Ruald, the CEO-golfer
At the end of grade 10 he decided school was a waste of time and opted to complete his matric through home schooling.
BARBERTON – Ruald Strydom, born and bred Barbertonian has his feet firmly rooted on the ground but knows what he wants out of life. At the age of 28 he has established his own company, CEO GOLF and in just three years it has grown beyond expectations.
Ruald started his schooling at Barberton Primary and went from there to Barberton High School. At the end of grade 10 he decided school was a waste of time and opted to complete his matric through home schooling. He was already an established golfer at this time due to his grandfather, Corrie Strydom, who taught him a love for the game from a very young age. Being a dedicated scholar he could now fit in his school work around time spent on the golf course.
He wanted to become a professional golfer and started out by being a caddy for the Sunshine Tour. It was while doing this that he realised all golf competitions and championships have a number of CEO’s usually acting as sponsors but after playing in the tournament, sits on the side line. “I knew no golf tournament could take place without sponsors and wanted to create something for them,” he said. “Most CEO’s don’t know each other and only meet occasionally. I wanted to create a kind of network for them and invite them to play in their own golf tournament.”
He did not wait long to put his plan into action and with the assistance and advice from his father, Kobie, CEO GOLF was established as a private business club for global CEO’s in 2010. He started with a website and registered www.ceogolf.com after buying up the .com domains in more than 15 countries worldwide. He was still busy with this when he received an offer in 2011 of $1.5 million to sell ceogolf.com and all its shares to a casino/hotel group in Monaco. He declined the offer and since then the company has become a huge global interest among executive-level officers.
He pulled his brother Alwyn Strydom, a Tuks Multimedia Hons. graduate, to head up the Chief Technology Officer position in his company and at present the site receives more than a 100 000 hits per month. Business entrepreneurs interact on a private online community with daily articles written by Startup to global listed CEO’s. But it did not stop here.
Earlier this year, Strydom received an email from America in which he was asked to establish the CEO principle in the USA. On 29 June 2013 a franchise agreements was successfully signed with the president of CEO GOLF, United States, Paulson Ambookan. “It is with great excitement that we are engaging in a business which is a great success all across the world,” Ambookan said.
International partners like The Young Entrepreneurs Council, The Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, CEO Clubs New York City, Exklusiv Golfen etc. form part of CEO GOLF.
Its vision is to connect like-minded and equal business-level people around the world in lavish relaxation. They share similar backgrounds, lifestyles and interests. “The most popular hobby for CEO’s and across the board is golf, and with our network by far the most efficient means of reaching high level executives,” Strydom said.
“Our prestigious golf events provide the ideal opportunity to meet with our different event partners and the rare privilege of meeting equal-level CEO’s from around the world. CEO GOLF and its chapters play an important part in the decision making process within the business community. We give them the power to share and make the business world more open.”
Strydom’s next step is to organise a prestigious golf tournament just for CEO’s and the winners will then have the opportunity to sit in an advisory capacity on the board of CEOGOLF for a year. “I want the first leg of this tournament to take place in South Africa,” he said adding that he also plans to organise a tournament in Mpumalanga.
Strydom, now known in the golfing world as the CEOgolfer.com also serves as brand ambassador for the clothing brand, Parallel of United Kingdom.
He certainly has a bright future ahead of him and said he has his hands firmly in the grip of God and trusts Him to show him the way. He’s main aim is to plow money back into the community by giving children from foster homes the opportunity to become something in life.
“Because my grandparents grew up in a foster home I have a special connection with these children and want them to become more successful than me in life,” he concluded.
It just shows you, it works to dream big and with God on your side nothing is impossible.
