Golf Heavy AirWayz Tees Up Instruction And Interaction With Pro Athletes

Sliding into putting guru Brad Faxon’s DMs to solicit feedback on distance control, grip, or green-reading technique is a prospect that would appeal to scores of recreational golfers of all ages and skillsets. The pure stroke goat led the PGA tour in putting average for the 1996, 1999 and 2000 seasons and nowadays is putting protégé Rory McIlroy’s first call if he needs a tweak.

Because of the often-vitriolic nature of social media, most sports stars tend to keep their direct messages closed. Enter AirWayz, a new digital media player aiming to be a one-stop shop to connect fans with pro athletes in a safe and interactive environment. It’s MasterClass but with the added engagement level of a digital sports fantasy camp. While the site caters to every ball and stick game under the sun, an outsized contingent of golf greats and current players are along for the ride.

“There are a lot of toxic social media platforms. If you allow anybody to follow you, if you are a celebrity or athlete in particular, you get comments from both sides of the aisle, like in politics, that don’t agree with anyone. Some of it can go down dark and dirty roads and what we want to do on AirWayz is help people with instruction, stories, knowledge and help parents that have children that might be aspiring in whatever sport that is,” Faxon, who recently joined NBC Sports golf commentary team, explains.

Among the other notable golf names on the platform are Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald, Hall of Famer Gary Player, LPGA star Lexi Thompson, reigning U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick and 1997 Open Champion Justin Leonard.

AirWayz founder Michael Murphy M.D., a former Army Ranger and ER doctor based in Jupiter, Florida has pored through many case studies in peer reviewed journals on the detrimental effect of toxic online behavior, particularly on youth. He strove to create a platform that promotes participation in sports and a positive lifestyle in a safe interactive environment. There are no likes on athlete posts and subscriber counts are also intentionally kept hidden so that kids gravitate to content on merit alone.

“Here you can engage, have a community, converse back-and-forth and the athletes are way more active on AirWayz then they are on Instagram as far as commenting and feedback,” Murphy, whose prior venture HealthChannels, parent company of ScribeAmerica—a staffing company for medical scribes grew to serve over 3,600 hospitals.

“Never in the history of what I’m aware of can you get your swing analyzed by the reigning U.S. Open Champion Matt Fitzpatrick or have Gareth Bale, a five-times Champions League winner, who also won the MLS Cup, analyze your penalty kick,” Murphy adds.

That level of individualized attention goes well above and beyond what is included in the $5/month subscription for a single athlete or the $10/month subscription that grants users full site access where they will be privy to exclusive tips, advice and insider stories and get in on livestreams and Q&As. To have a video of your swing analyzed by Fitzpatrick, currently the No. 6 golfer in the world, and receive a video back from him with game improvement tips and drills costs $2000.

“I know that’s pricey and it’s not going to be reachable for every consumer out there. He’s committed to a half hour of his time to go over your swing and create a video for you,” Murphy explains. He likens the value proposition akin to taking ten lessons from an instructor who has never played professionally.

“It’s just supply and demand with that price—he set it, we didn’t—all the prices are set by the athletes, but I think a half hour of his time is worth that,” he adds.

Brad Faxon charges $1200 for individualized putting feedback and recommendations on the platform. On the lower end of the spectrum, Jeff Flagg, the 2014 World Long Drive Champion, charges only $150 for a swing analysis.

Much like Cameo, AirWayz also offers personalized videos, so golf nuts can purchase a happy birthday video from Luke Donald or Lexi Thompson for $250. There is also an ‘ask me anything’ product for those seeking a detailed answer to a specific question that is available at varying price points depending on the athlete.

Murphy, in a not-so-subtle allusion to LIV Golf interest, teases that even more golfers will be joining the platform in the coming months by the way of a few golf teams ‘with really cool names, if you can put aside the politics.’

“A lot of people are interested in golf. A lot of people want to share their tips and tricks and help the community and they feel that if they post on Instagram they may be bloviating or doing things that people don’t want,” Murphy explains.

On AirWayz, fans subscribe specifically to learn from the experiences of these athletes so those concerns fall to the wayside. The only question remaining is will there be enough fan demand to sustain the venture.