What would you buy from pro shop?

Hi guys, just sitting thinking bout ideas in the office and we got onto what we buy for golf, out of 6 of us not many buy from the pro shop!!!

We only bought food, drinks, tee's and balls which isn't much. We had though used them for regripping, lessons and 1 for custom fit. This made me think, do we need a pro shop these days as it must cost a club or pro a fortune for all the stock in equipment & clothing????

We all read golf is in trouble as costing clubs a fortune due to loads of issues but surely a pro should be teaching or playing rather than being a mars bar seller? This means he is a well paid shop assistant?

Let me know your thoughts on this

completely agree, which is where American golf has the market nailed down and holds us all to ransom in my opinion. My pro shop is quite small, and 99% of the sales on a sat and sun morning are the consumables which you mentioned. I know a few of the lads have the odd lesson here and there but mostly its only because they are free lessons they receive when they join. My pro shop is also very expensive compared to American golf. AG has the simulator, lower prices, better selection and just as qualified (if not a little more pushy) sales reps. My pro shop only sells Wilson clubs, which im not interested in, and they are more expensive by nearly 30% imo. I hear Direct golf is a good alternative to AG but there isn't one in wales, so until then its ebay for a gamble of a purchase or AG to be ripped off albeit a little less than my pro shop. It also seems to be the situation in many other pro shops I visit, but what can we do? I wouldn't mind but the prizes in the comps at my club are always £15 for the winner which is a joke, and for this you cant even get 2 alignment rods. Rant over, ill be in the back room listening to whale music and massaging my temples.

If you are a member of a Club then only new clubs can be excused from not been bought in your Pro Shop, even then a good Club Pro will match any price if he can. Could you walk into AG and say "oops left my wallet at home" and still walk out with the items you've picked?

My pro shop will try to match prices with American Golf.

They don't have an account with many manufacturers so their choice is limited.

I would like to buy everything from my pro shop, but being a crown golf course it's not really a pro shop. It's more like a shop run by crown golf with a golf pro working in there for them.

The problem for me is price.

They don't price match on the things I need on a regular basis, like golf balls.

Russ

I think you guys have much better pro shops than I. On sunday I found out I had £110 in my winnings and decided to look at the footjoy shoes (being the only shoes they sell) and I picked up the £125 pair and turned to the pro and asked, "are these any good?" his response? "Not tried them myself and don't really sell many, but they look good" helpful?!

Our pro shop is excellent, its part of foremost golf so you can get literally anything through them. Really helpfull and always willing to do there very best on price. Ha sall the custom fiutting kit but doesnt really need it as they have company demo days all the time. Way better to be fitted by Taylormade for there gear than American Golf.

It's not the shops that are the issue its the pro's that run them. Generally you find younger pro's much more proactive in there approach. Pro's of a certain generation see lessons and there wages as there income and never fully utilise the potential a shop can have.

If the shop made no money noone woulr run them

I have to agree with alot of the comments, I am 100% behind having a pro shop on any course but with how up and down the range, and service is, surely there is a better option.

If I was a professional I'd want to be teaching, repairing, custom fitting which are the things that make good money for me. I wouldn't want to be price matching clothing and clubs so I do loads of work for a tiny profit. Same as in most businesses its the small things that make money and as a professional I don't want to spend my days selling balls, tee's, chocolate bars and taking green fees haha.

I would like to hear from a pro on this or someone in the industry but I would expect that pro's make decent margins on t-shirts, balls, shoes and mars bars. They may prefer to be out teaching and custom fitting but if they want to make a living then they need to have a shop, that sells things that keep a steady turnover coming in. Don't get fooled into thinking big prices big margins.

Teaching time is obvioulsy profitable but if someone could fill a working week with lessons then they wouldnt be in the shop. Most pro's have young assistants to run the shop anyway whle they deal with the rest of the stuff.

Also while were on the point most club pro's are certainly not good enough to make money playing golf. You only need to be a 5 handicapper to do your PGA qualifications so I would wager most golf clubs have better golfers in there memberships than in there pro shop.

Years ago the Club Pro's life was uniform at most clubs. He was paid a 'retainer' (£40 p.w. was normal in 1980) and made his money from playing. teaching and club repairs. Profit from sales was so small that they didn't stock much.

Over the years the PGA tried to help and a minimum wage was introduced. Along with golfers not willing to pay for the service, this was a bad time for the Club pro. Then as more and more Golf Clubs became the Pay & Play type and many Clubs then owned the shop and its stock, the Pro was paid a living wage (£22,000 p.a. by 2000) but didn't have any control in the prices in the shop.

Today there are a number of different set ups at Golf Clubs, so you can't look at all Club Pro's and Pro Shops in the same way.

Interesting topic! We do have a good Pro shop but as many people point out the prices are more that buying of the internet/AG. The difference is the service. If anything goes wrong with any equipment or clothing it is sorted out with no questions asked. The guys are great and will really put themselves out for you. I don't buy absolutely everything from the Pro shop but I would always buy the big stuff - clubs, trolleys etc.