I’m a pretty crap golfer. Let’s just get that out of the way. I’ve tried to get into it, but golf-cart racing is as much fun as I’m probably ever going to have on the course.

So, for a golf-focussed startup to catch my attention says something about how interesting Lind Golf’s pitch is (hey! I think I made a golf joke there…)

So what is Lind Golf?

It’s a new website that offers customers the chance to design, customise and personalise their own golf clubs and accessories online.

The brainchild of twenty-five year old Sydneysider, Brad Lindenberg, Lind Golf is trying to compete in the massive market that supports the game of golf, by using technology to jump ahead of the curve.

Essentially, what that means is that you can hop onto the Lind Golf site and put together completely customised golf clubs and accessories without having to leave the comfort of your computer chair.

When I say completely customised, I’m not joking either - the site offers more than 50 Million combinations to make sure the end product is exactly what you want.

Now, the truth be told, all major golfing manufacturers have been offering various levels of customisation for years. By going online however Lind Golf has really positioned itself well to compete.

As Lindenberg explains:

Our online presence enables us to offer our customers ten’s of millions of ways to build a golf club. It also enables our customers to receive the best prices because we are manufacturers ourselves and have no middlemen in the distribution chain. We’ve been selling golf clubs online since 2005 and we’ve proven there is a market for it. We’ve simply taken it to the next level with the new Lind Golf.

I also asked Lindenberg if he felt the major manufacturers would follow his lead and this was his reponse:

Potentially, however they have a lot invested in their traditional channels. They would find it difficult to keep their bricks and morter channels happy while selling directly online as online sales would canabalise their offline sales. If they wanted to replicate the Lind Golf model they would probably have to establish a second brand, or acquire an existing online brand.

For me, what this really amounts to is Lind Golf positioning itself to take advantage of the future of shopping - i.e. a mixture of e-commerce and mass customisation . The latter of these (I mean, even I’d love to sport some of those custom designed golf club heads on the 19th hole) is going to be a bigger and bigger factor over the coming years and I have a feeling that one day there will be a lot of big name execs who wake up and wonder where the hell their biggest competitor, Lind Golf, came from.

While selling physical products may not be seen as the sexiest area in the online world, there’s no denying that Lindenberg has fully understood future trends and the value web technologies can bring to the golf-enthusiast industry.

Should be an interesting one to watch.