HIGHLAND PACIFIC GOLF COURSE
Victoria, B.C.
It’s a balance for the Highland Pacific pro shop.
Head pro Warren Reeves said the shop is cutting back on its stock of hard goods.
“We are, I don’t want to say phasing out, but our soft goods and accessories seem to do well and we’re bringing more of that in. We’re easing out of in-stock hard goods,” said Reeves. “We’re trying to work with the reps and companies to have some demos on hand. We can order what we need. We’re getting away from stocking the standard stuff in the shop.
“The popular drivers, we’ll carry a few, but we’re trying to get creative on how we can carry some demo stuff or a fitting cart to have the stuff on hand for people to look at and try.
“When I first got here, we would carry three or four sets of irons from each company and have them in the shop stock. With fitting getting more popular, no one’s just grabbing a set off the shelf anymore. Everyone wants to be fit.”
It’s not even about the amount of space hard goods can occupy in the shop.
“Our shop is probably on the bigger scale so we have the space for sets, but there’s no point,” said Reeves. “I’ll send my students down to Golf Town so they can look at and feel the clubs on the shelf and we try to beat their price.”
Asked about what products the shop stocks, Reeves said: “We carry three brands – Callaway; we just this year brought on Titleist and PING and all three have been doing well.”
As for wedges, Reeves said: “We carry the Mack Daddy 4; we have a lot of those. We also have a lot of Vokey, some left over TaylorMade from a couple of years ago, and a few PINGs. It seems like everyone goes to Callaway or Vokey.”
Asked about putters, he said: “We’re pretty lean in putters; we have six to
eight of the new Stroke Lab Callaways. We’ve got about the same in TaylorMade.
We’ll have Scotty Cameron. We also have probably half a dozen to a dozen
knock-off style putters.”
In men’s clothing, the shop carries TravisMathew, PUMA, Greg Norman (added this year), Callaway and Sunice.
In women’s clothing, it’s Sunice, adidas, CrackedWheat, Nivo and lululemon.
Said Reeves: “For men and women, we have lululemon; we got it last year. I’m an ambassador, that’s how it started. There are specific styles through them that do well. Men’s pants and shorts seem to do well; for the ladies, some pants and tops do well.”
Asked about golf balls the shop carries, Reeves said: “We have a lot of skews of golf balls: TaylorMade, Callaway, Titleist, Bridgestone. We do really well with Noodle. The Truvis ball through Callaway is popular. They did a Truvis with our logo.”
In golf shoes: “We have FootJoy, Skechers and New Balance. This is our first year with New Balance. We’ve learned with our clientele Skechers does well. We have probably six or seven different styles. FootJoy is always a pretty recognizable name.”
As for hats, Reeves said: “We’ve got every company’s hat. We do really well with our logoed hats through G&G Golf.”
In golf bags, the shop has OGIO, Callaway, Titleist and some left over TaylorMade.
In sunglasses, it’s Sundog and Paula Creamer.
The shop stocks SAXX underwear and does really well with switchblade divot tools.
The shop also has about four Bushnell rangefinders in stock at any given time.
Asked about logos, Reeves said: “We logo 80 per cent of our stuff. If a shirt has a ton of stripes or the fabric doesn’t allow it, we leave the logo off.”
Asked about trying to find unique things to put in the shop, Reeves said: “We tried a couple of different things. We got our logo on a chef knife that we’ll do for tournament gifts, men’s nights and ladies nights and things like that. We include a leather scorecard holder with our membership package so we give away about 800 of those.”
The golf course is fully public, with a big driving range that caters to golfers who want to just go and hit some balls.
CEDAR BRAE GOLF CLUB
Toronto, ON
Asked about driver sales, head pro Justin O’Leary said: “The M5, M6, then the EPIC – those two probably make up 80 per cent of our driver sales. They’ve always been strong, but their marketing is strong. We have TrackMan and when we do our fittings with our members or guests, those results-wise come out on top fairly consistently.”
As for hybrids, he said: “The M6 Rescue is probably our No. 1-selling hybrid.”
Also: “Iron sales are up this year. I would say TaylorMade is probably No. 1, Callaway is a close second, and a distant third would be Titleist.”
In wedges: “Vokey would be a clear-cut No. 1, definitely more than half, maybe 60 per cent of our wedge sales.”
Asked about putters, he said: “Putters are a tighter market. The Spider X has
done very well for us. Scotty Cameron always has its following – they’re
probably tied for first (in the shop).”
Asked about golf balls, he said TaylorMade and Callaway were making headway. “It’s interesting; Titleist is definitely still No. 1, but the market space is closing quickly. In terms of a price-sensitive ball, we sell a boatload of Srixon Soft Feels. There’s still a pretty good gap there. Titleist does their locker-load promotion in spring – buy three dozen and get a fourth dozen free – and our members jump all over that.”
As for men’s clothing, O’Leary said: “This is my sixth year; when I first got here, everything was golf related. We’ve branched out a bit. In terms of golf clothing, our adidas sport line would be our No. 1 shirt. Adidas and FootJoy bottoms would probably be our tops. If you go into casual, we do a lot with adicross and 34 Heritage pants – we sell a ton of those.”
Underwear has also become a bestseller in the shop.
Said O’Leary: “We do 2UNDR; we usually have to do a couple of re-orders throughout the season. We went from selling 100 pairs of 2UNDRs a couple of years ago, as part of our member-guest gift, I added in a pair of 2UNDRs. It got a bunch of our male members hooked on them, now they buy all their underwear here. We had a target audience that day of 120 people; about 90 per cent of them fell in love with the 2UNDR underwear.”
In women’s clothing, O’Leary said: “Our ladies like funky, loud, bright colours. So Jamie Sadock is always a big hit. We tried a new line this year – IBKUL. I’m kind of kicking myself. I wish I’d ordered more pieces. We had 36 pieces and sold them out. I have zero left. I’m licking my chops; I’ll probably double my order for next year.
“Also, adidas, Polo and PUMA appeal more to the younger, athletic players.”
As for shoes, he said: “It used to be a battle for No. 1 between FootJoy and adidas. This year adidas came out with their Xt spikeless – that one line has to be 50 per cent of our shoe sales. I’m a pro adidas guy, but with that product, I don’t even have to promote it. It’s the comfort, but you still get that athletic feel.”
As for hats, he said: “My original plan was to stick to the Cedar Brae hat, but we deviated from that because there was demand. TravisMathew hats are huge. If I bring in 24 TravisMathew hats, I might have three or four left.”
In sunglasses, the shop stocks Maui Jim and Sundog. Said O’Leary: “It’s two completely different price points; both companies are great to deal with. Maui Jim, I carry them specifically because the customer service is so awesome. It’s the only sunglass I wear. Our members have definitely jumped on board.”
In golf bags, the shop has PING carry bags with a logo on the side. In cart bags, the shop sold out a dozen Callaways.
Asked about unique items, the shop has tried, O’Leary said: “There’s a company called Yo Sox; it’s a very funky sock line. I’m a big sock guy so a couple of years ago I tried them. I brought in 36 pairs. Then come last year, I think we sold about 150 pairs of them. Especially Christmas time. They’re a perfect stocking stuffer – they’re like 10 bucks. It’s crazy how many we sell.”
Another item the shop has tried is Sun Bum. It started with sunscreen, now they’ve moved on to cooling gel and lip balm in a lot of different flavours. Logoed re-usable water bottles are also a hit.
As for rangefinders, the shop does Nikon and Bushnell. Said O’Leary: “I typically do a small order in the spring. It’s one of those things where if somebody has one, they won’t need another one for a couple of years. I may end up selling 10 or 12 of them.”
Projekt luggage has been a hit. Slidebelts have also done well. The shop did a belt day last year and sold 50 in one day.
O’Leary said running the pro shop is something he enjoys.
“I try to pass along to our shop staff that merchandising is actually fun,” he said. “We enjoy going to the shows and buying. I know there are pros who find the shop more of a hassle more than anything. But for me, I like the challenge of filling it up in the spring and emptying it out in the fall.”
EDMONTON PETROLEUM GOLF AND CC
Edmonton, AB
The biggest-selling drivers in the shop are the Epic Flash and PING G410.
Most popular wedges are Titleist and Vokey.
Most popular putters are Scotty Cameron.
Most popular men’s clothing is TravisMathew.
Asked if technology was a factor, head pro Kyle Boyd said: “Technology plays a factor in getting a specific club into people’s hands to demo or be fit; however, the results need to be there as well.”
Nike Roshe G shoes are selling well.
Most popular golf balls are Pro V1 (high end) and Callaway Supersoft (value).
In sunglasses, the shop sells Sundog.
In golf gloves, it’s the Titleist Perma-Soft.
Asked if the shop has any outside-the-box items it’s brought in, Boyd said: “The 34 Heritage line of men’s pants. They do sell denim, however, their soft-twill chino category has proven to be a great line for us that is permitted on the golf course. It is a versatile pant that one can wear to the office, then straight on to the course.”
Asked about the challenge of running a golf shop in the current environment and keeping the clientele, Boyd said: “Service, service service. It’s what helps differentiate one from competitors. Be different and go the extra mile. All facilities have access to most lines and brands, so for us, we are constantly looking to bring in something unique that maybe all are unable to get.”
ROYAL QUEBEC GOLF CLUB
Boischatel, QC
Head Pro/Director of the Academy, Nicolas Huot said the Epic Flash is the most popular driver sold in the shop.
The Cleveland XXIO irons have been very popular.
Vokey wedges and the Mack Daddy wedges have sold well.
Callaway’s Heavenwood hybrids have attracted attention.
Odyssey putters have sold well.
Asked about technology, Huot said the decisive factor for players is the result.
In men’s clothing, there is not really one brand that sells more than another.
In women’s clothing, GOLFINO and Daily sell well.
ECCO and Skechers are the top-selling shoes.
Pro VI dominates ball sales, with Callaway gaining ground.
The shop stocks Maui Jim sunglasses.
FootJoy glove sales are strong.
SuperStroke putter grips are popular.
Asked about what the shop does to keep its clientele engaged, Huot said: “We strongly focus our sales concept on customer service. We do not just sell a golf club like we would sell a bottle of beer in a convenience store. We take care of our clients. We accompany them to the range to test the club. We lend the clubs to try on the course; we offer a fitting. We do our jobs as golf professionals.”
