The golf bug bit hard for Mason Berk, a sophomore at the University of Miami Patti and Allan Herbert Business School, when he took up the sport a few years ago. A fierce competitor, Berk thrives on the 18-hole challenges scattered across South Florida. But his passion for golf extends far beyond competition.
“I wasn’t really that interested in business until I took up golf in my junior year of high school,” said Berk, an entrepreneurship major from Rockville, Md., a suburb of Washington, D.C. “I really wanted to do something on social media showing how the golf world operates away from the golf course.”
Specifically, Berk wanted to chronicle how the golf industry is quietly eschewing country-club stodginess, in favor of a more youth-oriented vibe that emphasizes golf’s fun quotient. Through trial and error, and a willingness to explore paths less-traveled, Berk morphed into a golf influencer.
At his Maryland high school, “I ended up making the golf team senior year,” said Berk, who’s 19. “I was never the best player, I was always there to kind of provide teamwork and to uplift the team. I ended up running the team’s social media, where we went viral and garnered millions of views for our funny, trick golf shots.”
Berk launched a golf-themed Instagram page titled Golfxcenter while in high school. “It kind of started off with me doing funny videos, because I’ve always been like the class clown, a jokester,” said Berk, who golfs with a 20 handicap, but is a scratch player when it comes to golf’s business side. “Golfxcenter was about having fun, about making people laugh. It began with plenty of memes and a lot of Photoshop.
“That was really the start of being able to go into the actual business world, to really try to make money,” Berk said of Golfxcenter, which has over 16,500 followers. “I was able to go viral a lot and it made a little money, but not enough to sustain me full-time. So, I tried to think of other ways to make money with it, and the thing that really stuck out was consulting.”
After Berk’s admission to Miami Herbert, he began researching some of the biggest brands in golf, an investment that quickly paid dividends.
“I’ve collaborated with Under Armour, which was really fun,” Berk said. “The people at Under Armour have been so incredible to me–they actually invited me to tour their facility, and to really get to know about the brand.
“And they sent me one of their (apparel) collections this summer,” Berk added. “I was able to post about it and got a lot of great reviews from our audience.”
Last October, Saudi-backed LIV Golf, a professional men’s golf league that’s challenging the PGA Tour, hosted Team Championship 2023 Miami, giving Berk a chance to see many of the world’s top golfers.
“That was really fun because, not only was I able to attend the event, but LIV Golf gave tickets to me and my friends. I had over 700,000 views for that tournament!”
These days, Berk seldom touches his golf clubs. That’s due to his Miami Herbert schoolwork, as well as employment made possible by his social media work.
“I leveraged Golfxcenter to get a job with Stadium Custom Kicks, the number one custom shoe company in America,” Berk said. “I work on the special projects side, where I integrate custom-shoe culture into the worlds of professional sports teams, universities, nonprofits, and corporations.”
Berk hints that his inner entrepreneur won’t stay submerged for long.
“I’ve got a lot of projects in the works that will be happening next spring and into the summer,” Berk said. “They’re really exciting, and I’m really looking forward to that.”
