The Imes Story
Founder and CEO of HIO Media, Inc., and the creator of ReelGOLF™. Imes holds an MBA from the McCombs School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.
He earned each of his degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. Imes is a prolific inventor with over 100 U.S. and international patents across multiple industries, including smartphones, mobile music, IoT, digital imaging, alternative energy, AI videography, and most recently golf.
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What was the genesis for ReelGOLF?
A few years ago, I was enjoying a round of golf on the Old Course at St. Andrews. This was my first time at St. Andrews, and I wanted to capture every moment. As the round went on, I tried and failed to capture the stunning beauty of the Old Course and my personal experience.
Several out-of-focus videos and shaky cell phone photos later, I came to the realization that there was no fool-proof, easy way to capture and preserve this on-course experience. This inspired me to create a technology that could solve this problem for players everywhere.
What was the length of the time frame from conceptual idea to actual customer involvement?
As my concept started taking shape, I founded Hole in One (HIO) Media, Inc. to help make this technology vision a reality. HIO Media began doing research in the spring of 2020, right before the pandemic hit.
I was at the Players Championship researching camera technologies when the PGA shut down spectator viewing—little did I know that while the pandemic boomed, so would the appetite for golf from new and avid players alike.
I stayed the course, and two years later, ReelGOLF was born.
On Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022, my team and I stood in the rain at Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri, where the ReelGOLF camera system was set up on the iconic par-3 19th hole at Payne’s Valley. Just as the rain cleared and the sun poked through, the ReelGOLF system recorded not one, but two amateur golfers’ hole-in-ones within minutes of each other—a 17 million-to-one odds feat. If there were any doubts about ReelGOLF technology before, they were certainly squashed at that moment.
How does ReelGOLF work?
The ReelGOLF system comes in two options: Challenge and Premier. ReelGOLF Premier involves installing AI-enabled Bosch® cameras discreetly near tee boxes and greens of signature par 3s, allowing players to simply scan a QR code to activate the system. ReelGOLF then records their shot, adds shot tracing with the players’ names, courses, and sponsor logos, and sends the high-definition video to the player’s phone within minutes – packaged memories ready to share on social media.
With ReelGOLF Challenge, that same AI-enabled video technology is used to find and measure a golf ball’s distance to the pin within less than half a ball (18 millimeters), enabling accurate and automated measurements on par 3 holes. Players who opt-in have access to two par 3 contests: Closest-to-the-Pin and Ring of Fire (a solo game where the closer the shot gets to the pin, the more money the player makes). The player then activates the token on their phone once they arrive at the par 3 challenge hole and takes their best shot.
While Ring of Fire pays out player winnings at the end of the day, those playing the Closest-to-the-Pin challenge can receive updates on the leaderboard via text. At the end of the day, the top three players receive a notification from ReelGOLF to collect their winnings. While the courses are making a percentage on each token purchased, they don’t have to lift a finger on the rest – ReelGOLF handles it all.
How does ReelGOLF differentiate itself from your competition?
There is no other technology like ReelGOLF that exists, so there isn’t much concern about competition. That’s exactly why ReelGOLF was created – there was a clear void that existed for players looking to capture and preserve their memories out on the course.
The nearest competitor to ReelGOLF from a video standpoint is players using their mobile phones to try and record shots. From an on-course challenge standpoint, aside from the old move-the-stick method of measurement for competitions like Closest-to-the-Pin, the defunct Swing Kings camera system was the only technology that could be considered somewhat similar to the basics of what ReelGOLF can achieve.
ReelGOLF has not only differentiated itself, it has aligned its technology with like-minded partners. In addition to using Bosch for its camera system and Starlink, ReelGOLF also entered into a marketing partnership with popular online sportsbook BetMGM, who is now helping to fuel its on-course challenges.
Who is your customer?
ReelGOLF is a B to B to C play. First and foremost, we align with golf courses to install and promote the product to their customers. From the Pro Shop to the tee, we work with our customers to ensure that players are both aware of and excited about the technology when they arrive.
We also work with courses to ensure their branding is seamlessly built into the final video, while also integrating any additional partner branding for special events. Our end customers are the players that receive our videos. Within minutes of playing the hole, we send players a link to their video that can be shared on socials.
The video includes the players name, and a tee to green Reel that includes outgoing view and incoming green view, shot tracing (which, to our knowledge, an incoming shot has never been done before – another industry first). We host the video in the cloud free of charge and distribute payouts for winners of our Challenges on a daily basis.
What is your approximate membership base? How many courses are currently using ReelGOLF?
We have ReelGOLF installations up and running and/or scheduled at several courses, including: Seascape Golf Resort in Cali, Payne’s Valley, the Tiger Woods course at Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri, Old Corkscrew, a Jack Nicklaus course in Florida, Carter Plantation, the David Toms course in Louisiana, and Druids Glenn in Ireland. We are also in beta mode at Pebble Beach on The Hay, another Tiger course.
Recently, we entered into a license agreement with Bridge Castle Golf, a leading innovator in on-course golf experiences and technology integration, to help bring ReelGOLF to courses across Scotland.
Many companies tout the importance of customer service. Define the term and how it’s carried out at ReelGOLF?
Since ReelGOLF is such a new concept for course owners and players alike, we rely heavily on providing exceptional customer service to make sure our courses feel confident in our technology.
We’ve redesigned and personalized entire operational aspects of our systems on some of our courses to meet their individual needs and ensure each of our clients knows how far above and beyond we will go for their course and its reputation.
Customer feedback is also important for companies. How do you solicit it and what aspects of such feedback have been helpful in your efforts?
Since ReelGOLF is a technology created specifically for the golfer and their unique experience, we take all customer feedback seriously. In fact, we’ve made several changes to our operational process and the technology itself based solely on the real-time feedback of players using the system for the first time.
Recently, we were at Carter Plantation with Ronnie Rantz, former LSU baseball pitcher and longtime sports broadcaster, who was testing out the ReelGOLF Challenge system on their signature par-3. Rantz loved the technology, but said, “I wish it gave me more time to set up for my shot after hitting the record button on my phone.” That small but important piece of first hand feedback was all it took for me, who was within earshot, to change that setting.
Biggest challenges short and long term is what?
Like any start-up or new invention, you have your standard kinks to work out from an operational standpoint. We’ve made several improvements and evolutions to our technology and the services we offer to get ReelGOLF up and running in the way it is today. Our biggest challenge in the short term is meeting demand and fine tuning our installation process (and ensuring we have access to plenty of Mic cameras from our great partners at Bosch!).
We’re also focused on ensuring our product meets the needs of each course and that the golfer/consumer journey is seamless from the time they first interact with ReelGOLF in the pro shop or on the course, to the time they leave the course with their video (and if they’re lucky, their monetary winnings!).
Our long-term challenge will be to continue innovating our technology as course and consumer needs evolve. We’re confident that the concept of ReelGOLF is here to stay, and that word will continue to spread to courses across the country (and the world).
What specific strategies are being implemented to deal with each of those challenges?
We continue to train and educate our installation teams and fine tune our onboarding process for golf courses. We’ve made improvements in the quality of our shot tracing technology and have enhanced our AI for both video production and on-course competitions.
To scale our business, we have trained several installation teams and have brought our installation process down from 14 days to as few as 3 days. We are currently seeking a Series A round of financing to support a larger scale roll out of ReelGOLF in U.S and International markets.
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