US GolfTEC coaching firm seeks $6m in Australia

A United States golf coaching company is trying to raise $6 million from ­Australian investors to fund 30 new indoor coaching and instruction centres around the country.Privately owned GolfTEC, which has 190 coaching centres in the US, Canada, Japan and Korea, is expanding into Australia via a joint venture with the locally-owned Golftec Australia.

The two companies have engaged boutique Melbourne investment bank Concept Financial Services Group (CFSG) to raise $6 million by mid-December to expand on Golftec’s three existing ­Melbourne locations.

The money is earmarked for the ­roll-out of the 30 new centres over the next five years.

CFSG is attempting to raise the funds from individual and wholesale investors, and private equity or investment firms with leisure investments.

“We have already had some good interest, particularly in that sports or leisure space,” CFSG associate director Jason Rose said.

He said GolfTEC saw Australia as another strong market in the Asian region, building on its existing outlets in Japan and Korea. The company is also considering future expansion into other Asian countries.

GolfTEC says it is the largest ­provider of golf lessons in the US, accounting for 26 per cent of lessons undertaken in that country in 2013.

It also claims a 95 per cent success rate in improving the golf skills of ­customers, using a mixture of personal coaching and video analysis.