LinksDAO Bought A Golf Course
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LinksDAO Bought A Golf Course
LinksDAO has purchased Spey Bay Golf Club on the Moray coast in Scotland.
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Hey Golfers —
LinksDAO entered an exclusivity agreement to purchase Spey Bay Golf Club on the Moray coast of Scotland. The deal is expected to close in the next four weeks.
I wrote a piece on LinksDAO in January 2022. If you haven’t read it — here’s a quick refresher.
LinksDAO was spun up in late 2021 with the intent to create a global golf community and purchase a golf course leveraging a DAO (decentralized autonomous organization). Just 17 days after the idea — LinksDAO raised over $11 million in decentralized funding via two different NFT memberships.
The initial price of the membership?
Leisure Membership NFT - 0.18 ETH ($680)
Global Membership NFT - 0.72 ETH ( $2,730)
One item to note — both memberships do not include a membership to the golf club. Members have the right to purchase a membership at a future golf club.
LinksDAO quickly sold over 4,000 memberships and has over 5,400 members today.
LinksDAO had high ambitions on their criteria of golf courses to acquire.
Top 100 golf course
Previously hosted PGA Tournament
Purchase a Top 500 golf course and renovate it to a Top 100
Going from an idea to an eight-figure fundraise in under three weeks was an incredible milestone — I was also skeptical.
But LinksDAO did two important items to build trust over the last fifteen months.
Transparency
Built a community
LinksDAO routinely held informative Twitter Spaces conversations — no question was off limits. The LinksDAO team formed a Discord community where they actively answered questions regarding the project.
The community that LinksDAO has built is impressive.
40,000 Twitter followers
26,648 Discord members
More importantly — the community is engaged and active.
LinksDAO held a vote on the Spey Bay purchase — 953 unique people voted. Their first vote in January 2022 had 977 unique votes. That is a 97.5% engagement retention.
Over 99% of LinksDAO memberships are not listed for sale. Members are not trading the NFT.
Over 88% of LinksDAO members voted in favor of purchasing Spey Bay Golf Club.
And LinksDAO kept delivering to its members. They formed partnerships that added validity to the project. Five Iron Golf partnered with LinksDAO within a couple of weeks of the launch. They provide discounts to LinksDAO members on rentals, lessons, fitting services, and food and drinks.
LinksDAO lists over a dozen partners on its website that add value to its members, including Callaway and Bridgestone.
And LinksDAO recently announced access to a global network of over 500 private golf courses.
The memberships have tangible value.
Now to the Spey Bay Golf Club acquisition.
Spey Bay is an 18-hole pure links golf course about an hour east of Inverness. Spey Bay features twelve holes along the ocean.
In early February, Spey Bay was put up for sale with an initial guide price for offers in excess of $915,000. The LinksDAO purchase price of Spey Bay has not been disclosed due to confidentiality — the number will be made available to the public in the future.
LinksDAO is working with Kemper Golf on diligence and other aspects of the acquisition of Spey Bay — an incredibly smart move.
Spey Bay presented a unique opportunity. Golf courses rarely come up for sale in Scotland, and they are increasingly difficult to build with environmental regulations.
Not to mention — it isn't easy to find an 18-hole golf course for sale in the United States for under $1 million. And a golf course with twelve holes on the ocean, no less.
The LinksDAO team has already established relationships with architects and expects to start working with one once the deal closes. The main priority is course maintenance.
The LinksDAO team will hit the ground running — they are hoping to host a community event at Spey Bay in June.
And LinksDAO isn’t done.
They have evaluated over 90 golf courses with basic diligence and have 25 in their current funnel. Seven of those are under active due diligence.
LinksDAO plans on purchasing another golf course this year. And they want to have ten in their portfolio by 2030.
LinksDAO has executed its vision really well by building a community and being transparent. They have created buzz for the golf industry in a non-traditional way.
Have yourself a great Monday. Talk to you next week!
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