The golf industry’s largest gathering at the annual PGA Show converges merchandisers and buyers in a setting fit for relationship building and, by golly, order writing. Outsiders would posit that success aligns with exhibiting there, no matter the booth size.
Think again.
Countless product manufacturers and service providers across the $90B golf industry conduct meeting after meeting off the show floor. Their business models and situations don’t warrant a need for stop-by traffic.
As such, we bumped into three non-exhibiting companies well on the track to stardom:
OnCore Golf
A Golf Digest “Hot List” award winner before it hit the market in mid-2022, OnCore’s Vero X2 ball is on the cusp of eating into big brands’ market share via its direct-to-consumer sales model. What may seem to be techno mumbo-jumbo to some, OnCore’s R&D team of former Titleist and TaylorMade innovators incorporate:
- Four-piece, 95-compression construction delivers optimized spin with irons and supreme stopping power on greens for wedge shots.
- High-modulus, metal-infused mantle connects to a thin, cast-urethane cover by a nano-engineered transition layer.
- Proprietary, perimeter-weighting significantly reduces sidespin and bores through headwinds and crosswinds.
Launch angle, driver swing speed, feel, and driver and wedge spin robotically tested off the charts.
The Buffalo, NY-based company counts Bills quarterback Josh Allen among its legions of die-hard ball users, so much so he skipped the Pro Bowl to play in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am while donning an OnCore hat from start to finish.
Whiskers
Golf fashion often suffers from a khaki-pant, muted golf shirt, saddle shoe stigma. Thankfully, Whiskers is shifting golfers away from boring by adding a color splash that’s noticeably cool yet hardly obnoxious.
Three years young, Whiskers designs and manufactures premium shoelaces specifically for classic and athletic golf shoes. They come in more than 70 colors and patterns, matching trendy wardrobe hues from head to toe. Don’t fret, laces are made of durable and sustainable materials.
On any given week, more than 75 PGA and LPGA TOUR players and caddies showcase their personalities by sporting Whiskers shoelaces. Selling like hotcakes in pro shops and online, they’re also popular gifts for outing and tournament participants.
Better yet, laces take less than three minutes to pop in and out of shoes, swapping colors based on your golf outfit and mood du jour.
An affordable luxury at $15 per pair, $45 for a three-pack and $60 for a “fiver,” Whiskers also makes laces for sneakers, casual and dress shoes and boots.
Golf Nation
Freshly minted Golf Nation sneak-peaked its golf-entertainment streaming channel in December 2022. Dubbed “Netflix Meets QVC,” it is the first and only producer of original golf-lifestyle shows with the ability for viewers to instantly purchase items while never leaving the screen. Each commercial-free episode is five to 30 minutes and specials may be longer.
Season-one shows on www.golfnation.com include “Ambush with David Feherty” and his hidden-camera hijinks; “Golf Unseen” that takes viewers to exotic courses with cultural experiences; “Tee Shots” where golfers drink, chat and swing with famous mixologist Bill Binder; “Watch. Buy. Play.” highlighting the planet’s hottest golf products; and “Don’t I Know You?” based on the 1980s-1990s TV hit “The Newlywed Game” with the first episode featuring Zach and Kim Johnson.
In the next few months, Golf Nation will be available via mobile app, connected-smart TVs, Apple TV, Android, Fire TV and Roku.
Golf equipment, travel, fashion, technology, instruction, club lifestyle and fitness brands, as well as non-endemics, are already selling their products via on-screen ‘buy bars’ inside Golf Nation shows. Shoppable video is the ticket!
Nick Buzzell is Chairman and CEO of NBTV Channels and NBTV Studios, parent of Golf Nation and sister Spirits Network. He assembled an all-star team of investors and advisors, notably High Post Capital’s Mark Bezos, former K-Swiss President David Nichols, Chairman of Whistle Pig and former CEO of Bacardi North America John Esposito, former CEO of Home Shopping Network and Weight Watchers International Mindy Grossman, golf marketing PR and visionary Rich Katz and PGA Reach Trustee Dee Robinson.
Golf industry phenom Suzy Whaley is President, and sports media veteran Noah Coslov is General Manager. The production team is comprised of former NBC award-winners for hit TV shows.