Rumor: Dicks and GG lay off Golf Pro's?

[TxDieselKid]

Just heard a rumor that all Dicks Sporting Goods and Golf Galaxy's laid off all their Golf Pro's today.  Anyone know anyone that can confirm or deny this?  

[hckymeyer]

It is confirmed at least for Dicks, not sure about GG.  There is a thread over on the "other" site where a few different people confirmed it.

[SPY ZINGER]

I think that's a terrible move. Sorry to read.

[Tony Covey MGS]

I've personally confirmed this with 2 sources in a position to know. 2014 is shaping up to be measurably worse than 2013, and '13 was bad. There comes a point where there's not enough profit in equipment to pay a PGA professional to sell it, and with the overabundance of discounting over the last 2 years well...do the math.

[RookieBlue7]

Not a rumor, the PGA of America confirmed it

 

http://m.espn.go.com/golf/story?storyId=11248733&src=desktop&rand=ref~%7B%22ref%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F%22%7D

 

Dick's isn't where I go for golf equipment or advice anyway, but sucks for the few good apples they had. Total dick move of Dick's.

[markb]

I haven't bought anything from a big box store in years and I used to feel a bit guilty for always hawking the super low prices on-line.   Now it seems that I should be congratulated for buying anything at all, at any price, because no one seems to be doing that!

[Jondagcl]

When the news broke today I tried to hunt down as many articles as I could to confirm. In brief the articles I read pointed to a glut of equipment being released on the heels of equipment that was released months before as the culprit. Leading to steep discounting and profits taking a hit.

 

Should the discussion shift towards whether or not a select few companies are slitting their own throats - and taking the industry with it? Or is that too simplistic of a question? Do these 500 individuals who sadly lost their jobs today serve as a canary in the coal mine per se, or does the industry make a collective shrug and release a silver version of last months driver any carry on?

[RookieBlue7]

Dicks orders more than anyone, it's the risk they take. Order more to sell more and when it's the end of a cycle and you're ordering you take the risk.

[apprenti23]

Local Dick's PGA Pro shot me a text today- he told me last week he was updating his resume. The golf business as a whole is a sinking ship. Not necessarily a bad thing though. We need a healthier supply and demand in EVERY aspect of the business that is golf- from professionals to places to play and everything else in between. We need to purge the dogs!

[SPY ZINGER]

Tony, is this going to funnel down to Golf Galaxy as well?

[GolfSpy Dave]

Does Dick's have teaching pros as well? Just wondering if those folks are out too.

No Dick's near by so I am not that familiar with their golf set-up.

[Jondagcl]

The set up, at least out here, is a golf counter with pro. Club fitting tools and equipment situated in front of pretty nice and expensive looking simulator bay. I have never seen lessons given (doesn't mean they don't). It does not appear to be a Golfsmith/GolfTec thing where they do lessons from what I've seen. The pro helps you make selections and make loft lie adjustments, club repair or place an order.

[SPY ZINGER]

Does Dick's have teaching pros as well? Just wondering if those folks are out too.

No Dick's near by so I am not that familiar with their golf set-up.

Yes and they basically act as the department head too.

[mudfish]

This Sucks.  Within a 2 hour drive of me we have Dick's, Sports Authority, and one Golf Galaxy.  No Golfsmith, no PGA Superstore, and maybe 2-3 VERY small mom and pop stores that carry very little product.

 

Here in the northeast where golf is a seasonal business, we miss out on a lot of the big golf stores because the season is so short.

 

2 of the 3 pros in my area have always been extremely helpful and they really know their stuff.  I know one also does lessons at one of the nicer courses in the area as well, so at least he has that going for him.

[fozcycle]

My Dick's is just 2 miles from my house.  Over the past few years, I have developed a nice relationship with the golf Pro, Jim. We discuss many aspects of golf and he has helped me make decisions on golf equipment.  I have purchased my last two drivers and fairway woods from him.  I am very saddened by this "numbers" approach to building their golf business.  As an accountant, I understand financial numbers, but their is indeed value added to a Dick's sporting Goods when a PGA professional is on board to help and advise their customers.

[The Artful Duffer]

Tony, is this going to funnel down to Golf Galaxy as well?

From the article I read, Dicks has a number of golf galaxy leases coming up for renewal and will be reviewing them. The dick up here is currently in the middle of throwing together a massive brand new complex here in columbus. A large store with an equally impressive field and stream and a brand new building for golf galaxy as well. Surprising this is they're abandoning perfectly good spaces less than a half mile away.

[Mr_Theoo]

From the article I read, Dicks has a number of golf galaxy leases coming up for renewal and will be reviewing them. The dick up here is currently in the middle of throwing together a massive brand new complex here in columbus. A large store with an equally impressive field and stream and a brand new building for golf galaxy as well. Surprising this is they're abandoning perfectly good spaces less than a half mile away.

It's actually already opened and it's very impressive, the golf section is very nice and they have a foresight system for fittings and demos

[BIG STU]

Well I hate to hear this for the golf pros and their families. I know the Dicks in MB ticked me off about 5 years or so ago and I have never been back. I hate to say it but the "new" Golfsmith store in MB is heading downhill fast. I went in there today to pick up a simple putter grip and they did not have any period. They had a ton of Superstroke and the new Winn Jumbo grips but no plain jane putter grips of any kind. They did not have many regular club grips either. I don't know what is happening to them I do know they bought a couple of local family owned stores called Golf Deminsions. They closed the one store about a mile from their new store and remodeled the one on the North end of the beach. Funny thing was that at 4:00 this afternoon in a resort area and it thunderstorming I was the only customer in the store and they had 6 or 7 people standing around doing nothing. I guess I will start back going to the PGA Superstore up the street. The PGA store has a better selection of club building supplies including my favorite lead tape. It does not look good for Golfsmith here at all

[apprenti23]

You will start to see more and more closing of the doors for golf jobs, golf equipment and apparel companies, golf forums, etc.

 

Only 14 new golf courses were built last year while 157 were closed.

 

We NEED a healthier supply and demand. It'll be good for everybody. The tiger boom is over.

 

We don't need 27000 PGA Professionals. We don't need 1000 golf forums. It's been happening for the last couple years and will continue for probably the next eight more so sit back, grab some popcorn, and hopefully we can all keep our heads above water.

[Tony Covey MGS]

You will start to see more and more closing of the doors for golf jobs, golf equipment and apparel companies, golf forums, etc.

 

Only 14 new golf courses were built last year while 157 were closed.

 

We NEED a healthier supply and demand. It'll be good for everybody. The tiger boom is over.

 

We don't need 27000 PGA Professionals. We don't need 1000 golf forums. It's been happening for the last couple years and will continue for probably the next eight more so sit back, grab some popcorn, and hopefully we can all keep our heads above water.

 

You forgot 9 holes. It's actually 157.5 courses...and yeah, it's bad, and I think the probability is you're right about everything.

 

2013 was the 8th straight year in which more courses closed than new courses open. Worse still, what is being opened is high-end private and/or resort courses, while the bulk of what's being closed now are lower cost public courses...the kind of places that attract new golfers and recreational golfers. The industry is screwing itself sideways. Guys with lots of money are like low handicappers...there just aren't enough of them to support an entire industry. More than ever the game needs the guys its alienating.

 

Is it any wonder that the game lost (NET loss) 400K golfers last year...and from the more bad news department, 200K of the golfers who walked away were between the ages of 18 and 34. Golf is a game without a next generation right now, and I can't foresee any program that can reinvigorate it. 

 

We can talk about slow play, and cost, and everything else, but I'm coming around to believing that golf's problems are symptomatic of the overall decline of the American middle class. The rich keep getting richer, and everyone else stops playing golf. Not to get into a rant about the state of the economy or anything, but the reality is that in the parts of the world where the middle class is growing, golf is growing. Correlation is not causation, but I think there's something to it.

 

Apart from the financial issues, golf faces far too much competition. I have a small family. There are 3 of us. Figure a round of golf would run us something around a$150. A trip to six flags is roughly the same (all day vs. 5 hours). Conservatively season's passes for six flags would run us about $300. A family membership...again, conservatively $3000 and that's before minimums and what not. 10X...and a whole lot less fun for the kid. Toss in things like video games, traveling sports teams (a relatively new phenomenon that's redonk expensive), and well, golf doesn't make much financial sense for anyone.

 

And here's the rub...as membership and play decline, operating costs don't fluctuate much. The grass still has to watered and mowed. Prices go up to offset the lack of play...fewer play...golfers stop coming altogether...courses close. Like I said, the industry is screwing itself.

 

The game isn't going away, but we haven't come close to reaching bottom yet. You're going to see contraction and consolidation. It's the Catholic church without the kiddie diddlers. 

 

And yes...as Apprenti says, that's going to trickle down throughout the industry. Nobody wants to say it (and I applaud Apprenti for sacking up and doing just that), there absolutely are too many PGA Professionals. The game can't support them. I feel for the guys, and the industry as a whole, but it doesn't make it any less true.

 

I'm not sure what the current crop of apprentices are going to do, because the future isn't bright.

 

It's going to trickle down to what we do as well. Media trips will surely be reduced, and the invited guest lists will shrink. The free equipment party for smaller blogs is going to come to a very sudden end, and only those with a large audience and the proverbial unique value proposition will thrive.

 

So yeah...Dick's fired 550 or so golf pros. They also canned all of Golf Galaxy's district managers. And I'm telling you right now...write this down, so I can say I told you so later, this 'Dick's thing' is Chapter 1 of the biggest equipment story since MyGolfSpy went online. Big...big...big changes are coming, and they'll be felt industry wide.