The Financial Company Transcending The Norm With NIL Deals For Top Collegiate And Amateur Golfers

In the college athletic ranks, it’s football that gets the spotlight for NIL deals – and rightfully so. But as the U.S. Amateur Championship takes center stage this week at The Ridgewood Country Club in New Jersey and a new college golf season approaches, it’s worth noting how NIL opportunities are changing the way some amateurs (and their parents) approach the junior golf circuit and chase a potential professional career.

Just over a year ago, college athletes were considered amateurs and therefore prohibited by the NCAA from receiving monetary compensation of any kind. After a Supreme Court ruling said the NCAA violated antitrust laws in limiting the benefits available to student-athletes, the governing body of collegiate sports changed its rules to allow student-athletes to sell rights to their name, image and likeness (NIL) for marketing and other promotional purposes.

Football, with its rabid fan bases and massive television contracts, sees the vast majority of NIL deals – 50% of total compensation for all collegiate sports, according to Opendorse, a leading athlete marketplace and NIL technology company. Men’s and women’s basketball combine for about 33% and no other sport cracks 3% of the remaining total. Golf accounts for 0.7% of total NIL compensation, the same as women’s soccer, according to Opendorse data.

But for a company like Transcend Capital Advisors, golf is the perfect fit.

The New Jersey-based wealth-management advisor with about $2.3 billion under management this year partnered with two of the game’s top amateurs, both former No. 1-ranked juniors, after learning their families were struggling to pay for upcoming tournaments. In the case of some junior golf events, travel, lodging and tournament fees can cost between $3,000 and $5,000 per week. It’s why Transcend took a leadership role in the evolving NIL marketplace, throwing financial support behind young stars Ben James and Caleb Surratt this year and investing in their future.

“We’re on the cutting age here doing it with golfers,” said Transcend’s Managing Partner, Brian Gorczynski, a member at Baltusrol Golf Club in New Jersey who during his collegiate golf days was a co-captain of the golf team at Boston College. “Some families are spending everything they have. We did this as a way to help, to say don’t worry about the money, we’ve got it covered and we as a firm would love to help. The excitement it’s generated for our employees in return is a great thing.”

In sharing financial support, Transcend can use both players’ name, image and likeness in marketing materials, while both James and Surratt will wear the Transcend logo in non-collegiate events like the U.S. Amateur. The athletes and company can amplify the relationship in social media posts, but more meaningful engagement will come through attendance at a number of Transcend’s client events. Gorczynski said the company relied on the expertise of player agents and collegiate compliance departments to ensure NIL rules are followed appropriately, as James this fall is headed to the University of Virginia and Surratt is entering the University of Tennessee.

“We relied on them to tell us what we can or can’t do, and to review the agreement,” added Gorczynski, noting the NIL deals have nothing to do with the schools directly. “For example, the boys can’t give a lesson if we have a client event because it may be misconstrued that they’re getting paid for services and it would affect their amateur status. Mingling and watching them hit balls is different. So, it’s kind of a fine line, but we’ve relied on the schools.”

Other no-no’s for amateur golfers: accepting prize money of more than $1,000 or taking a club professional job.

Since Transcend’s initial partnerships, the company has received a number of unsolicited inbounds from college athletes in all sports from all over the country. There are no immediate plans to bring aboard other sports, but Transcend is looking at other up-and-coming golfers that may be a good fit. It bears noting that current legislation prohibits those on international student visas from accepting NIL deals and golf, in particular, has a very high rate of international participation.

Two days after Surratt finished as the runner-up at this year’s U.S. Junior Amateur at Bandon Dunes, losing to China’s Wenyi Ding in the final match, Gorczynski sent him a note of congratulations. Surratt responded with a heartfelt thank you to the Transcend team.

“He told me, ‘I couldn’t have done it without you guys. The support you’ve given me, the fact that I can just go out and play and not worry about the money has freed me up to play my best golf,’” Gorczynski said. “It was so fulfilling.” Surratt, in a recent press release about the partnership, acknowledges that the assistance eases his “future path” in golf. For a company that puts an emphasis on achieving financial and life goals for its clients, the fit is strong, especially given golf’s popularity in the wealth management space.

Gorczynski said that, during his collegiate days playing golf, he never could have envisioned a world where student-athletes could get paid. Now, Transcend’s two player commitments are among a number of prominent partnerships in the golf NIL space. A couple of Stanford University teammates, Rose Zhang and Rachel Heck, have landed NIL deals through a traditional agent, while Cole Hammer, a two-time Walker Cup player who’s entering his senior year at the University at Texas, recently locked up his own.

“I think the whole world is starting to get its head around it right now. It’s changing the face not just of golf, but all amateur sports. It’s interesting where it goes from here.”