MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — Two Manatee County friends are part of a growing trend: becoming entrepreneurs.

According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, younger generations are leading the way in new business creation.

A 2023 study from Zen Business revealed 75% of Gen Z respondents are aiming for entrepreneurship in their careers, and that data falls in line with the U.S. Department of the Treasury, which shows there are 430,000 new business applications per month so far in 2024. That’s a 50% increase since 2019.

In the game of golf, every shot counts.

But for these two friends, the biggest risk wasn’t on the course — it was starting their own business.

“Golfing has always been part of my life since moving to Florida when I was 3,” said Patrick Warren.

It was also a big part of Blake Brannan’s life when he was a little kid, too. The two have been best friends and first met at Nolan Middle School in Lakewood Ranch.

Warren and Brannan established a company called Honey Golf in August.

Their first product is the "Honey Stick," a gel substance you rub on the face of a golf club. Its goal is to make the ball fly straighter by reducing the spin.

“You just have to squeeze, apply to any clubface, and it’s going to reduce all your hooks and slices. It’s that easy,” said Brannan.

The duo has sold more than 5,000 sticks since the product launched.

“We are closing in on six figures of revenue,” Brannan said.

While sales might have been a success, it wasn’t easy getting to this point. The major hurdle was finding the right manufacturer to build the product.

“It was not an overnight thing. It was a year-long process,” Brannan said. “We had to really do a lot of outreach. And eventually, we found that manufacturer that could properly build a prototype."

The next hurdle is trying to keep up with the demand.

“We both do have 9-to-5 jobs, so fulfilling those orders would be at night. I would have to go travel throughout the day. Blake would have to go into the office. So we really didn’t have much time other than just to lose sleep to make this happen,” Warren said.

And their only form of marketing is using social media.

Creating funny skits is how they promote their product.

“So considering we do $0 in ad spend, being creative like this is all we do for organic growth,” Warren said.

And their socials keep growing.

“5 million views, 27,000 profile views,” Warren said.

These two friends believe they’ve already teed up a winning business. Now, they’re hoping for more hole-in-ones in their futures.

The Honey Stick is not allowed in tournaments, but it’s a product that can improve your game.

The owners are hoping to get their product into brick-and-mortar stores in 2025.