry professionals.”
The summer accelerator helped Lockwood evolve RYZ Golf from the idea stage to prototype stage, as well as with the early steps of branding, marketing and finance. He is now selling the RYZ clubs, bags and balls online and hitting up local par-three courses—including Harvard Gulch near the DU campus—to spread the word about the game.
“Kennedy also has a par-three course, and there are executive courses at the Littleton Golf Course and Foothills Golf Course in Denver, just to name a few locally, but they have these short courses everywhere,” Lockwood said. “From the research that I’ve done and the conversations that I’ve had with industry professionals, as well with golfers and non-golfers, there is growing interest in shorter rounds, social formats and alternative ways to experience the game.”
Daniels connection
The Daniels connections to RYZ Golf didn’t end when Lockwood graduated; more recently he worked with students in a marketing class taught by teaching assistant professor Cristin Cornell Tarr, who helped him brainstorm marketing ideas for the company.
“I’ve also brought this to Ann Koerner, who was my product management professor, and she brought the clubs to her ladies’ golf league for testing and feedback,” Lockwood said. “I’ve had a lot of classmates and other folks in the DU community pre-order these products. I still lean on the DU and Daniels network, and I’m really grateful for the support.”
Making it real
To help bring RYZ Golf to market, Lockwood launched a Kickstarter campaign this spring, allowing early supporters to pre-order products at a discounted price. The campaign exceeded its pre-order goal, generating more than $15,000 in pre-orders, validating consumer interest, and helping fund the first production run.
“When you’re building out a product, you definitely need capital,” he said. “I had discussions with potential investors, folks in the angel-investing community in Denver, but one of the big things that I’ve learned is that the number one thing that investors in any capacity want to see is traction—and when I say traction, I mean sales. It’s very hard to raise money for a pre-sales product.”
Now that the Kickstarter is complete, Lockwood—who is working on RYZ Golf full time—is eager to introduce the game to the people who are most likely to love it and help promote it to their friends.
“The biggest part is getting the product in people’s hands,” he said. “I’ve run testing and feedback at different golf courses, at parks, at DU—places where people are looking for recreation activities with friends. Of course, I’m doing online marketing and social media marketing that will take you directly to the website for purchase, but I think the big engine that will drive it is having the equipment at courses for people to use and try and see if they enjoy it.”