Vincent Cipriano has been working in finance and data analytics since graduating in 2015, but golf has always been his passion. There’s a municipal course close to Cipriano’s home in Austin, Texas, and he’d often find himself either practicing or playing whenever he had spare time. By Kelsi Trinidad
From Fairway Fanatic to Franchise Owner
Vincent Cipriano has been working in finance and data analytics since graduating in 2015, but golf has always been his passion. There’s a municipal course close to Cipriano’s home in Austin, Texas, and he’d often find himself either practicing or playing whenever he had spare time.
However, he ran into the problem that a lot of golf enthusiasts face: the hours at the course didn’t align with his availability. Because of this, he began looking for other places to practice that would accommodate his schedule. He thought of creating his own golf simulator concept, but he wasn’t quite ready to leave his day job.
The idea of taking on a proven business model was really appealing to him, so he looked into franchise opportunities. Eventually, he found The Back Nine® Golf, which had exactly what Cipriano was looking for: 24/7 access for golfers, a semi-
absentee model and high-quality simulator graphics – all with a tested model that he could adopt.
Through his research, he discovered The Back Nine Golf was opening a location in Tyler, Texas, just a short trip north of where he was in Austin. He traveled to Tyler to get a feel for the franchise model, check out the grand opening and talk to an owner. This served as the final push for Cipriano. He was sold.
“It kind of felt like I was getting in on the ground floor,” said Cipriano. “Even over the last year, just seeing how much they’ve grown and all the different initiatives they’re pushing forward to grow the game has been cool to be a part of.”
One unique part of The Back Nine Golf’s franchise model is that locations can be run semi-absentee, but Cipriano has invested in his franchise success by building an office where he can work his day job out of his location.
This year, Cipriano’s goals are to sell out memberships, give back to his Austin community and help others find golf as an outlet.
“I’ve loved being in the corporate world, but having something to give back to the community is great because Austin is home,” said Cipriano.
Kelsi Trinidad