Kendrick takes aim at the ‘green’

Costa Mesa resident Mark Kendrick is a golfer, but golf isn’t what pays the bills.

At least, not yet.

Kendrick, 35, is co-owner of Newport Beach-based South Coast Golf, which specializes in making instructional golf DVDs.

He and partner John Archer, formerly of Newport Beach but now residing in Rancho Santa Margarita, founded the company in 1999. But in the next couple of weeks, they hope to begin to hit the big time.

That’s because Kendrick and Archer recently reached a deal with America Online to have their golf instructional videos featured on AOL.

Kendrick said the section, which will launch on Tuesday, will charge $1.99 per download for instruction from some of the most recognizable names in golf, including Ben Crenshaw, Tom Kite and Craig Stadler.

South Coast Golf owns the rights to instructional videos for those golfers and about 30 more, Kendrick estimated.

“If this AOL deal does 1% of their users,” Kendrick said. “I’ll be making more than I’ve ever made in my life. That’s our ship. I’m hoping it takes it to a different level … A small company having that opportunity is like breaking through a wall.”

If he can break through that wall, there’s one more to come.

Kendrick, who has been golfing since he was 11, plays on the Golden State mini-tour. He said he eventually wants to make it through Q [PGA Tour qualifying] school and make it on tour.

“I try to stay positive, and this job is a great backup,” he said. “When my grandchildren say, ‘Have you played on the PGA Tour?,’ I can say I gave it my all. All of these things are in place for me to make the tour before I’m 50.”

South Coast Golf started out seven years ago making profiles of professional golfers on computer discs. The players would use the profiles to woo potential sponsors.

Next, Kendrick and Archer engineered a series of golf instructional DVDs, also featuring pro golfers.

“I come from an educational background, and Mark comes more from a visionary background,” Archer said. “I’ve taught myself HTML programming. We wanted to do DVDs, so I was like, ‘Let me learn.’ ”

South Coast Golf still makes these products, but the jump-start the company needed was provided by Ron Stockton. The son of former PGA Tour member Dave Stockton, Ron joined the company in 2002 and helped it venture into a new area — creating highlight computer discs and DVDs for charity golf tournaments.

“He said, ‘I can get you pros, get you all of the names,’” Kendrick said. “That’s really his job for the company.”

South Coast Golf typically charges charity golf tournaments $3,000 to make computer discs and DVDs of the event and mail them out afterward to participating golfers.

The media features advertisements from the tournament’s sponsors, as well as video and still photographs from the tournament — shot by Kendrick — and instruction from many of the top pros in South Coast Golf’s pool of golfers.

The tournaments include the Fiesta Broadway tournament in Newport Coast, the Unforgettables tournament in Redlands and the Los Angeles Commercial Realty Assn. tournament, among others.

Using their products, Kendrick said, the tournaments get more money from the sponsors, which directly benefits the charities.

“Guys get [discs] with lessons from all of these great names, and they won’t throw them away,” Kendrick said. “They really sell themselves. People call us and say they want to do it for their event, and I’m like, ‘OK, cool.’ ”

The company also has two salesmen who are independent contractors, and a film editor brings the total number of workers up to five. South Coast Golf’s third-floor office building provides a view of Newport Harbor.

“We’re not doing any of this out of the house, but it’s real close to the house,” Kendrick said. “One or two bad months, and we could be back at the house [unemployed]. But our goal is to have residual income so we can have employees to take care of the customers.”

Kendrick said none of it would be possible without the support of his wife, Brooke.

“I have a putting green and a chipping green in our yard, so I don’t have to leave home quite as much to practice,” he said.

He is most excited about the AOL deal, but it’s just the latest in ideas for Kendrick, a longtime entrepreneur who had a previous golf business.

“If I can get 10 of these ideas and maybe one of them works, then I can pay for my home and pay for my golf,” Kendrick said. “I believe I can [make the PGA Tour], and I still want to do it. I might play for two or three years solid.

“Or, who knows, I might make it.”