Like millions of others — 26.6 million as of March 8th to be exact — I watched every episode of the Internet Invitational, enamored of the competition, the storylines, and the incredible production. Following the tear-jerking ending, I spent that night, and many of the following, thinking about how that tournament may be a turning point in golf entertainment. "The Internet Invitational is The Masters of internet golf" was the headline I saw in my head.
Yes, I recognize that's a crazy comparison — and the golf purists will have a field day with that. But conceptually, every professional golfer aspires to play in The Masters. Since the Internet Invitational, we're seeing the same from everyone in the social media golf space. Show me a creator who has said they wouldn't want the invite — I'll show you a liar.
"Not one person said no [to an invite] for both years." — Bob Does Sports, via Josh Kelley's channel
I spent every night thinking about how I could get myself involved in the space. I'm not an influencer, I've never had the itch to be an on-camera personality, and I'm a mediocre golfer at best. So I started digging for something where I could utilize the corporate skills I've built over 10 years, which has quickly evolved into figuring out how to utilize AI as efficiently as possible.
After a short-lived app I built using AI for creators, I decided to figure out how I could turn something I'm already doing — most recently consuming 16 hours' worth of YouTube golf content — into a project I would be passionate about growing. Then it clicked: if the Internet Invitational is the YouTube version of The Masters, there needs to be a way to track who we should expect to compete in events like this. And Internet Golf Tour was born.
If there's one thing I've learned from a decade of being a Stoolie, it's that numbies are good for business. I put myself in the shoes of El Presidente and thought about who he would sign off on inviting to the next Internet Invitational. Sure, the BDS and ForePlay guys naturally know who should get the auto-invites — while Portnoy's still trying to figure out what slope is — but for a field potentially expanding to 64, there needs to be some data-driven decisions.
With the help of a CIO and CTO, I got to work. The idea was simple — find every number YouTube will show you and build fair rankings around them. Hours of staring at spreadsheets, back-of-napkin concepts, and figuring out what actually matters versus what's just noise. We can't track driving distance or strokes gained, but we can track views, likes, and subscribers — and those numbers tell a compelling story on their own.
"Power Rankings. Season Standings. IGT Index. Built on public data. Built to be fair."
One of my groomsmen once shared a quote — "Work Hard. Tell no one. Repeat." I used that as a personal challenge. No announcements, no waiting until it was perfect — just one post a day for 30 days straight (✋ missed one day, posted twice the next).
This is just the beginning. If you've been following for some time now, I truly appreciate you and your support — especially Brad Dalke. Not only did he win the Invitational, he shared my 4th ever post, getting more reach in one week than I thought this account would get in the first 30 days.