Golfers looking for a way to improve their game without shelling out for private lessons have a new option from TNT Sports-owned Golf Digest and Mustard, a sports startup with a roster of A-list backers.
The companies have joined forces on a new subscription mobile app, Mustard Golf, which offers swing tips and other advice from a roster of top coaches. The AI-powered service was developed in collaboration with Justin Rose, a top pro golfer and investor in Mustard. Along with Rose, two key figures in the app rollout are Golf Digest instructor Mark Blackburn and Mustard co-founder and coach Jason Goldsmith.
Mustard Golf combines motion-capture technology with personalized assessment and training, with the goal of improving players’ skills. The app launched today in the Apple App Store. Users can upload a video and receive initial instruction for free, but premium features cost $24.99 a month or $149.99 a year, which is hefty by app standards but far below the price of in-person lessons.
Golf Digest and Mustard jointly developed the app over the past 18 months, an official launch announcement said, with a dual focus on accurate measurement and customization.
Discovery acquired Golf Digest in 2019, three years before it merged with TNT Sports parent WarnerMedia to create Warner Bros. Discovery.
Mustard was co-founded by Tom House, a former Major League pitcher who is an expert in biomechanics and a coach of Hall of Famers in baseball, football and golf. Mustard investors span the world of elite athletes and executives, among them Nolan Ryan, Drew Brees, Ronnie Lott and Mark Cuban, along with a range of institutions and organizations. A roster of well-established athletes and coaches have also come aboard as company advisors.
“Our mission at Mustard is to democratize the world’s best coaching. We do that by partnering with the leading instructors in a sport and using our proprietary technology to deliver personalized analysis and instruction to athletes of all abilities,” Mustard CEO and co-founder Rocky Collis said. “We are thrilled to launch in golf with the most trusted voice in the game, Golf Digest. Throughout beta testing, we’ve seen one constant: Golfers who use Mustard get dramatically better at golf in a short period of time.”
Chris Reynolds, General Manager of Golf Digest, said the venture suits the decades-old media brand’s aim of making the sport of golf “more approachable and enjoyable for everyone.” Despite myriad instructional tools available to golfers, most of them are “not actually relevant to them personally,” he added. “Mustard Golf solves this challenge by providing new and experienced golfers alike with a simple-to-use but powerful platform that gives real-time, personalized expert analysis that will put them on the best path to playing better.”