Bottom line
- Total investment $1.7M – $4.3M including a $50K franchise fee, 7.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $2.4M/year (median $1.8M). Estimated payback in 4.6 years.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 62/100.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Yale framework · single-unit ROIC
Returns Analysis
Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.
The model · Yale framework
What would one Five Iron Golf unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
11%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Five Iron Golf units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
31.8%
3.97× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
2.54×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$7.0M
on $17.1M purchase
Total debt
$10.1M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Five Iron Golf franchisees operate indoor golf entertainment venues featuring simulators, food/beverage service, and event hosting. Daily operations include managing simulator bays, supervising staff, handling food service and point-of-sale, hosting league play and private events, and maintaining equipment. Revenue streams typically include bay rentals, food/beverage sales, and event bookings.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 15 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Five Iron Golf presents elevated risk due to lack of financial transparency (no Item 19), unclear unit growth, going concern questions, and high capital requirements relative to stated returns.
Score breakdown · what drove the 62 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNo Item 19 Financial Performance Representation (FPR) disclosed — cannot verify if $665k avg net income is achievable or representative
- 02MINOROnly 22 units with unknown growth trajectory — insufficient scale and unclear unit expansion trend raises viability concerns
- 03HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE — suggests franchisor may have had or currently has financial/operational sustainability questions
- 04MEDHigh initial investment range ($1.7M–$4.3M) relative to disclosed net income ($665k) yields 2.6–6.5 year payback with no growth guarantee
- 05MINOR7% royalty on gross sales (not net) creates cash flow pressure during low-revenue periods and compounds with operating expenses
- 06HIGHNo disclosed litigation but small unit base limits visibility — harder to detect systemic franchisee disputes or issues
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
Item 20
Franchisee Contacts
Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.
Franchisee contacts
25 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Five Iron Golf · FDD (2024) PDF