Brothers' new golf game cards an ace

By: MARC FIGUEROA -- Staff Writer
Fallbrook's McWethys find success inventing, promoting Card Golf | Tuesday, September 11, 2007 11:53 PM PDT ∞

It's not everyday you get a chance to play Pebble Beach. And unless you're a PGA Tour pro or some top industry heavy, you can forget about teeing off at Augusta National.

But Adam and Todd McWethy have found a way to play at the Masters' site any time they want -- in a matter of speaking anyway.

The Fallbrook brothers have invented what they call Card Golf, a game that takes players to any golf course in the world with a deck of cards and a course scorecard.

They have sold nearly 10,000 units since its debut one year ago and are now starting to see the game gain some traction in the marketplace.

"When we started playing it, we knew we were on to something," said Adam, 32, who played golf for Fallbrook High. "It's a great game that you can play any time, anywhere. You can play Pebble Beach for free."

They first came up with the concept nearly three years ago during a family vacation in North Carolina, where a freak snowstorm kept them off the golf course and stuck inside. To pass the time, they played golf with a deck of cards, assigning yardage values to each playing card.

Over the next 18 months, they introduced the game to friends and family, tweaking and honing it along the way. They even designed their own cards and packaging, incorporating expertise from the small graphic design firm they own in Old Town.

A round of 18 can be played in about 30 minutes. Each player is dealt 14 cards at random, each representing 14 clubs in a player's bag and designated with different yardages. Just like in real golf, the goal in Card Golf is to use the least amount of shots -- cards in this case -- on each hole. The total amount is your score on the hole. Penalty strokes are assessed if you go over the yardage on the scorecard. After every hole, a player replenishes their 14-card set.

Players can use scorecards from any golf course in the world, and all online orders include a scorecard from Pebble Beach. The game retails for $8.95.

"People were saying, 'I can't believe this hasn't been invented before,' " said Todd, 33. "Those are the words you want to hear when you're developing a game."

When the game launched last September, the McWethys had high hopes. After all, they were bringing a novel idea to a market of nearly 30 million golfers in the U.S.alone.

"We thought it would be a slam dunk," said Adam.

They were wrong.

The plan was to spend six weeks on the road, attempting to sell the game to pro shops out of the trunk of their car. As it turned out, the road trip ended before it began.

"We thought golf courses would eat it up, but what we found was that golfers that go into golf shops go in to pay for their golf, pick up some balls and maybe some spikes," Todd said. "They're really not there to shop for golf products. That was a bit frustrating because we put a lot of eggs in that basket.

"The initial plan went out the window."

All was not lost, however. Sales through their Web site -- www.cardgolf.com -- were steady enough that they decided to continue. The brothers soon learned that the toy and game industry was where Card Golf needed to be marketed.

When they re-introduced the game at the Toy Fair in New York earlier this year, the McWethys found a niche in novelty shops and toy stores. The game is now being sold at Geppetto's Toy Store, which has locations in Carlsbad, Carmel Valley and Rancho Bernardo. The McWethys also have met with a distributor in Las Vegas who's eager to get the game in hotel gift shops.

"(The toy and game market) has opened up a ton of doors for us," Adam said.

Added Todd: "We've been disappointed on some fronts, but excited on other fronts because of the steadiness that the game has been received over the last year."

Jon Kasten is one customer who can't get enough of the game. He enjoys it so much that the school teacher has incorporated it into his sixth-grade class curriculum.

"It's an outstanding way for (students) to add without using pencil and paper," said Kasten, who teaches at Pacific Beach Middle. "They're learning and they don't even know it. It's a great diversion from normal curriculum."

Kasten said he first introduced Card Golf to his school's game club and family math night. That grabbed the attention of fellow teachers and parents. He said he's planning a Ryder Cup-style event with other classes later this school year.

"It's a real good hook for kids to learn mental math skills," he said.

Kasten pulls the game out at the 19th hole as well.

"Whether it's four-ball or alternate shot, anything you do in golf you can do in Card Golf," he said. "And if I triple bogey a hole out on the course, I can birdie it playing the game. I usually play better (golf) using the game."

Adam McWethy said the future of Card Golf likely will focus on the development of an online game. For now though, he and his brother are simply enjoying something they created one snowy day in North Carolina.

"It wasn't the get-rich thing we all thought it was going to be," Adam said, "but it's been a continuous, steady thing."

-- Marc Figueroa covers golf for the North County Times. E-mail him at marcfig@aol.com. The Golf Gallery appears every Wednesday.

Birdie

Jamie Lovemark - The USC star and Rancho Santa Fe resident closed out a spectacular summer by helping the U.S. team beat Great Britain and Ireland in the Walker Cup on Sunday in Northern Ireland. Lovemark went 3-0 in his matches as the U.S.team won 12 1/2 - 11 1/2 to retain the Cup.

Bogey

Carolyn Bivens and Tim Finchem

Why are the Solheim Cup and the FedEx Cup finale being played on the same weekend? Didn't anyone at the LPGA or PGA Tour offices see this conflict on the calendar? It's bad enough that golf is already fighting college and pro football and baseball for media coverage. Now golf has decided to fight itself.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Blame the two chiefs for this scheduling snafu.

Chip shots

+ Cardiff's Chris Starkjohann beat Encinitas Ranch teaching pro John Mason 5 and 3 to win the San Diego PGA Senior Match Play Championship, held last week at Aviara.

+ Carlsbad's Gerry Simoni shot 70-74 at Carlton Oaks on Sunday to win the American Amateur Tour's Southern California Championship. Jeff Hunter of Rancho Santa Fe, the tour's defending national champion, finished second. Simoni, Hunter and third-place finisher Nico Garcia of San Diego each qualified for the national championship event, slated for October in Florida.

+ Former Chargers punter Darren Bennett is throwing The Great Australian BBQ and Golf Tournament on Oct. 2 at Coronado Golf Course. The event is a fundraiser to help fight muscular dystrophy. Call (760) 801-1500 for more information.

+ Through this year's Save Our Sports and Chip-in for Charity fundraising programs, golf fans can buy one-day tickets for both the Nationwide Tour Championship and the Buick Invitational for $15. All proceeds from these programs benefit participating San Diego schools. Nearly $6 million has been raised in the past 14 years. The Nationwide event, set for Oct. 29-Nov. 4 at Barona Creek in Lakeside, is that tour's season finale. The tour will promote the top 25 players on its money list to the 2008 PGA Tour season. The Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines is set for Jan. 21-27.

+ The amateurgolf.com Carlsbad Coastal Championship is set for Oct. 13-14 at The Crossings. To register, go to www.amateurgolf.com or call (760) 929-9297.