Redefining Golf: How LinksDAO Leveraged the Web3 Community to Buy a Golf Course

“Wen golf course?”

A phrase you don’t typically hear in crypto, unless of course, you’re LinksDAO.

LinksDAO was formed with the goal of purchasing and operating golf courses through a community-led model. Their approach to golf course ownership is an incredible example of how web3 can be used to achieve impressive goals as a collective.

Recently, we had the opportunity to chat with Cooper, the LinksDAO co-founder and Head of Community, to learn about their journey from the very beginning to now having acquired Spey Bay Golf Course in Scotland.

How it started

The inspiration behind LinksDAO stemmed from an ambitious vision: what if a DAO could own and operate a world-class golf course? They were also inspired by ConstitutionDAO, which had garnered a lot of attention for trying to purchase the United States Constitution.

Cooper talked about how they didn’t set limitations on their brainstorming process, and asked themselves, “What’s the coolest thing we could do together?” Acquiring a golf course was the easy winner.

They began to set up and formalize the proposal process through the Common platform, tapping into token ownership to drive participation. Although it took some heated debate on a tight deadline, the community voted overwhelmingly in favor of the proposal to buy Spey Bay.

Cooper spoke highly of the professionalism and patience the LinksDAO community displayed throughout the entire process, emphasizing how the golfers have a genuine passion for the sport and a forward-thinking mindset.

Community first

A strong community with a clear strategy was key to LinksDAO’s success, but how did they do it?

One of the main ways that LinksDAO fostered a sense of investment among their members was through token ownership. In contrast to the often inaccessible nature of traditional golf clubs, LinksDAO embraces an inclusive approach, where members who hold tokens have a direct voice in the organization.

Partnerships and rewards were also crucial to incentivize engagement. From meetups and ticket giveaways to a shared passion for golf, LinksDAO was able to maintain a high level of excitement that continues to drive the vision forward.

More on the way

Now LinksDAO is on their way to buying a golf course in the United States. Although working through real estate deals and filtering through potential courses has been challenging, LinksDAO is determined to continue expanding and bringing more value to their members.

Acquiring Spey Bay is a tremendous feat, but Cooper reassures us that the LinksDAO community hasn’t lost momentum. In fact, he says that buying a course in the United States was almost a conditional promise to buying Spey Bay, since a majority of the golfers are located in the U.S.

What can we learn from LinksDAO?

There’s plenty of inspiration that we can draw purely from the determination and passion of the LinksDAO community. Beyond that, onchain memberships is a model that can be replicated for other sports, gyms, local clubs, and more.

LinksDAO shows us that co-creating a shared vision sustains a community in the long-term. It’s important to have an overarching bigger goal, while also incentivizing the day-to-day engagement that keep the wheels turning.

For those looking to get involved, the team encourages early engagement and a willingness to demonstrate value. Cooper highlights that consistency is extremely important, using DMs as an example. A single outreach attempt may go unnoticed, but persistent follow-ups demonstrate a genuine sustained interest that is far more likely to capture attention.

Fun fact from Cooper

His favorite golf course (other than Spey Bay 😉), is the Royal Durnoch golf course in the UK.

We're impressed by LinksDAO's achievements and grateful our platform facilitated the community proposals that led to the the Spey Bay acquisition.

Interested in starting your own onchain community? Explore Common to create your community or browse existing ones.