Rand Capital Portfolio Company, OnCore Golf, Announces “First-of-its-Kind” Golf & Sports Entertainment Complex
OnCore Buffalo Will Complement Downtown and Waterfront Development Projects
Rand Capital Corporation, a business development company, announced that one of its portfolio companies, OnCore Golf Technology, Inc. plans to build a first-of-its-kind year-round sports entertainment complex, including a fully-integrated hotel in Buffalo, NY. The seven-acre OnCore Buffalo facility will bring exciting new golf and other sports experiences to downtown Buffalo’s waterfront when it opens in 2021. OnCore reports that it has the financing package in place with several local strategic and financial supporters for the estimated $30 million project.
OnCore Buffalo will feature a unique three-tiered golf driving range with state-of-the-art radar and camera systems used in each hitting bay to deliver incredible gaming and learning possibilities for golfers and non-golfers alike. Each hitting bay will offer full shot analysis including both club and ball data (swing speed, ball speed, smash factor, distance, spin rate, spin angle, launch angle, apex, and much more) and will offer customers the option of recording their swing and receiving instructional advice in real time. All of the information will be saved and available to the customer for retrieval and review on mobile devices and on a cloud-based website. Instantaneous social media posting and sharing along with in-venue broadcasts will further enhance the user experience. Numerous games – some purely for entertainment and others for competition – will be available and shown on high resolution monitors in each bay.
“We’re very excited to be able to bring this kind of golf and sports entertainment experience to an urban setting – the result of engineering and technology innovations that have been years in the making,” said OnCore Golf co-founder Keith Blakely. “In doing so, we hope to elevate interest in golf amongst a broad demographic as well as to enable partnerships with other sports organizations who have similar goals. We envision other sports experiences, from virtual baseball, basketball and hockey to a possible indoor wave machine for surfing. We believe this planned complex sets a revolutionary standard that we can replicate in other urban areas.”
The first-of-its-kind OnCore Buffalo design is unique and different from other golf entertainment concepts, which typically require a physical presence twice the size of the OnCore Buffalo facility, making them hard to locate in urban environments. Additionally, The First Tee of Western New York, an international youth development organization that introduces the game of golf and its inherent values to young people, will relocate into the OnCore Buffalo facility at no cost to the organization. Through after school and in school programs, The First Tee helps shape the lives of young people from all walks of life by reinforcing values like integrity, respect and perseverance through the game of golf.
Allen F. (“Pete”) Grum, President and Chief Executive Officer of Rand Capital, added, “OnCore Golf has been at the forefront of golf ball technology advancement since its inception in 2011. This has been demonstrated by their development of several unique golf balls including the world’s only hollow metal core golf ball, a low compression ball with unrivaled distance called AVANT, and what many believe is the best premium tour ball, the ELIXR. The new golf and sports complex takes OnCore’s innovativeness to a new level. We are pleased to support them in their mission to grow the game of golf, creating a new experience for golfers of all skill levels. We are also pleased to support their efforts to further enhance the development of the beautiful Buffalo waterfront area.”
