Striving to bring a game with centuries of history into the digital age, John Mueller and Mark Miller co-founded GolfSolutions, LLC in 1998. The small company was devoted to improving the golf course industry through technological solutions.

GolfInvestors Note: Actually Mueller and Miller co-founded the GolfInvestors concept in 1999. GolfSolutions.com, LLC was founded by Mueller in 1998.

Though this was born the idea of creating a fantasy golf market, where people could meet to trade professional golfers on a reality-based stock market of sorts.

The hardware that came out of this project was GolfInvestors, a collection of fantasy golf stock markets where users can purchase, sell and trade shares of golfers on open markets just as if they were trading on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq.

The detail that goes into the site is incredible. The golfers mimic real stocks in that there are limited numbers of shares, market caps, initial public offerings, follow-up public offerings, and market calendars, all at the user's fingertips. There are messageboards to discuss issues with other investors, and you can interact with Mueller to give he and the site feedback. There are alerts to track your players' performance, quotes for the most recently executed trades, personalized order books to see your last executed trades with complete history, and portfolio snapshots of how you've invested. The site also provides an investor journal, market indexes and even has the ability to go wireless should an investor need to track markets while away from the computer.

The thing you first notice when you visit www.golfinvestors.com is the breadth of statistical information in front of your eyes. There are charts, graphs, analyst reports, percentages and numbers about golfers that mirror websites dedicated to investing knowledge. An avid interest in golf and a solid background in the financial industry are paramount to opening a free account to start trading.

The web site is a bit tricky to navigate at first. The infastructure of the site is there, but help is difficult to find. To paraphrase Mueller, users learn more by "doing" than they can by being "taught."

Once the free account is set up, a user is free to invest as they choose, starting out with a net asset value of $500,000 to trade on the 2004 "Season Market" and $100,000 for the "Masters Market." The 2004 Season runs from November 17, 2003 through January 1, 2005.

The Masters Market is shorter (March 19 through April 12), and much more volatile, especially leading up to the first tournament day. Once the Masters Market is closed for trading and all shares are repurchased from traders, prizes are awarded for the top investors.

The competition is fierce. Shares are bought and dumped at a rapid clip by neurotic day-traders eager to gain a huge return on a short-term investment. Spaniard Sergio Garcia's (SEGAA) stock just went through the roof and suddenly everyone else is in a sell-off. Tiger Woods (TIWOS) stock on the Season Market is down 3.6% today ... I think I'll buy in at $600 a share. The market buys back all traded shares at the end of the year, and Tiger pays some massive earnings per share, so I think I'll hold him for the long term.

The same goes for Vijay Singh and other golfers in the perennial top five on the PGA money list, but what really makes investing here exciting is when you catch the right IPO at the right moment. Maybe you saw young phenom Zach Johnson coming a mile away, and reaped a huge profit this past weekend after he hung on to win the BellSouth Classic by one stroke over Mark Hensby.

Analyst opinions are all written by the users themselves, who have the voice to recommend players for offerings, and at what price, at any time. Golfer stock prices go up and down by the minute ticker software is available to download onto your desktop. And just like any market you may invest in, real or fantasy, your return is often dependent upon your knowledge and time spent educating yourself. This is what makes GolfInvestors different from other fantasy games -- you must remain active. Failing to log in every few days causes your account to be liquidated and shares are floated back into the market. Day trading isn't necessarily a must, but not falling asleep at the wheel is.

GolfInvestors is still evolving. In the future, Mueller sees dividends and mutual funds made up of different golfers as possible enhancements, as well as stock indexes and preferred stock.

But the biggest idea hasn't come to pass yet. Mueller pioneered the idea of GolfInvestors with the vision of it becoming a real exchange market with real money traded on young golfers vying to make it on tour. With real money invested in them, neophyte golfers trying to make it on the pro tour might be more able to squeak by. Once they earn enough money, those players could buy back all of their shares and no longer be publicly traded.

A bit lavish? "Well, that's the ultimate vision," Mueller says. "But that is quite a ways off."