Every once in a while, something comes along in the golf world that makes me stop and think, “Okay… this could actually change things.”
That was me a few months ago at the PGA Show, when I first heard about GolfN. At first, I thought it was just another golf GPS app. I’ve tried plenty of those, and while a few stick around on my phone, most don’t. But then they said the magic words:
“It pays you to play golf.”
Immediately, red flags go off. How could this work? How do they make money? Is this a scam?
I’m not going to lie, I’m still figuring this out. I’m still working to understand it all, but I’ve started to get a better handle on it.
So today, I want to share with you my experience with GolfN, how I think it works, and help you figure out if it’s something you should actually download and try.
The Short Version: What is GolfN
GolfN is like if Strava, Pokémon Go, and your credit card rewards program had a baby — and then sent that baby to golf camp. You log your rounds in the app, it tracks your stats, and you earn points. Those points? You can trade them for actual golf gear, entries into giveaways, or even crypto (if that’s your thing).
On the surface, it functions just like any other GPS golf app such as 18 Birdies, GolfShot or The Grint.
But unlike those, they take some of their revenue and give it back to the golfer: that’s the differnentiator here.
My First Rounds With GolfN
I’ve been testing GolfN for the last couple months, and have played about a dozen rounds with it.
I’m going to be totally honest, even as it sits, it’s not the best GPS app out there. There are still some bugs, and I personally still primarily use Arccos for all my shot tracking, and mostly have GolfN running in the background.
The core idea is simple:
- Open the app, start a round.
- Play golf, enter your scores and shot data (you can also do this after the round)
- Earn points just for logging it
You can boost your point totals by keeping score, tracking shots, playing with friends, or teeing it up during off-peak hours.
Using the App and the Social Side
Overall, the app works pretty well right now. Certainly better than it was 3 months ago.
You can easily add friends to rounds, edit each others scores, and make the app more social in that regard.
You can get GPS yardages to greens and hazards easily, and you can add basic stats to each hole like fairways hit, GIRs, number of putts, penalties etc.
I think as the app gets better and they roll out more features and more ways to interact within the app, it will become a much more interesting experience for most people.
But as far as keeping score and the GPS features, it feels very similar to any other GPS app out there.
Like I said, I still primarily use Arccos on the course. But I’ll go in every few holes and add my scores and stats to GolfN, and then make sure everything is accurate at the end of my round before posting my scores.
The Marketplace: Where It Gets Fun
Just recently, GolfN officially unveiled its marketplace. This is the easiest way to actually redeem those points for something tangible.
Right now, they’ve partnered with Cleveland and Srixon – but I know there are many more brands on the way.
So you can take those points you earn, and go buy boxes of balls, or even sets of clubs.
You can use points to get into sweepstakes for golf trips or bigger-ticket prizes. They’ve already given away a bottle of Pappy, a trip to Northern Ireland, and access to a Suite at the Waste Management.
The Crypto Twist
Now, here’s where GolfN really leans into 2025. They’ve integrated with the Solana blockchain (don’t worry, you don’t have to be a crypto nerd to use it).
They’ve got these “digital clubs” you can rent — basically NFTs that multiply your point earnings. The rarer the club, the bigger your multiplier.
More on how to use them in a second.
Case in point: I was out at Ballyneal recently, spun for a club, and landed a “Legendary” Driver. Points for that round? About ten times what I’d normally earn. I’m not saying it was better than making my eagle on 7… but it was close.
While you’re not able to do it yet, part of where GolfN gets really intriguing is this crypto component.
In the future, the plan is that there will be a GOLF token released. This is just like any other crypto asset, such as Bitcoin.
Your points will translate 1 to 1 to this token, which you can then exchange for other crypto or turn to cash.
Again, this is one of those areas where I’ll need to see it first to truly believe it, but based on everything I’ve heard and seen, it really feels like it’s trending in the right direction.
This is the first golf app I've seen that actually rewards you for playing golf. I'm excited to see how it evolves. Use code BreakingEighty to get a free month of Silver membership.
How Does GolfN Make Money?
In my recently published video (above) about GolfN, I was lit up with comments about how it’s a scam, privacy issues, and more.
And honestly? I get those concerns. I have them too.
But here’s the thing:
When it comes to privacy (like turning on location services) or a company using your (anonymized) data for profit? Basically, every other similar app does the same thing. This is nothing new.
Kind of hard to have a GPS caddie app without turning on location services, right?
You can bet that the vast majority of “free” apps are still making money off of you somehow.
The difference here is that GolfN is actually giving some of that money back to you.
As to how they make money, here are the essentials as I understand it:
- Memberships: While you can play for free, GolfN makes revenue from its paid tiers (Green, White, Silver, Golf, Diamond). These memberships give you bigger point multipliers and more perks.
- Brand Partnerships: GolfN works with golf companies that want to get their products in front of golfers. When you redeem points for, say, Srixon balls, it’s part marketing, part product trial.
- Marketplace Sales: Everything you buy in the marketplace, they’re making a profit on. It might be free (plus shipping) to you, but those points that you used, are still based on a crypto asset. When the GOLF token is minted, those points you spent and gave to the company will be worth money to them (or to you, if you decide not to spend money in the marketplace.)
- NFT/Digital Club Sales: When GolfN mints new Digital Clubs (NFTs), they earn money directly from that.
Membership Tiers: Worth It?
You can use GolfN for free, but if you’re playing a lot, the memberships make a difference. The higher your tier, the more club rentals you get and the bigger your point multiplier.
If you’re only playing a few times a year, stick with the free version. But if you’re playing a couple times a week? The math starts working in your favor pretty quickly.
For instance, if you get their mid-range Silver Tier, it will cost you $450/annually.
If you play 15 rounds in a year, you’ll earn “up to $520 in value.”
Play 40 rounds in a year? Then you get “up to “$1,126 in value.”
I’m still not entirely sure what that means or how this will translate to the real world, but I’m excited to find out.
As they roll out the marketplace further, the token gets minted, and you can trade your points for tokens directly on an open market – then we’ll start to get a better idea of just how valuable points and these memberships are.
Digital Clubs
Above, I mentioned Digital Clubs, which I think is one of the fun ways they’ve gamified the app.
Essentially, golfers who have a membership can “rent” anywhere from 1 to 3 digital clubs per round depending on their membership tier. Green gets 1, White gets 2, and Silver and above get 3 (Driver, Iron, Putter).
These Digital Clubs are actually NFTs owned by people around the world.
At the beginning of the round, if you have a membership, you can spin for clubs.
These clubs have different rarities (Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary).
The higher the club, the bigger the bonus you get for using it.
I won’t go into all the nuances of the crypto side of things here, but for the true nerds, you can go buy these NFTs on the open market and use them for your own rounds to boost your earnings even more.
But the short version is that the experience of “spinning for clubs” is one of the features that made GolfN click for me – it hits all the right dopamine receptors ha.
My Take on GolfN (So Far…)
GolfN isn’t perfect. There are still a few bugs, but it’s the first golf app I’ve used in a while that’s actually made me more excited to get out and play.
The whole “getting paid to golf” thing? It’s not just a gimmick. You really can turn your rounds into golf balls, gear, and maybe even a golf trip. And honestly, if you’re already playing, why wouldn’t you take the free stuff?
So no — based on my experience, this isn’t a “too good to be true” scam.
Yes, there’s some truth to the concept of “if it’s free, then you’re the product”. They’re making money off the data they get from users in the app (again, all anonymized). And this is no different than thousands of other apps out there.
You’re not going to retire early from playing golf with it, but you can trade the time you’re already spending on the course for gear, entries, or eventually, cash.
The only caveat? If you go into it thinking you’ll make a fortune or that every round will shower you in free drivers, you’ll be disappointed. Think of it like credit card points for golf — they add up over time, especially if you play a lot.
Get One Month of Silver Membership for Free
If you want to try it, the GolfN team is giving Breaking Eighty readers a free month of their Silver membership (valued at around $50). Just use the code BREAKINGEIGHTY when you sign up. If you don’t see it, go to your profile and then the obx that says “Your Offers.”
You’ll need to put in a credit card, so set a reminder to cancel if you don’t want to keep it after the trial.
Bottom line: GolfN is fun, it’s rewarding (literally), and it’s given me another excuse to book more tee times. Which, let’s be honest, is the best kind of technology.
This is the first golf app I've seen that actually rewards you for playing golf. I'm excited to see how it evolves. Use code BreakingEighty to get a free month of Silver membership.
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