Golf executive hurls a big swing

Golfsmith CEO Marty Hanaka sees big-drive opportunity for his company, an Austin, Texas-based nationwide specialty golf gear chain, even though the sport has drifted evermore toward niche status.

Hanaka's strategy includes an aggressive Golf Coast expansion component. One store opened last year in Naples, and a second store is scheduled to open this fall in Sarasota. The Sarasota store will be the chain's 79th in the country and the eighth to open in Florida since 2008 — the onset of the recession that struck the sport. “Florida is a great golf state,” Hanaka tells Coffee Talk. “It's a very strong part of our growth plan.”

The fact that Golfsmith has a growth plan at all is somewhat counterintuitive, considering golf has seen a quicksand-like decline the past few years. Several surveys show country club memberships, rounds played and gear bought are all on the downswing. “The market has gotten smaller,” says Hanaka, “but the area seems to be underserved.”

Golfsmith, publicly traded, has seen a sharp rise in sales this year, from $72.8 million in its first quarter to $130.2 million in the third quarter ended July 2. Still, sales in its 2011 fiscal year, $351.8 million, are down 9% from the firm's pre-recession peak, $388.1 million in 2007 revenues. The 2011 figure is up 4% from 2010, when it had $338 million in sales.

Hanaka says the sales uptick in the downturn stems mostly from Golfsmith's approach of catering to the serious golfer, the person who plays 25 to 30 rounds a year. The chain says it will open 20 more stores in the next two years, including the one in Sarasota.