As a competitive golfer, Matt Call always wanted to get an edge on his fellow players, and he often succeeded in doing just that.
The Boulder native earned spots in the 1999 U.S. Open and 2007 PGA Championship, won the CGA Stroke Play twice and the Colorado PGA Section Championship once, and qualified for a 2008 Nationwide Tour card. In the last decade, he’s been named both CGA Player of the Year (2000) and Colorado PGA Player of the Year (2006 and 2007).
Over the last two years, Call’s clubs have gathered some dust, but the former University of Colorado golfer is still seeking that edge. So it only seems appropriate that the business he helped establish two years ago would be named “Edge Golf Group”.
Actually, the firm takes its name from Joey Edge, who founded the Edge family of companies in the 1990s. But Edge Golf Group is fitting for a Colorado-based business that’s establishing itself in the changing landscape of golf course management and ownership services.
Two years ago, Call had his Nationwide Tour card, but he chose not to use it despite going through the PGA Tour qualifying process. With a second child on the way for Matt and wife Stacey, family took priority. So instead of pursuing a playing career, Call melded two of his professional callings (pardon the pun) — golf and commercial real estate. He had the idea to create Edge Golf Group, which specializes in management, brokerage, consulting and receivership services for golf facilities. Call, Joey Edge and Jim Hughes are the Principals in the company, which employs three other people at the corporate level and “north of 70″ at the facility level, Call said.
“I absolutely love it,” Call said of his job. “I’ve never had more fun in a work environment.”
EGG, which was among the exhibitors at the Denver Golf Expo over the weekend, currently manages and operates four courses in Colorado: Gypsum Creek Golf Course (formerly the Cotton Ranch Club) in Gypsum, Four Mile Ranch Golf Club in Canon City, Shadow Hills Golf Club in Canon City, and the Rio Grande Club in South Fork.
Though most of EGG’s business deals with Colorado-based facilities — the company is headquartered in Castle Rock — it also has out-of-state clients. In fact, Call has been working with the city of Tacoma, Wash., on a 20-year master plan for a city-owned golf facility.
EGG and other similar companies find their niche in the market due in part to what many people believe is an oversupply of courses. Add in the state of the economy, and the reality that lending for golf courses is at a near standstill, and it’s apparent that there are opportunities for companies such as EGG to fill the void.
“An interesting statistic is that there are more golf courses in the U.S. than there are McDonald’s (restaurants),” said Call, a former director of golf at Woodmoor Pines Golf & Country Club in Monument. “And so many properties are struggling. We feel like we can bring our creative expertise and a lot of experience.”
EGG does everything from helping a course owner looking for an exit strategy, to bringing buyers and sellers together, to fully managing golf facilities, to just serving as a consultant.
Call said the Cotton Ranch situation was an example where just about the whole spectrum of services was employed. EGG was initially hired to manage and market the facility, then it brokered the course’s sale to the town of Gypsum. The town subsequently hired EGG to manage the course on an ongoing basis.
With Call helping get EGG up and running, he hasn’t had a lot of time to play golf the last two years. In fact, he puts his number of 2009 rounds at six, which he calls “as little golf as I’ve played in 20 years.” As for tournaments rounds, there have been none over the last two years.
But Call hopes to change that in 2010. The 32-year-old said he may play in some Colorado PGA Section tournaments, possibly including the Colorado PGA Professional Championship in September. Even the HealthOne Colorado Open could be in the cards.
“I have no regrets” about not continuing to pursue a tour career, he said. “I have two girls, and if you play 30 weeks a year you don’t get the luxury” of seeing them almost every day. “But I miss the competition a little.”
