Berith Jacobsen accepts the title of “serial entrepreneur” as a badge of honor.
When she sends out an e-mail, her name is followed by a list of four Denver-based businesses she’s founded. There’s everything from a logoed-products manufacturer to a consulting company to a local arm of a non-profit to some travel-related ventures.
They all have one thing in common, at least to some extent: Golf.
“That’s why I’m able to do all these things,” Jacobsen said this week while juggling her various roles.
The newest of her business enterprises — in fact, two of them — will be on display at booth No. 902 when the Denver Golf Expo comes to the Denver Merchandise Mart Feb. 12-14.
Just over a year ago, Jacobsen launched Colorado Golf Trails, which organizes pre-planned or custom stay-and-play golf packages on one of the many “trails” she has set up in the state. And this year, at the Expo, she’s officially adding Arizona Golf Trails to her business lineup, giving customers what she hopes are happy trails all year around.
“Colorado as a state is really known for skiing,” Jacobsen said. “We want to capture the other six months of the year.”
Colorado Golf Trails will have seven or eight pre-planned trail options this year, and eventually aims to solidify a dozen trails. There are regional trips centered all over the state — anything from the Denver metro area to the Four Corners — but others are more thematic (golf and fly fishing, or featuring private courses and clubs).
A golf trails business is hardly a new idea. There are many such trails throughout the country, with the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail probably being the best known. But unlike RTJGT, Colorado Golf Trails isn’t limited to courses created by one designer. There is enough variety to fit about any tastes.
The thought of launching Colorado Golf Trails came to Jacobsen in the spring of 2008 after she had traveled the state for 14 years as CEO of TEAM 2000, which sells logoed products and tournament accessories.
“I was thinking, “˜I wish more people knew about Colorado golf,'” Jacobsen said. “It’s a hidden gem. And this (idea) showcases the courses in the state.”
Jacobsen decided to try to capitalize on that idea, eventually launching coloradogolftrails.com in November 2008, and booking her first trip the following month. She set up six trails for that first golf season (2009). She conducted a national press campaign, and among the people she notified of her plans were Hale Irwin and Greg Norman, a couple of World Golf Hall of Famers who have designed courses in Colorado. She even received a personal note back from Norman.
For proprietary reasons, Jacobsen won’t divulge the amount of business Colorado Golf Trails did in its first year, but she noted that the average group size she dealt with was eight people, with the average length of stay was four days. Jacobsen said that in 2009 she drew business from 11 states and four European nations.
“It’s starting to pick up some steam,” she said. “By July we were slammed.”
While golfers could arrange for such stay-and-play vacations on their own, Colorado Golf Trails finds its niche by doing all the legwork and by giving customers the benefit of organizers who have played all the courses and stayed in all the hotels that are included on the trails. In addition, Jacobsen said the relationships and connections she and her advisory board have built up over the years allow for some “ins” that might otherwise not be readily available.
For instance, the Four Corners Golf Trail includes golf at The Glacier Club, a private facility in Durango. Rounds at other private clubs are available on the Private Reserve Golf Trail, though many of those clubs don’t allow their inclusion to be publicized by Colorado Golf Trails.
After playing college tennis at the University of Arizona, Jacbosen moved to Colorado 29 years ago, and she’s been involved in golf-related businesses since 1994. Besides her work with TEAM 2000 and Colorado and Arizona Golf Trails, she founded the Denver chapter of the non-profit Executive Women’s Golf Association, and she heads a marketing and consulting company, TEAM THINK.
Although Jacobsen didn’t play a lot of golf in 2009 while getting Colorado Golf Trails on its feet, the left-hander owns a very respectable 9.6 handicap.
Jacobsen may be hard-pressed to play significantly more rounds in 2010 as she’ll launch Arizona Golf Trails — mainly based around Scottsdale and Tucson — at the Denver Golf Expo. After all, if the past is any indication, Jacobsen will be eager to get down to business.
