Over the past few years, TMRW Sports, a company founded by former NBC Sports President Mike McCarley along with golf legends Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, has been working alongside the PGA Tour to create Tomorrow’s Golf League (TGL), an innovative golf simulator league where notable PGA Tour professionals compete in three-versus-three, 15-hole matches. In early January, the first-ever TGL Match took place in SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. where the Bay Golf Club crushed the New York Golf Club by a resounding margin. However, the discussion among fans and viewers was not about the result but rather the implementation of advanced technology to expand the future of golf.
One of the driving forces behind the creation of TGL was CapTech, a technology consulting firm whose growing sports practice assists in connecting sports companies with technology-focused solutions. A key member of this sports practice is Roberto Castro (ISyE ‘07), a former All-American Tech golfer who played professional golf for over a decade. Following his retirement from playing golf, Castro began working in the consulting world and found a role at CapTech. The Technique had the opportunity to talk with Castro about his role in the development of TGL and his time at Tech.
For Castro, his position within the project was incredibly unique, utilizing both the problem-solving skills he learned at Tech and his PGA Tour experience.
“I really took the role of testing what the gameplay would be, helping to find the competition format, thinking through what the player experience would be, what the scoring would be, and then in turn, giving our developers the requirements for … [the] system to score a game,” Castro said. The opportunity to combine his degree and high level golf experience was one that Castro could not pass on. The blending of his skills made sure that both the players and creator would be satisfied with the revolutionary product
The process of creating the finalized product required many iterations. Testing began at an indoor golf and social venue called Fairway Social where Castro and his colleagues, working with TGL VP of Competition Scott Armstrong, started exploring various gameplay options on a golf simulator and a nine-hole putting course. Those options became more refined with more testing and eventually, they settled on a format that would include three key elements.
“Number one, people need to be invested in the results, and the players need to be invested in the competition. … Number two, it needs to be fast-paced. And then number three, it needs to be a team game. It’s a team league; … that’s kind of why you see the triples format, that’s why you see the shot clock [and] that’s why you see it’s 15 holes,” Castro said.
Throughout his explanation of TGL, Castro continued to emphasize the importance of engaging the viewer and looking to fill the gaps that traditional sports are leaving.
Since the beginning of the league in early January, the TGL has already made strong impressions on sports fans and social media. Castro attended the first and second matches of the league and described his and the fans’ impressions of attending arena golf.
“It’s a really good experience in person because the venue is just mind-blowing… I’ve yet to see a person walk into [the] SoFi center and say anything other than like, this is insane, It’s amazing, This is wild… you just shake your head; … it’s just a golf-like Dreamland.” Castro said.
Even with these strong early impressions, Castro foresees that the TGL format and rules will continue to change over time, and we could see other professional leagues adopt some sort of additive league like the TGL.
“I definitely think we’re going to look back at Season One of TGL, and it’s going to look kind of like Amazon.com did in 1999. … I think the TGL itself will evolve. I mean, shorter formats, tech-forward,… a place where you can let the personality of your athletes come through a little bit. It absolutely has the attention of a lot of other sports leagues,” Castro said.
He spoke about the early stages of the TGL and the adaptive nature that his team has to have to produce a high-quality product and overcome problems, comparing the league to early tech companies.
Castro has credited much of his career success and achievements to his time at Tech, as well as the analytical skills he developed and the relationships he formed.
“The world is … all driven by problem-solving. So I think those skills that I learned at Tech are super useful. I can’t tell you I’ve used any … regression formulas or any Black-Scholes analysis, but the problem-solving skills and the people I met at Georgia Tech … have been invaluable to me.” Castro said, on the most important thing he learned at Tech.
Outside of receiving a world-class education, Castro was a member of Tech’s highly successful golf team and gained invaluable experience.
“[My Tech experience] was really an awesome four-year experience for me. We really played the best schedule, played at the best golf courses in Atlanta, really kind of first-class travel. I mean, Coach [Heppler] really, you know, his basic mantra is: if you’re going to do something, do it right. And he kind of runs the entire program that way,” Castro said on his time competing for the Jackets.
Of the course, Castro savored the time that he spent with his teammates and doing the little things. The mundane activities became exceptional when he spent them with his fellow Jackets.
“[I most enjoyed] just the time with my teammates, you know, I mean, waiting for flights, sitting around, you know, waiting for rental cars, just that kind of dead time is, I always have fond memories of with my teammates,” Castro said, reflecting on some of his favorite parts of his collegiate career.
Despite no longer being part of the team, Castro still connects with fellow Tech golf alumni and takes advantage of the network that athletics provides.
“I stay close to the team, myself and a couple other letter winners, kind of informally lead our golf Letterwinner Group. I do spend a little bit of time with that, and I live four miles off campus, so I go back and hit golf balls at the new facility every once in a while, and I run into the guys on the team. So I’ve been super fortunate. … It’s always great to meet the new generation and become friends with them. And some of them have become really, really dear friends, even though we were not on the team together, which is very cool,” Castro said. Years after being part of the team, he has formed relationships that would not be possible without the connection of competing for the Jackets.
Despite graduating years ago, Castro takes Tech everywhere he goes, both on and off the course, and he signs off with one final statement.
“Go Jackets!”