FRISCO, Texas — Sukemasa Kabayama, the CEO and co-founder of the performance improvement app Uplift, started Thursday with a trip to the emergency room after a bout with food poisoning. The former president of Tesla Motors Japan admitted that he had trouble standing and spent most of the morning flat on his back before finally making the medical visit.

The day, however, got progressively better.

After facing a group of other golf technology startups, Kabayama’s group took home the top honors at the first Golfweek Tech Lab, held at the Omni PGA Frisco Resort just north of Dallas.

The event, which was presented by T-Mobile for Business, was a joint venture between Golfweek, part of USA Today Sports Media Group and Gannett Co., Inc, and underdog venture team. The event united stakeholders in both the financial investment industry and golf communities with a curated group of 18 technology startups, all with the aim of impacting the business of golf.