News
What’s working so well for PGA Tour Superstore? CEO Dick Sullivan explains
Popular perception suggests golf retail, particularly the large scale, brick-and-mortar variety, is under siege. So, I was intrigued by PGA Tour Superstore’s recent announcement of 15 percent same-store sales growth year-over-year and even more intrigued by the company’s plans for expansion (adding 19 stores over the next three years).
The company also saw a 42 percent growth in e-commerce sales and performed over 100,000 custom club fittings last year across its 31 retail stores. PGA Tour Superstore opened four stores in 2017 (Glendale, AZ, Hilton Head, SC, Jacksonville, FL and Las Vegas), with plans to open at least five in 2018.
I spoke with PGA Tour Superstore President and CEO, Dick Sullivan, about the company’s unique approach to retail and the state of the golf retail marketplace in general. Sullivan was an executive at Home Depot and the Atlanta Falcons prior to his appointment as head of PGA Tour Superstore in 2009.
Ben Alberstadt: Tell me a little bit about the PGA Tour Superstore model and what’s working for you.
Dick Sullivan: We take a lot of our same values that we had at Home Depot in terms of how we take care of our customer. In our case, we’re much more than…buying products off the rack. Anybody can do that. In our case, it’s so much more important that we bring the level of assortments, the level of service, and a level of experience that consumers really want. A lot of other retailers have tried to bring, say, a high level of service, but they just can bring the…assortments we bring because of the size of our stores…They’re 40-50,000 square feet.
We make multi-million dollar investments in technology every year to make sure that what our customers see inside of stores is really what the pros will see and what all the OEMs are using in terms of fitting.
In addition to the technology that we have, we hire PGA Pros in our stores. Just like Home Depot, where if you don’t have the right people on the floor…that’s a problem. We go out and we seek the best in class in golf, whether it’s students coming out of academies, whether it’s coming out of green grass shops…it’s really important to our customers that we have that level of expertise.
The broad assortment that we carry, not only the hard goods side but on the apparel side, are also important to our customers as well. And we don’t just sell products. We gave over 50,000 lessons last year. We fit over 100,000 customers. We put on over one million grips….We have large-scale putting greens. We have hole-in-one contests. We do closest to the pin. We do other contests.
BA: I don’t want to ask you for the recipe for the secret sauce, but can you talk a little bit more about applying the Home Depot model.
DS: Well, there’s no commission at all. If a customer comes in and doesn’t want to buy anything that day, that’s fine. We’ll have people come in…and say, “Well, I wanted to buy a new set of clubs, but an associate told me I should take a lesson first.”
Another thing is, our company has an inverted organization chart. Those who are closest to the customer are the ones who are in power to make decisions. Those at the bottom–the chairman, the CEO–we help facilitate and deal with challenges and obstacles…Every single day [information is coming back from the store]…and the customer is at the top. The customer is king…the associate is right below them in terms of the org chart.
Our associates solve problems on the floor of the store. They don’t have to go through some bureaucratic system or political power to make decisions. So, it’s a great experience for our customers.
BA: That sounds like it would yield both fluidity and continual optimization of the in-store experience for the customer…
DS: Just like in the pro shop. You want that golfer to feel like they are king. Our associates get to do the things with our customers that competitors can’t…You think about the simulators inside our stores. That experience alone…the hole-in-one contests…things like that, those are the fun things our associates get to do. Lessons with kids on Saturday morning. All that stuff is really fun.
BA: It seems like you’re putting a premium on relationships and the service element, where others might sometimes feel that it’s not worth an investment, so it’s interesting to see you defying that line of thinking.
DS: Well at Home Depot, and Arthur [Blank] taught me this about 26 years ago: Our associates are not an expense, our associates are an investment. And another thing I’ll never forget him saying: “We’re not in the transaction business, we’re in the relationship business.”
We have nine-hole leagues. We tested them in Minnesota, and our customers really gravitated to it..It’s really fun for families to come in and play…There’s some wonderful new technology that’s out there that’s allowing us to do some unique things.
In the cold-weather months…we have not only one dozen-plus simulators in every one of our stores, but we have these practice bays–almost like an indoor driving range…that’s different. That’s an experience. Someone used the term “retailtainment.” I’d never heard that term, but I thought it was a good term.
BA: Another interesting element here is you’re doing very well online. Can you speak to that?
DS: Well, we have a 50-year license with the PGA Tour. When we did the deal with Tim Finchem…there was no license of that length. We believe strongly in the brand of the PGA Tour. They’re at the top of the pyramid. When you think of golfers, you think of the PGA Tour. The PGA Tour brand reeks of quality. If I said, “Volvo,” and I said, “give me the attributes of Volvo,” by the second, third, or fourth, you’d say “safety.” So when I say “PGA Tour,” it’s usually “high performance,” “quality.” All those things help us in the virtual space…versus “Bob’s Discount Golf” or something like that.
Second, the assortments that we have are just phenomenal.
Black Friday. I remember an article that said, “this is the death of Black Friday.” This was supposed to be the first time that consumers shopped online…at the level of 59 percent. It made me a little nervous. Across the company we had a 28 percent increase that Black Friday, and we had a 98 percent increase online. Then we were up 62 percent on Cyber Monday.
A few years ago, we didn’t have quite the national footprint and the name recognition…I think that footprint has helped us grow our e-commerce business, along with the reputation the PGA Tour brings.
BA: Given the success that you’re seeing, do you think there’d been some fundamental misunderstanding of the golf consumer, or was it just an element of common sense that was lacking?
DS: At the end of the day, the customer votes. We all know that. And I think some organizations maybe have an arrogance in thinking they have all the answers, and they push those decisions down. As I said, we have the reverse: Our associates listen to our customers. Our customers tell our associates what we can do better, and we make those changes.
One of core values is listening and responding. Putting our people first. Innovating. There’s a number of values that we’ve taken from that model of Home Depot and brought it over. The assortments that you see, the size of our stores, that didn’t exist 15 years ago…and I think the level of service, the investment in people, was never happening. And then the investment we make in technology…it’s not just magical marketing that convinces people they need to buy. They can actually see it [by hitting the club on an in-store simulator].”
BA: I think there’s such a level of skepticism at this point that marketing claims are so in-one-ear-and-out-the-other that the best thing OEMs can do, if they really believe in their technology, is to say “go try it out on a launch monitor.” We’ve reached critical mass in terms of marketing speak.
DS: Yeah. Getting fit is not just the little box on the floor and if you swing 88 mph you’re a regular flex…it’s come a long way over the years, and I think we recognize that. That makes it fun. And it makes it more challenging, because the product actually has to perform. It’s not marketing claims; people can actually see the results. Spin rate. Launch angle. All that. And if you’ve got the right fitters, they can quickly dial you in. And we fit for golf balls. It’s amazing to see people come in and get fit for golf balls
BA: That should be the direction of retail. That’s the stuff that really makes the difference, along with lessons. That’s what’s going to enhance how well a player plays and how much s/he enjoys the game.
DS: And if it doesn’t work on the course, they can bring it back. We want people to be happy. It’s fun to hear these stories on course about how a player changed his ball or changed equipment. And they’re all out there fighting for market share. There’s some unbelievable manufacturers. We just came off of a weeklong training session with hundreds of our associates at Streamsong…all the major manufacturers are represented. Every one of our associates goes through extensive training on products…our associates know as much as the reps know.
BA: To circle back, initially, I’m impressed by the scale of the operation, the growth year-over-year, but so much of what you’re doing seems almost like a small business in terms of attention, in terms of investment in employees, it terms of relationships with customers and not being as transactional in orientation. I think that’s a really interesting element of the story.
DS: Hopefully we’re never so big that we change the culture of our company. The investment we making in training…we believe in training probably more than any other retailer out there. It’s so important our associates come well trained and are able to work with customers, because this is not easy stuff. It can be overwhelming.
BA: That’s the point the consumer is at, I think. Technology has become so sophisticated that you either need to do a ton of research or you need help. You need background knowledge in addition to knowing about specific offerings, or, again, you need help.
DS: Right. And we try to make it all simple. We don’t just focus on the avid golfer, we cater to juniors, women, seniors, everyone. That’s part of our whole model.
But we’re growing. We’re going to double the size of our company over the next four years…basically open a store every other month. We see a lot of opportunity. There’s a lot of real estate out there. There’s plenty of real estate in some markets we haven’t been in, and customers are calling and writing asking when we’ll make it to those markets, so you’ll see us growing in some new places over the next three or four years.
BA: Great. Any final remarks on the state of the industry?
DS: Most people call me up and say, “What’s wrong with golf?” I say, “What’s wrong with golf? I don’t think there’s anything wrong with golf.” Golf Channel just announced there were more viewers than January than ever before. Golf rounds have stabilized. We’re bringing more kids into the game than ever.
I don’t want to be falsely optimistic, and certainly there are some things that still need to be fixed, but there’s certainly more positives in golf now than not and the buzz at the PGA Show was great. You know, there were lots of clouds the last few years…but I felt a real positive buzz at the show, more so than I have in many years. I think that bodes well for the game, whether it’s outdoors, or whether they’re coming inside and hitting on simulators, just as long as they’re having fun with a golf club in their hand.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 PGA Championship
GolfWRX is on site this week at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, for the PGA Championship.
While we see fewer equipment changes and new gear seeding at major championships, we get a look at custom gear and looks into the bags of players we rarely see, which is just as exciting. In the case of the PGA Championship, this means a look at the gear some of the PGA Professionals who qualified for the tournament will be gaming, and LIV players, such as Jon Rahm and Patrick Reed.
Check out links to all our albums from Valhalla below and check back throughout the week as we continue to update.
General Albums
WITB Albums
- Michael Block – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Patrick Reed – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Cam Smith – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brooks Koepka – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Josh Speight – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Takumi Kanaya – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Kyle Mendoza – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Adrian Meronk – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jordan Smith – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jeremy Wells – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jared Jones – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- John Somers – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Larkin Gross – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Tracy Phillips – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jon Rahm – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Keita Nakajima – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Kazuma Kobori – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- David Puig – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Ryan Van Velzen – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brad Marek – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Chris Gotterup – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Rich Beem WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Phil Mickelson – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Matt Dobyns – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Lucas Herbert – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jason Dufner – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- John Daly – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Taylor Gooch – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Dean Burmester – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Joaquin Niemann – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Dustin Johnson – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
Pullout Albums
- Ping putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Bettinardi covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Cameron putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Max Homa – Titleist 2 wood – 2024 PGA Championship
- Scotty Cameron experimental putter shaft by UST – 2024 PGA Championship
- Joaquin Niemann – new Ping putter – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brooks Koepka’s new Cameron putter – 2024 PGA Championship
- Rickie Fowler’s Cobra bag and Aerojet driver – 2024 PGA Championship
- Super Stroke grip – 2024 PGA Championship
- Tiger Woods – 2024 PGA Championship
- Michael Block’s new TaylorMade “Proto” 7-iron, from address – 2024 PGA Championship
- Odyssey putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
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News
Morning 9: Is it Rory’s time? | Stricker WDs | Why Valhalla is a great major venue
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News
Tour Rundown: Rose blooms, Rory rolls
This week last year, I found myself praying to the weather goddesses and gods that Rochester would be spared their wrath over the next seven days. The 2023 Oak Hill PGA Championship (that was slated for August when the contract was signed) was on the horizon, and I wanted my region to show well. Things turned out fine, with all four seasons making an appearance, a PGA Professional (Blockie!) stealing hearts, and a proven champion in Koepka (although I was pulling for Viktor.)
This year, no concerns. Louisville will shine this week at Valhalla, but we’ve matters to consider before we look to four days of coverage this week. Nelly did not win on the LPGA this week, so who did? The PGA Tour held two events in the Carolinas, and Tour Champions celebrated a major event in Alabama. Four noteworthy events to run down, so let’s head to RunDownTown and take care of business.
LPGA @ Founders Cup: Rose blooms
There was a sense that Rose Zhang might have a role in the 2020s version of the LPGA. After winning everything there was in amateur golf, she came out and won her first tournament as a professional. That was last May and, let’s be honest, who among us thought it would take 12 months for Zhang to win again? Rhymes with hero, I know.
This week in New Jersey, eyes were on Nelly Korda, as she made a run at a sixth consecutive win on the LPGA circuit. Korda ran out of gas on Saturday, and that was just fine. Madelene Sagstrom and Zhang had turned the soiree at Upper Montclair into a battle of birdies. Gabriela Ruffels came third at nine-under par. No one else reached double digits under par but Sagstrom and Zhang. They didn’t just reach -10…they more than doubled it.
Sagstrom had the look of a winner with five holes left to play. She was three shots clear of Zhang, at 23-under par. The Swede played her closing quintet in plus-one, finishing at 22-deep, 13 shots ahead of Ruffels. That performance we’d anticipated from Zhang? It happened on Sunday. She closed with four birdies in five holes to snatch victory number two, by two shots. Spring is a lovely time for a Rose in bloom.
Take a look back at hole No. 1… @rosezhang is living life on the edge ? pic.twitter.com/o6z6SK7TRA
— LPGA (@LPGA) May 12, 2024
PGA Tour @ Wells Fargo: Rory the Fourth is crowned in Charlotte
Xander Schauffele is a likable lad. He has an Olympic gold medal on his shelf, and a few PGA Tour titles to his credit. Even X knows that even par won’t get much done in a final round unless conditions are brutal. They weren’t brutal at Quail Hollow on Sunday. X posted even par on day four. It kept him ahead of third-place finisher Byeong Hun An but gave him zero chance of challenging for the title.
Paired with Xander in round four was the King of Quail, Rory McIlroy. The Northern Irishman had previously won thrice at the North Carolina track, and he was champing at the bit to gain some momentum on the road to Louisville. While Xander scored increasingly worse along the week (64-67-70-71) McIlroy saved his best round for the final round. Thanks to five birdies and two eagles, McIlroy ran away with the event, winning his fourth Wells Fargo by five over Schauffele.
HOLE-OUT EAGLE FOR RORY!!!
He now leads by SIX! pic.twitter.com/UE49lwfwNC
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 12, 2024
PGA Tour @ Myrtle Beach Classic: a little CG won the inaugural week
It always seemed odd that the PGA Tour had zero stops along the Grand Strand each season. This week’s event seemed odd in that the golfers played the same course each day, and there were zero handicaps involved. Most events at Myrtle Beach involve hundreds of amateurs at dozens of courses, with all sorts of handicaps.
The Dunes Club is a Robert Trent Jones Sr. course, down toward Pawley’s Island. It claims what used to be considered an unreachable, par-five hole, the watery 13th. Nothing is unreachable any longer, including a 22-under par total for a six-shot win. Chris Gotterup, a former Rutgers and Oklahoma golfer, played sizzling golf all week and won by a sextet of shots. Gotterup opened with 66, then improved to 64 on Friday. His Saturday 65 sounded a beacon of “come get me,” and his closing 67 ensured that second place was the only thing up for grabs.
Chasing the podium’s second level were a bunch of young Americans. In the end, Alastair Docherty and Davis Thompson reached 16-deep, thanks to rounds of 64 and 68 on Sunday. They held off six golfers at 15-under par. The victory was Gotterup’s first on tour and should be enough to get him a Wikipedia page, among other plaudits.
Leader by SIX!
@ChrisGotterup | @MyrtleBeachC pic.twitter.com/TVdA6ZPYc4— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 12, 2024
PGA Tour Champions @ Regions Traditions: Vindication for Dougie
Doug Barron, if I recall correctly, was suspended by the Powers That Be, way back in 2009, for testosterone. He was naturally low in the hormone, so he took supplements. This did not sit well with certain admins, so he was put on the shelf for 18 months. Not cool.
In 2019, Barron came out on the Tour Champions. He won in August. The next year, despite the craziness of Covid, he won again. Barron hit a dry spell for a few years. He kept his card, but accrued no additional victories. In late April, Barron showed serious signs of life, with a t2 at Mitsubishi. This week in Birmingham, he jumped out to a lead, lost it, then gained it back on Saturday. With major championship glory on the line, Barron brought the train into the station with 68 on Sunday.
Stephen Alker, the man who could not lose just two years ago, gave serious chase with a closing 63. He moved up 11 slots, into solo 2nd on Sunday. He finished two shots back of the champion. Two shots ain’t much. Cough once and you drop a pair. Third place saw a three-way tie, including last year’s winner (Steve Stricker) and runner-up (Ernie Els.) Despite the intimidating presence of the game’s greats, however, Doug Barron had more than enough of everything this week, and he has a third Tour Champions title to show off.
At the @RegionsTrad, all champions receive a green bike.
Doug Barron decided to take a victory lap ? pic.twitter.com/bEzENMjZwv
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) May 13, 2024
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Levi Randall
Jul 3, 2019 at 12:30 am
Hey Dick,
Figure out how to fix shit like this. I ordered custom clubs on 4/27/2019 through the Denver, CO store. I have yet to receive these clubs. I have been more than patient and professional through this whole process. Paid in full at time of order (almost $1,300). Since then I have been given the run around by the store manager and assistant manager (Vince/Jesse) No help from them or TaylorMade. They have given me ship dates that have since passed, and then offered “a free box of balls” to compensate. Multiple calls, a ton of my time wasted… not to mention $1,300 and we are now sitting 2 months after I ordered. If I could give a negative star review I would. Still… waiting. Another email to the store manager today with absolutely no response.
Oh in case you think this is fake (Dick) my PGA order # is 155773
Bill
Feb 12, 2018 at 12:32 pm
This dude should do undercover boss or something. He’s delusional if he thinks half of his stores operate this way. Also the WORST repair service I’ve ever seen…or at least close to it.
Jon K
Feb 12, 2018 at 11:11 am
First of all, sales were up for one simple reason–no more Golfsmith. And for all the smart sounding talk about “great customer service” and “our employees are an investment”, PGA Superstore is just another big box retailer that likes to hire a lot of part-timers, pay them very little with no benefits, and provide no incentive for sales people, nor provide any of them a means to actually make a living in golf retail. Just look at the turnover. Also, golf and golf retail is a very specific world with its own culture and values. Big box retailers lack the authenticity and the integrity of a real golf shop, or of a great independently owned store like Carl’s Golfland.
alexdub
Feb 12, 2018 at 10:29 am
I go to PGATSS for one reason — the fitting bays. I may just be stopping in to buy a grip or something small, but I’ll stay for 45 mins and try the new drivers in the simulation bay and roll some putts. I think PGATSS does a great job with the model they are implementing.
Reeves
Feb 11, 2018 at 12:11 am
The day you walk in and the price of a Callaway, Taylormade, Ping etc. product is at a discount over the OEM controlled price is the day I will know they have something special to offer…to many years the OEM’s have been able to control prices on new stock and even one and two year old models. Time this price fixing comes to an end…if a retailer wants to sell the $499 Callaway driver for $429 then he should still be able to carry and sell that item..OEM’s should not be allowed to price fix period.
peter collins
Feb 13, 2018 at 6:34 am
I can’t abide any form of price fixing
allan duncan
Feb 10, 2018 at 6:48 pm
If you want to see how not to operate a golf store, please come to Myrtle Beach and sit back a laugh.
Steve P
Feb 10, 2018 at 8:09 pm
Totally correct! i was there last summer over the 4th of July for the Ripken baseball tournament for my son. As someone in golf retail for 25+ years I wanted to check out their store as we don’t have one in our market. It was the dumpiest large golf store I had ever set foot in! This, in one of the largest golf destinations in the world!
I couldn’t believe how sad it was. I bet I could increase their sales 50% at that location within 6 months.
Matt B
Feb 11, 2018 at 8:15 am
I too agree. I have been going in these MB stores for years. Love the merchandise options but the staff is rude and overbearing.
Joe D
Feb 10, 2018 at 2:36 pm
There is one in Irvine, about an hour away. If only it was closer. I’d pay the $99 and you get 30 minute launch monitor sessions for a year.
Bruno
Feb 10, 2018 at 12:49 pm
Visited the Las Vegas store and it was like a boy in a candy store. I bought some overpriced tees and fled before I made a big mistake. 😎