Matt Erley - Managing Partner at Old Tom Capital

Matt Erley is the Managing Partner of Old Tom Capital, a pioneering investment fund specifically focused on early-stage golf and golf-adjacent companies. With a career spanning operational roles and angel investing, Matt co-founded the firm to address a critical gap in the market, providing strategic capital to the innovators shaping the future of the $100 billion golf industry. Named as an homage to the legendary innovator Old Tom Morris, the fund embodies a belief in golf's resilient growth and the transformative power of backing great founders in spaces like agronomy, golf software, emerging media, and the "golf light" experience economy.

His journey into golf investing began not with a single "aha" moment, but through building conviction over time. Alongside his partner, Evan Roosevelt (co-founder of Random Golf Club), Matt started by personally writing checks and leading a strategic syndicate of investors. This hands-on approach allowed them to identify and validate the massive opportunity within the golf ecosystem, ultimately leading to the formal creation of Old Tom Capital. The firm's portfolio is a testament to their thesis, featuring impactful investments in companies like Grass League, Good Good, Blue Jeans Golf, and TGL.

Drawing on his deep operator background, Matt brings a founder-friendly and highly engaged approach to investing. He firmly believes that capital should be an accelerant, not just a transaction, and that their role is to provide portfolio companies with an "unfair competitive advantage" through active support, strategic networking, and leveraging synergies across their holdings. His vision is to build a firm that operates at the intersection of a narrative-driven investor like Blackstone and a synergistic holding company like LVMH, but exclusively within the dynamic and passionate world of golf.