CitySwing Uses AI to Compete With National Golf Chains
I started playing golf when I was 16. But it was only later, as a corporate professional, that I fully appreciated all that the game offers: a chance to practice strategic thinking, pursue excellence, spend time outdoors, and, critically, foster meaningful personal and business relationships. I wanted to make golf accessible to everyone — especially women, minorities, and kids from underprivileged backgrounds. So in 2018, I left my job in finance to open a fun, inviting indoor golf studio, CitySwing, in Washington, D.C.
In just seven years, CitySwing has grown to include two brick-and-mortar locations offering golf lessons, simulations, and event space; a mobile operation that brings our expertise to hotels and offices; and a thriving youth-oriented nonprofit organization that’s introduced thousands of young people to golf.
AI is essential to our ongoing success. As the business scales, our back-end operations — things like internal communications, human resources, marketing, and legal compliance — have to run really efficiently. But we’re still a young company, and we can’t afford to hire seasoned professionals to lead in those critical areas. So we’re using AI-powered tools to help fill the gaps.
Here’s an example. We’d like to attract more corporate customers and host more private events. We don’t have the budget to recruit an experienced sales executive to help generate leads, so I’ve used Google’s AI tool, Gemini, to create a customized app that can quickly generate prospects. That’s saved us hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars, helped us grow, and boosted our bottom line. I’ve also used Gemini to create a marketing tool that’s trained to use our company’s voice and story, allowing it to quickly generate compelling content for us.
AI does more than allow me to complete critical tasks efficiently. It gives me and my team the time we need to focus on high-level strategic work and high-value person-to-person interactions — and that means it empowers us to grow and compete head-to-head with big national chains like Topgolf and Five Iron. It’s more than a new technology. It’s a game-changer.
