Low-Cost Franchise Spotlight: TGA Premier Junior Golf

By CARLY LEVISON TGA Premier Junior Golf is breaking down the country club stereotype associated with the sport of golf. TGA (Teach Grow Achieve) provides a convenient, year-round program for children to learn the fundamental skills of the golf through a 5 level golf enrichment program. Josh Jacobs, CEO and Steve Tanner, COO both grew up playing the sport and created TGA to provide a more accessible program for children of all different affluences to experience the game they fell in love with at such a young age. TGA teaches golf to elementary and middle school students at schools and park districts across the country. The brand had not considered franchising during its initial launch in 2003, but they received great traction right from the start and franchising seemed like the natural fit.

“Our after school programs were gaining popularity and soon golf courses starting calling us asking what they could do to get involved” said Tanner. They put together a model and began to grow the business nationally, based mostly on referrals. TGA is now one of the fastest growing junior golf organizations in the country with 52 franchises in 25 states and offered at 3,000 schools across the country. The average TGA franchisee fee is between $16,000 and $20,000, which also makes it one of Entrepreneur Magazines “Top 10 Best Franchise Deals” in the industry. Tanner notes, “We wanted to make the franchise low-cost so that it was possible for a wide variety of people to invest. We have an 8% royalty, which might be considered high, but we base our success on the success of the individual franchisee. If they fail, we fail.” TGA seeks franchisees who are passionate about the game of golf and will go out every day and share that passionate. TGA provides continual training programs for their franchisees and hosts training programs twice during the first six months. Tanner says the only negative to having a low-cost franchise is essentially laziness. “We can provide a proven system, but in the end we can’t go in and run it for them, they need to have an entrepreneurial spirit and drive to grow their business” TGA Golf by the Numbers: