Teeing up success

Takanobu Enomoto is one of the most powerful figures in the Japanese golfing world. His Step Golf indoor schools boast 87,000 members across 127 locations – comfortably more than any other business – with revenues and customers continuing to rise during a boom time for the sport.

But things could have been very different, had it not been for a throwaway remark from one of his teachers at high school. At the time, the 14-year-old was obsessed with a Japanese version of baseball called nanshiki, played using a rubber ball.

While he loved playing the game, one afternoon, he wandered past the school’s golf team as it was practicing and casually asked about joining them. He was told that would be impossible because every member had received months of elite training and the team had just won a major nationwide tournament.

They didn’t need a young upstart whose only experience of hitting balls was with a baseball bat.

“To be honest, I had no desire to play golf, but I was stung by his comment,” Enomoto tells The CEO Magazine. “My parents had always told me nothing was impossible, so I was suddenly determined to get involved.”

He went to see the Vice Principal to protest but his pleas were dismissed and he was informed all he could do was clean the driving range for the golf team.

“He told me that while I was there, I’d be allowed to practice my swing with a bamboo broom, so that’s what I did, and the coach helped me improve my technique,” he explains.

That may be something of an understatement, as when Enomoto was finally allowed to use proper clubs, he could hit the ball so well that he was immediately invited to join the team. To demonstrate his mantra that nothing was impossible, he entered a competition in Osaka and came second.

Course of action

But even that wasn’t good enough for the determined youngster, whose sights were now firmly set on becoming a professional golfer.

“When I entered university, I lived next to a golf course and spent nearly every day there practicing while working as a caddie to earn enough to enter more tournaments,” Enomoto says. “My entire life revolved around golf.”

Soon he was invited to join the prestigious Japan Golf Tour, and his sporting destiny seemed mapped out.

But Enomoto wasn’t so sure. He knew life on the tour would be tough and, at times, thankless. And some advice his father had given him years earlier began to resonate.

“He had always supported my dream but also said I should make up my mind about my future by the time I was 25. He told me, ‘You only get one life and there’s only one absolute truth – everyone eventually dies.’ It made me realize that I would always be devoted to golf, but not as a player.”

But where exactly might that opportunity lie? What were the pain points for the industry that might be ripe for innovation?

One significant issue was that much of the population was priced out of the sport by exorbitant green fees and club memberships. Enomoto discussed ways he might be able to reduce the barriers to entry with friends, but their response was similar to the school golf coach years earlier. They all said it was impossible.

“As soon as I heard that word, I began to devise ways to prove them wrong,” he recalls. “The size of the golfing community was relatively small, and I knew I could find ways to broaden the appeal and make it more affordable while not making compromises on quality.”

A power for good

Enomoto wanted to mimic his hero, the legendary founder of Mitsubishi, Iwasaki Yatarō, who made his fortune by pioneering new trade routes and diversifying his shipping company into mining, finance, shipbuilding and troop transportation when Japan’s feudal system was collapsing in the mid-19th century.

Yatarō restored honor to his family after a spell in prison and built one of the country’s most successful dynasties.

“I was focused on creating a framework that harnessed the power of golf to innovate and improve wellbeing in local communities while nurturing a sustainable business model,” Enomoto says.

His instincts once again proved spot on. Step Golf was born, offering cheaper merchandise than most of the exclusive country clubs and major courses. Success came so quickly that those close to him warned him that he was rushing his new venture.

Their fears weren’t entirely without merit. His stores needed so much backstock that cash flow became an issue, particularly when a product line failed to meet expectations. Despite healthy sales growth, he was soon struggling to stay afloat.

Stroke of genius

But Enomoto wasn’t about to quit his pursuit of the impossible.

“It was torture, knowing that the business could end in failure,” he says. “The sheer cost of stocking up meant it would be very hard to turn a profit. So the answer was simple – switch to offering a service that doesn’t require any stock at all.”

Like, for example, indoor facilities where customers could practice their swings and take lessons. Just like merchandise, both were unaffordable to the average citizen so there was an obvious gap in the market, one that Enomoto admits he might not have seen had he not chanced his arm at retail.

“That was certainly not a waste of time. Just like those grueling months when I became a golf pro, I had learned valuable lessons that steered me onto the right path,” he says.

“And the indoor golf took time to take off, but I persevered and pushed through the many difficulties until I had the right business model and made it a huge success.”

He christened his company Enomoto Step Golf (ESG) and promised to “spark communication and give back to the local community” by offering lessons to anyone, regardless of ability. He remembered only too well being told he couldn’t play golf because he wasn’t good enough to be on the team, and was determined that fate wouldn’t befall anyone else.

Greens scene rising

Step Golf is a franchise operation with more outlets and participants than any other golfing enterprise in Japan.

The sport soared in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, with an extra 170,000 people taking up the sport across the country, making it the second biggest golf market with a fifth of global spend. Japan’s golf courses had revenues of over US$5.5 billion in 2023, up 11 percent in four years.

To help grow the business, in October 2024 Step Golf signed the American professional golf two-time major champion Xander Schauffele as a brand ambassador.

“Xander Schauffele is one of the world’s top players, and he continues to show us that he is still up for the challenge,” Enomoto says. “His mother grew up in Japan and his grandparents live in Japan, so he has strong ties to Japan. Together, we look forward to spreading the fun and excitement of golf to a wide range of generations.”

But for Enomoto, the positive effects that golf has on wellbeing and making connections are much more important than pursuing a bottom line.

“There’s one experience that has stayed with me for all these years. I was working as a lowly caddie while I was still at school and a well-known company president called out to me, ‘Hey, Enomoto!’ and we had a conversation,” he says.

“He was someone who I’d never normally be able to speak to, but golf had made it possible. That’s why I believe this sport is a force for good in society and brings very different people together. It transcends status, age, gender and nationality.”

And ESG now transcends those indoor golf lessons. Enomoto is busy building a network of enterprises, which will include real estate, event planning, financial services, data utilization and recruitment. He conceptualizes them as a solar system with the parent company, ESG Holdings, as the sun right at the center.

“Each business is akin to a planet revolving around the sun,” he explains. “By working closely with partners and investors who share my vision, we can create frameworks for sustainable businesses and cultivate the next generation of leaders.”

Considering others

Enomoto’s concern for our own planet stems from traits he says he inherited from his mother.

“We both have a deeply caring, affectionate nature that could also be seen as fussing over people but is often called kiitsukai, which means ‘being considerate’ in the Kansai dialect of Japanese,” he explains.

“When I was young, I’d often watch my mother and wonder, ‘Why is she so considerate and thoughtful of other people?’ But then, when I grew up, I caught myself acting in exactly the same way, even though sometimes it’s a personality quirk that has backfired on me.”

Nevertheless, it’s an attribute seared into the fabric of ESG.

“Acting in a considerate way is an essential aspect of the service industry,” he points out. “It has helped me communicate my thoughts to other people much more clearly and I teach all my employees that it’s a very important part of their jobs.”

And despite his father’s comment about the certainty of death, Enomoto’s entrepreneurial endeavors have led him to rethink his mortality.

“In the past, I thought it would be OK to pass away at 50,” he reflects. “But now, I want to extend my healthy life span through golf, maintain my wellbeing and spend as much fun time as I can with my family and friends.

“Golf is a wonderful sport that goes beyond the boundaries of a hobby or pastime. I genuinely believe it can eliminate misunderstandings between generations and help build a better society.”