Since before Golfserv came along, I have been using a competing service called the iGolf Players Club . I visit the site following each round of golf I play. Golfserv is taking a different approach. And while iGolf and a competing service from GolfWeb offer a national score-tracking service that any golfer can use for a fee, Golfserv's concept is to license the technology to local publishers and topical Web sites, creating a national network of local and niche golf sites supported by national and local advertising. The revenue model is quite simple, according to Golfserv's vice president of business development, Michael Lazerow , who co-founded the company last year with Kathryn Savarese and Michael Caspar .
Web sites wishing to use the service pay an annual maintenance fee.
The service is currently live on one site, Mammoth Golf , an online golf retailer, and will go live on several news sites next week. Lazerow says his company to date has signed up more than 100 sites to take the service, including the Morris Communications newspaper chain, which will use it on its more than 30 Web sites. Lazerow says the system has been designed such that a client site can be put online as a Golfserv co-branded customer in about 30 minutes. Often, a site will add the Golfserv content and services to its existing golf coverage. But as Lazerow rightly points out, news sites have been slow to implement sticky features.