Blake Walker, the founder and CEO of Arcis Golf, has been called the Jeff Bezos of the golf industry for starting his company seven years ago with nothing but an idea — scratched onto a napkin no less — and then bringing it to fruition. It’s a comparison that makes the low-profile executive uncomfortable. He likes to lead by example, putting his senior leaders first.
But the comparison has more to do with what Arcis has accomplished than Walker’s personality. His idea seven years ago was not to just launch a golf management and ownership company, but to plan for a large aggregator of courses. And in that, it has been successful — growing from zero to 70 courses.
Walker has not been very vocal about the company’s explosion but is speaking about it for the first time at the Golf Inc. Summit, taking place October 24-26 at La Quinta Resort in the Palm Springs, Calif. region.
“We are excited to hear from Blake Walker about the Arcis story in such an intimate format,” said Lance Ellis, director of conferences for Golf Inc. “Jack Crittenden, our editor and founder, will sit down with him for what should be an entertaining and educational discussion.”
The conference will be held live for the first time since 2019, following CDC guidelines to allow for social distancing. Golf Inc. is recommending that attendees be vaccinated and wear masks when they are unable to socially distance. But it is setting up the conference so that it is easy for attendees to socially distance at networking events and in educational sessions. The conference has attracted as many as 375 attendees in the past, but because of COVID, will initially be limited to 250 attendees.
“We need to be cautious at first, but hopefully will able to accept more attendees if COVID infections remain low in the Palm Springs region,” Ellis said. “But in any case, it will be a who’s who of the golf industry,” Ellis said.
To ensure that a higher percent of attendees are golf course owners and operators, Golf Inc. has increased the fee for non-operators.
Walker will speak in a morning keynote on the second day of the conference. Arcis Golf has been growing fast, acquiring six courses from Phil Mickelson last month and, more recently the Golf Club at Twin Creeks, in Allen, Texas.