Woe Is Golf - A Continuing Series

Teeth will be gnashed and Garments will be rend....  Prepare the fainting couches....

Before We Get to Nike.... - Have you been in a Golfsmith lately?  If you answered in the affirmative, then this won't surprise you at all:

Golfsmith International, the retailer of golf clothing and equipment, is considering filing

for bankruptcy as it looks for a new owner, according to people with knowledge of the situation. 

Golfsmith hired the investment bank Jefferies LLC to solicit buyers for the roughly 150-store chain, without success so far, said the people, who didn’t want to be identified because the process isn’t public. The company also hired Alvarez & Marsal to help it restructure, according to the people, who said that a sale could come as part of a Chapter 11 filing.

Their stores have an increasingly run-down feel to them, and it's hard to sell that which you don't have in stock....  But big box retailers across the spectrum are struggling, as it's hard to get folks to pay full retail with that Internet out there...

Shack added this:

After a few calls today, I learned Golfsmith's primary issue is with terrible leases and real estate issues involving many of its locations. Bankruptcy would make it easier to get out of such deals or to restructure them.

Again, not a great statement about golf as a business because more robust sales would mask those contracts. But as seen through the constant-growth-or-else lens, it's just one more thing suggesting this is also very much a business issue more than a golf issue.

Geoff's not a business guy, but he gets that right....  Older chains end up with a series of bad leases, usually as much due to the location as the price, but it's hard to absorb those in a no- or low-growth environment.  It's also hard when the largest manufacturer floods the market with three product releases in a given year....

Things That Go Swoosh In the Night - So Alfie, what does it all mean?  Not much, at least to this guy, as at most it confirms that which he already knew:

“I’ve been talking about it all year,” said Casey Alexander, an analyst with Gilford Securities in New York who tracks the golf industry. “Not one time did you see an ad for Nike clubs or Nike golf balls. Not one time… 

“Ten years ago I said this business was going to collapse down to a core four at best – Callaway, Titleist, TaylorMade and Nike. I just got one of the names wrong. It turns out Nike is out and Ping is in. … The effects of this have been happening already in the marketplace. If you’ve been to an Edwin Watts or Golf Galaxy and you look for Nike Golf, you will find the most miserly display of mish-mash equipment imaginable. There’s just nothing there.”

Perhaps... but they were very aggressive in signing additional Tour staff over the winter (Koepka, Finau), and I didn't see any noticeable lag in product releases.   They completely revamped their ball line and actually introduced some interesting putters, so to me it seems this was a recent realization.

Mr. Alexander gets around, this time with Rob Sauerhaft at Golf.com:

Have you seen signs of this day coming?
Four years ago, I had discussions with Nike Golf's then-president Cindy Davis, who told me that they make equipment for the best athletes in the world. Three years ago, she said Nike makes equipment to support their apparel and shoe businesses. Nike has continued to de-emphasize clubs and balls in 2016. 

This ties in to my point from yesterday, that they'll be ceding some shelf space in certain important distribution channels.  But we still don't know to what extent Tour players will be wearing Nike soft goods....

And this:

What'll happen to Tour pros like Tiger, Rory and Michelle Wie who are under

contract to play Nike gear?
I see some beneficiaries to this announcement. Once TaylorMade is sold, they're no longer tied to Adidas footwear and apparel. Callaway has a footwear license deal and they outsource apparel, and they have a flexible interpretation of what’s required of their equipment-contracted players. 

Does Bob Parsons [PXG] care if someone's wearing Nike shoes or apparel? I don't know if PING has a flexible enough interpretation of the world to sign players who serve two masters. Pros that endorse Acushnet [Titleist] clubs are required to be in their apparel and footwear…it wouldn’t surprise me if Tiger plays PXG clubs. I could also see someone play Callaway clubs, Nike apparel and a Titleist ball.

Ummmm....Bubba?  He's raising an interesting issue, though it seems he doesn't know any more about how those contracts are structured than you or I....

Obviously if Tiger wants to continue wearings his TW shoes, as per Steiny's comments, that will limit him to equipment manufacturers that don't have a competing apparel line.  The speculation that Tiger could land in Bob Parson's lap makes sense to me, but I can't imagine that a lot of money would change hands unless and until he demonstrates that he's still competitive....

Rory is a different animal entirely, and he's the equivalent of a value brand these days.... though perhaps a manufacturer without a big position in putters makes more sense?  Cobra perhaps?  Or Wilson?  Those Ricky Barnes commercials have certainly reached their sell-by date....

This seems about right:

The equipment business has held pretty steady over the years in the $4 to $4.5 billion range. Having a 5% market share company get carved up by others doesn’t signal the end. It used to be that there were secondary competitors and tertiary competitors. Now, the secondary competitors are being flushed out. But it’s not a sign of the end of the business.

Flat markets are always a tough fit for public companies, who need to demonstrate growth for their shareholders...   But this is also somewhat misunderstood, as there's been only marginal product innovation recently.  All it would take to jump start hard good sales would be a technological breakthrough on the order of metal woods, hybrids or the Pro-V1....

But the Nike news should be a small positive for the sale of TaylorMade and Acushnet's IPO.  Yes, it's only a small player out of the way, but one with the ability to write rather large checks.  I'm curious to see how those deals move forward, most notably whether adidas can sell TaylorMade/Adams/Ashworth, while retaining the adidas golf business.

Good Neighbors - Iconic Shinnecock Hills has started a bit of a row with it's neighbors, and triggers a bizarre memory:

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, fourth in Golf Digest’s ranking of America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses, is attempting to have a section of Tuckahoe Road that bisects its golf course rerouted around the course, a quest that apparently isn’t going over well in the community.

The proposal “was met with strong opposition from a standing-room-only crowd of residents at Thursday’s Southampton Town board work session,”Newsday’s Lisa Irizarry wrote. 

The club, which will host the U.S. Open there in 2018, has argued that the road is a safety hazard. “According to [club president] Brett Pickett, in order to play golf at the historic club, players need to cross Tuckahoe Road at least six times, as it divides holes 10, 11, 12 and 13 from the rest of the course,” Jen Newman of the Southampton Press wrote.

Here's what it looks like from the air:

It's actually quite odd, as the tenth hole plays over the road on the drive, and the player must accommodate the traffic flow in his pre-shot routine.

Several years ago, friend of the blog Mark W. was kind enough to arrange a two-day outing there for me, and it was really special.  But on the first afternoon there was a serious car accident in town, which as I recall took down a power line.  Traffic was re-routed onto Tuckahoe Road, and after hitting our drives on the 13th hole, we faced a long second shot over a line of cars....

I know, the only issue was which of us would hit the worm-burner, so we picked up and dropped on the other side of the road....  Just call it a local rule.

As noted in the item, the road will be closed during the 2018 U.S. Open in any event.

The Worth of Free Advice - Michael Bamberger seems to be off his meds, or perhaps he's doing his Michael Shamburger impression, but see what you think of this advice to Pete Bevacqua:

Dear Pete:

You have a great championship. It's the fourth of the four majors in my book, but that's still a nice place to be. That doesn't mean it always will be fourth. It could go up. It could go down. Somehow, to the American public, the Masters replaced the U.S. Open as the game's most important major sometime in the past 20 or 30 years. If NBC does what I think it can do, the network will help elevate the status of the British Open to U.S. audiences in the years to come. Could the British replace the U.S. Open as the No. 2 major for stateside audiences? It could.

No it won't, because of the time difference.  But please go on:

In choosing the courses, I urge you not to worry about whether they are perceived to be USGA courses. In other words, if you want Shinnecock Hills, go for it. The Peter Millar crowd there could only benefit from more contact with the game's working people, and the PGA of America is nothing if not working people. If they don't know that, convince them.

Meanwhile, back here on planet Earth....  So, your suggestions to Make the PGA Great Again involve outbidding the USGA for venues?  Sigh...  And where to start with this?

I'll offer four courses, but these are nothing but suggestions:

1. Montauk Downs: With a total redo of the public course at the end of Long Island, the PGA can remake the place in its own image. 

2. Chicago Golf Club: Yes, it's tiny. Adjust as needed. Smaller field, fewer spectators, more intimate feel. Play the course as it is. Whatever they shoot, they shoot. 

3. Bandon Dunes: Go to the original course. Yes, it's remote. But if you play there, they will come. 

4. Los Angeles Country Club: Let the 2023 U.S. Open, at an old-school gem all spruced up, serve as a preview for how great a PGA there could and would be.

That lede requires a full stop after the word "nothing".  The only one of those remotely capable of hosting a major event is the last, which has, yanno, a major coming.  Unless you see a PGA being held on a 6,500 yard golf course with hickories...

The one interesting suggestion buried in Mike's nonsense is that of moving the date up to be the first major of the season.  Hey, if you insist on going to Atlanta and Kiawah, February makes much more sense than August.  Of course, Commissioner Ratched will be loathe to give up one of his lucrative events....

Wither The Scientist? - Haven't heard much from the lad recently, which isn't good news:

Four months ago, Bryson DeChambeau was the toast of golf. The reigning U.S. Amateur and NCAA individual champion made a splash at the Masters, hovering around the leader board for most of the weekend as an amateur. The following week, the SMU product made his pro debut in style, finishing fourth at the RBC Heritage. These performances -- combined with his cerebral, analytical approach to the game and a unique equipment and wardrobe arsenal -- made DeChambeau a fascinating study. Many around the game wondered: was this the next face of golf? 

While DeChambeau certainly has a promising future, the recent present hasn't been so bright. After Hilton Head, he missed four straight cuts. He had flashes of brilliance at the U.S. Open, leaving Oakmont with a respectable 15th-place finish. However, he's produced nothing of merit since, finishing 64th at the Quicken Loans National and missing the cut at the RBC Canadian Open. He's off to an inauspicious start at TPC River Highlands as well, shooting a two-over 72 on Thursday, eight strokes behind the leaders. 

This is especially problematic for DeChambeau. Barring a miracle Friday round, the Travelers Championship will end his quest for a tour card, forcing the prodigy to achieve membership in alternative routes.

As noted, he can only play in the remaining two Tour events through Monday qualifying.  He is exempt into the Web.com Finals, a series of four events that awards it's own Tour cards.  That would seem to be his last, best hope for avoiding a year of purgatory.  Thanks, Tim.